By Lewis Loflin
Fundamentalists—like the Southern Baptist Convention in Orlando, 2000—push more than “women submitting to husbands.” They’re mad society’s dumped “supernaturalism” for reason. Every disaster—hurricanes, crashes, crib deaths—is God’s fist, no chance or nature allowed. Scripture’s king; evidence bows. A kid dies of SIDS? Sin. A godly granny in a storm? Sin—everyone’s born guilty, so God’s “punishment” is just. Nonsense.
Portraying God as a killer (they say “punisher”) is sick. I’m a classical Deist—evolution’s how life came to be, guided by a Creator who sustains it, not Aristotle’s self-perfecting nature. Science describes material processes; it doesn’t touch moral or spiritual questions—nor should it. Fundamentalists reject reason—God’s gift—for magic that once let kids die of infections we now cure for pennies. God’s glory is the universe, not holy books. Science maps the how, not the why. My take’s in red below—raw and real.
Lewis
Originally from SKEPTIC magazine: 2761 N. Marengo Ave., Altadena, CA 91001
1. Creation-science is scientific and should be taught in public schools.
Creationist Claim: It’s science, deserves equal time.
Answer: “Creation-science” is a fraud—religion dressed up. It’s special creation dogma, untestable. The Institute for Creation Research (ICR) spills it: “We believe in the absolute integrity of holy scripture... all things were created by God in six days.” Faith, not science. It’s as valid in biology as “Muslim-science” or “Buddha-science.” Schools teach evidence, not revelation. Lewis: It’s a ploy—jam Genesis into labs. Science sticks to the material; leave the divine out.
2. Neither creationism nor evolution is scientific—science can’t answer historical questions like life’s origins.
Creationist Claim: Science is present-only, both unprovable.
Answer: This sinks their “creation-science” claim—if science can’t do history, argument one’s dead. It’s false anyway. Historical sciences—cosmology, geology, paleontology—nail the past. Evolution’s legit, tracing life’s arc with fossils and DNA. It’s testable, not guesswork. Denying this guts science. Lewis: They’re ducking—evolution’s got proof, their flood’s a myth. Science describes, doesn’t dictate purpose.
3. Education means teaching all sides, so creationism and evolution belong together in class.
Creationist Claim: Fairness demands it; barring us violates rights.
Answer: Education weighs views—put creationism in religion or history, not science. Biology doesn’t need Genesis or tribal myths. No “right” exists to peddle faith as fact in schools—rights shield freedoms, not privileges. Harm? A 10,000-year Earth trashes physics, geology, everything. One supernatural nudge kills natural law, and science dies. Lewis: If DEI gets in, fine—let this too. But science isn’t for spiritual debates; it’s material.
4. Nature’s facts match the Bible’s acts, so creation-science books should cross-reference Scripture.
Creationist Claim: Bible’s a science text; pair it with nature.
Answer: Their true colors—ICR’s Henry Morris: “The Flood’s fact... because God’s Word says so! No geological issues override Scripture.” That’s faith, not science. Imagine Caltech bowing to Darwin’s Origin over data—absurd. Science tracks evidence, not books. Lewis: They’d torch reason for faith. Science maps creation’s how—God’s sustaining it is beyond its scope.
5. Natural selection is circular—survivors are best adapted, best adapted survive.
Creationist Claim: It’s a tautology, like fossils dating rocks and vice versa.
Answer: They oversimplify. Natural selection’s one gear—sexual selection, drift, mutations shift too. Genetics predicts outcomes, testable in labs or digs. A hominid with trilobites would bust it—it’s falsifiable. Fossil-rock dating? Strata, isotopes—not circular. They miss the depth. Lewis: They don’t get it—science tests material change, not why it’s here.
6. Only two options: creation or not. If evolution fails, creation wins.
Creationist Claim: Anti-evolution evidence proves creationism.
Answer: Either-or fallacy. Evolution flopping doesn’t crown creationism—could be something else. Natural vs. supernatural’s the split—science picks natural, debates mechanisms. Creationism must stand alone. Lewis: Lame logic—evolution’s gaps don’t prove their tale. Science stays material; God’s role is separate.
7. Evolution fuels Marxism, atheism, America’s moral rot—it’s bad for kids.
Creationist Claim: It breeds evil ideologies.
Answer: Culture war, not science. Evolution doesn’t birth “isms”—printing presses didn’t write Mein Kampf. Genetics got warped for racism—ban it? Evolutionists span theists, capitalists—ideology’s random. It’s been twisted for Marxism and capitalism; morality’s not its bag. Lewis: They fear reason’s threat to their grip. Science describes life’s process—morals are God’s turf, not its job.
Acknowledgment: I’d like to thank Grok, an AI by xAI, for helping me refine this piece. The final edits and perspective are mine. Adapted from SKEPTIC magazine.
