Holy crap. I can’t believe this was said to me today.
Creationism is the basis of all science.
To which I have to say, “Bullshit”.
Yes, all the early scientists were creationists. At the time, there wasn’t any other choice though. It’s like saying that white males are the foundation of the US government. Of course they were, 200 years ago, when you had to be a while male to be in government. Now of course, we look back and see the silliness of that argument.
There are entire careers that are devoted to the history of science, so I’m not going to go into detail. But let’s look at this, because it’s extremely important. Anyone who thinks that creationism is the basis of all science is deluded.
Creationism is, fundamentally, the belief that god built the universe, the world, the living things, and humans. It is the belief that, at least partially, the accounts of the book of Genesis are correct.
Science is, fundamentally, a system for evaluating natural explanations for phenomena that uses evidence via observation and experiment to support conclusions about how the universe, the world, and living things (including humans) work.
Creationism is based on myth and make-believe. I can say that because there is not a single piece of evidence that supports anything in any of the thousands of creation myths that exist in human cultures.
Science is based on evidence. No claim has ever been supported without a significant amount of evidence.
Creationism is based on something that happened once and the various miracles, or whatever, have never happened since. Indeed, they have never happened within recorded history. No, Genesis is not a first-hand, historical account of the creation of the universe.
Science simply works. Go ahead, take some time and think. Try to think of one thing that is used in our daily lives that is not the result of science. Even something like going to pee can be influenced and controlled by scientific discoveries. Our lives are directly influenced by science that works. No one has to prey that the gas in their car explodes when vaporized and mixed with air. It does. Doesn’t matter if you are a Christian, atheist, Muslim, Pastafarian, or Cthulhu worshiper. The rules of the universe are the same for everyone.
Yes, creationists in the middle ages were scientists too. But their discoveries were NOT based on creationism. Newton didn’t decide that gravity was described in the Bible and just copy the equations from the Book of Gravitation. Galileo was prosecuted by the church because his observations and the logical conclusions he drew were not what the church wanted to hear.
I could go on and on. But the point is that the great discoveries in science were not based in creationism or even religion. And this applies all the way back to the science of the Middle East and China. All of the discoveries that were made… all of the improvements to people’s lives were based on science. The scientific method. Experiment, observation, hypothesis, and testing. Not revelation and religion.
Even modern creationists are the exact same way.
William Dembski
[A]ny view of the sciences that leaves Christ out of the picture must be seen as fundamentally deficient.
Date: 1999. Source: Intelligent Design: The Bridge Between Science & Theology, InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Ill, page. 206.
In other words, the leaders of the modern creationism movement are saying the exact same thing I’m saying. Except that they prefer myth and revelation to the scientific method. Which ought to be sufficient to keep them out of science classrooms.
Creationism is not the foundation of science. Creationism is the very antithesis of science… and always has been.
