Schraf writes:
On the one hand, I agree with you.
On the other hand, she just called me the stupidest person on EvC.
But you're used to being a lightning rod.
One thing discussion with Faith makes apparent is that she approaches the debate with pretty much the same attitude we do. She believes all the facts are on her side, and that once she makes us aware of those facts that we'll be persuaded. In her view, denying the obvious truth of the Bible after all the information she's provided is simply stubborn and perverse. In her eye we're just mindlessly arguing for our viewpoint even though we must know by now that it's wrong.
Persuading Faith (which, let's not kid ourselves, is unlikely) is going to be a two step process. First, she's got to be convinced of the nature of true evidence. The opinion of fifty billion Christians
*can* be wrong, but more importantly, it doesn't mean squat as evidence. Second, she has to be presented the evidence for geology (not evolution, since she doesn't seem actively involved in that topic right now) and be provided the means of interpreting it properly. While old rivers and streams should occasionally be preserved in the geologic column, in general erosion is like sandpaper - it smooths and levels. And we must realize that as she learns more her misconceptions will increase, not decrease as we might expect, because she's driven by the need to preserve consistency with the Biblical stories.
If Faith decides to stay it should be quite an interesting battle. Faith is willing to explore the logical implications of evidence, but her innate ingenuity often finds implications we hadn't anticipated.
-- | Percy |
| EvC Forum Director |