Further attempted comment under the Wile blog post of 29 January - critiquing his pdf critiquing the Nye book:
"You appear to make some valid if perhaps sometimes pedantic points about Nye maybe not having done sufficient homework or having expressed himself insufficiently precisely (I've not read his book). However (I comment in the order of where the statements concerned appear):
"Well, using the same logic, I could say, “There are several dinosaur bones that are 22 to 39 thousand years old"". None have been dated that young (too old for YECs like Ham anyway).
"This is quite reasonable, especially given the rapidity with which microevolution can occur." There's nothing in the Bible about microevolution or speciation. Also, did Nye refer (as he should have) at the debate to all the land animals that have gone extinct (post-flood according to YECs)?
"Specifically, they want to believe that radioactive half-lives can never change, when in fact, we know that they can." No we don't - in the case of the actual isotopes used to date rocks and so forth (and other, small or temporary, changes were witnessed in laboratories not in nature).
"He takes great pains to indicate that all breeds of dogs have descended from a common ancestor, and that common ancestor was some sort of wolf. All creationists agree with that, because the mechanisms by which such microevolution occurs are well understood". I've seen no convincing evidence that Ken Ham does agree with that (you may have).
The YEC 'definition' of 'microevolution' bears no obvious relation to reality (including the reality of gene duplication leading to additional genetic 'information'):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MicroevolutionFossils of land-based creatures that are now extinct cannot all be dismissed as having 'died in the flood' since the flood was not remotely an extinction event based on Genesis.
"Once again, the fossil record is mostly made up of animals caught in the Flood." Apart from the fact that the pattern of where fossils are found (at which depths) disproves that, the claim could only be made for land animals that are still extant today (or perhaps sea creatures whether extinct or extant or maybe just a handful of the individuals from extinct species such as dinosaurs).
"He writes, “If the world and all its species of animals and plants were created at once by some
supernatural force or event, we might expect nothing but the fossils of familiar, living species as we dig down in Earth’s crust. Or if there was a before-and-after transition, as is described in The Bible, we might expect a great many fossils of now-extinct species in lower layers or strata of rocky formations, then a sudden break (corresponding to the end of Eden, or perhaps Noah’s flood), followed by only modern species in more recent strata.” This, once again, shows he has not bothered to inform himself on the issues. No creationist would expect this." Why not? The former scenario is more or less the impression you would get from reading the Bible alone (and ignoring scientific realities; the Bible knows nothing of extinctions and all the land animals around pre-flood are supposed to have recolonised the earth post-flood). And Nye was not denying that a 'worldwide flood' would leave behind some fossils - was he?
Just because some fossils form quickly does not preclude them from being very old.
"Indeed, our modern understanding of genetics has made neo-Darwinism harder and harder to believe." Many Christians, such as Francis Collins, profoundly disagree. You appear not to have informed yourself sufficiently about what 'evolutionists' really have concluded from the available evidence.
"Ham demonstrated this is false in the debate, but Nye refused to accept the evidence." Nye was correct to dismiss or ignore Ham's list of so-called past YEC 'predictions' at the debate - my post here dated 9 February 2014:
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2970&p=48583&hilit=predictions#p48583"Nye can’t accept that, however, because he believes in evolution with religious fervor. Thus, he simply isn’t willing to admit that there is a legitimate debate." What scientific theory of young Earth creationism exists alongside evolutionary theory (which theists can and do accept)?
"Second, the entire thrust of barminology [sic] is to determine which organisms are related
by microevolution and which are not. That allows us to determine the originally-created kinds. Thus,
the microevolution that occurred after the Flood never “somehow turned macro.” It was microevolution the entire time." That is not science, it is pseudo-scientific garbage and fantasy - and scarcely biblical either.
You dismiss sexual selection in peacocks, but a very recent BBC documentary highlighted sexual selection as the likely cause of extravagant features (not for flight) found on the males of some species of birds of paradise.
You clearly have little time for Nye and have put time into exposing any sloppiness or poor homework on his part (as I have with this response). You appear to doubt his claim that he is not going after anybody's religion (only their pseudo-science)."
PS at 0.23 am on 2 Feb. I hope Wile is not going to censor and ignore my last post (whilst allowing somebody else to praise him!). But the signs are NOT good as it has disappeared from view.
PPS at 0.43 am. A chasing post of mine has also now disappeared without explanation. Unless Dr Wile allows and deals with my lengthy post above (or explains why he cannot) THEN HE IS YET ANOTHER YOUNG EARTH CREATIONIST FRAUD AND DECEIVER, FULL STOP.
1.12 am: I flagged this thread on Wile's Facebook page. But my post has rapidly disappeared. YES WILE IS YET ANOTHER DISHONEST AND HYPOCRITICAL FRAUD WHO WISHES TO MISLEAD HIS FOLLOWERS JUST AS MUCH AS HE DESPERATELY CLAIMED THAT BILL NYE TRIED TO DO IN HIS NEW BOOK. YOU CANNOT PROPERLY DEBATE BIGOTS. HE HAS ALSO SHUT ME OUT OF HIS FACEBOOK PAGE FOR ONE SINGLE POST! WHAT EVIL PEOPLE BECOME YECS ...
(Photo taken of a new post under his blog which flagged Ephesians 6:11 among other things* - before he stamps upon it. YECs and other religious fundamentalists can censor critics from their blog pages but they also want to censor awkward facts - we of course owe it to the future not to allow them to do so unless and until any such facts are refuted by real science and merely not by religious dogma or apologetics.)
* "Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."
BTW I'm also being censored again by that YEC fraud Tony Breeden (of Creation Sunday fame) again here:
https://siriusknotts.wordpress.com/2015 ... efgen-org/I attempted to post the following comment recently:
"If 'science' informed by biblical revelation is the real truth, why does it not work and why has it so far failed to come up with coherent scientific theories - such that the only people who believe in it are religious fundamentalists, the ignorant, and those already convinced by other young Earth creationist ideologues and apologists?
Maybe your book answers my question? Does eg what is observed in distant galaxies also get explained 'according to' the Bible in your book? Or just what has been observed in real time on Earth or in a lab?
There is only one way to do science. By starting with evidence and not with inflexible dogma. Otherwise you are doing religion or philosophy."
He is desperately trying to inform me, via email, that I am 'trolling'. I have demonstrated to him that I was not trolling, even by the widened definition of that term that he is pushing my way ...