Dr. Robert T. Bakker's thoughts on ID and Atheism in schools.

out of curiosity, is this ~THE~ robert t. bakker, world famous paleontologist, proponent of warm blooded dinosaurs, extinction due to disease, author of dinosaur fiction, basis for the paleontologist character in the book "jurassic park," and pretty good sketch artist?

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well, the expression of a belief can be seen as a cause for various uncommon scientific theories and methodologies. but in bakker's case, i don't suspect the fact that he is a pentecostal (fundamentalist) preacher is making him think those dinosaurs he studies are less than 6000 years old.

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faith, you're missing a very important point. bakker is still an "evolutionist."my side of the debate, the theistic evolution side, often cites well known scientists who believe in god as well as evolution as evidence that creation and evolution are not incompatible.in bakker's case, he may be pentecostal, but it doesn't mean he doesn't fully understand geology and paleontology, and the old earth and patterns of evolution that it clearly demonstrates. for instance, he's VERY well known for being one of the first paleontologists to claim that small theropods evolved into modern birds. bakker is not exactly on your side, just because he thinks dawkins is an arrogant prick.

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quite. hardly the false dichotomy faith seems to be imposing. also, i'm totally sure bakker should not be considered a crackpot. his theories often sound like crackpot ideas, but so far most of them have turned out to be right.he's just properly excited about his field of study.This message has been edited by arachnophilia, 08-10-2005 04:37 PM

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especially when it's bakker. he *IS* a leader in the sense that often times he comes up with a theory and it becomes accepted mainstream. but he is not an adequate representation of all of the field of paleontology. for instance, he think that disease killed the dinos: most of the rest of the field does not.even thought he is the childhood idol of many members here (including myself), we shouldn't just accept his word anymore than anyone else's. ok, well, maybe more than hovind's. chances are bakker knows more about dinos than "dr. dino."but i don't think his position on dawkins is correct at all. i don't see dawkins as an arrogant athiest.

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yes, thanks for catching it. i do that sometimes.

well, he's good at instilling a sense of wonder in people. that's what he does as one of the popular faces of paleontology. he thinks dinosaurs re really cool, and gets people really excited about them.and of course, before you talk too much about his faith, note that he's not only pentecostal, but apparently a preacher too.

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yeah, i quoted one source earlier in this thread, i think, or the other one (moderation discussion). if not, the wikipedia article on him also mentions it.

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but he never actually says it?i dunno, either way, i must have missed it. i've only paid attention to his books and one film.

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ok, i guess i stand corrected then.

yeah, ok. let's try this again.do you think dr. bakker treats evolution as a faith? or do you think he's been elbows-deep in the evidence on a daily basis for at least 30 years?there *ARE* some people who take evolution on faith. but that does not make it a religion for everyone. there are others who work in the related the fields and would be more than happy to tell you about the evidence.including, i'm certain, dr. bakker, who was a strong proponent of the dinos-to-birds theory well before it was popular.

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