Do Creationists lie on purpose or by accident?

Question

We've a reoccuring comment here where scientists got together for a vote on evolution, and another where Darwin recanted on his deathbed (never happened) and similar lies that can be shown to be lies with a 30 second websearch. I ask for a source and never get them.

So, um, when creationists lie, are they just making it up or are they parroting what another person says?

Aren't most of them Christian? Aren't Christians not supposed to bear false witness?

Sarcastic much, love?
I'm not mad at anyone's god, or questioning anyone's god, I'm just trying to figure out why one side of an alleged debate seems to rely on mendacity. Surely they have *other* evidence, not just lies to stand on.

Answer 1

I think that all of the ones who participate in organized creationism are deliberately lying. Obviously places like "Answers in Genesis", "The Creationist Museum" and the "Institute for Creation Research" are run by deliberate liars - the Ken Hams and Kent Hovinds and the like.

Some of the grassroots creationists - such as my own mother - are simply mistaken, though many of them are deliberate liars for creationism as well.

I think that overall probably something like 80% of creationists are deliberate liars, with the remainder in that netherworld between innocent ignorance and utter disregard for the concept of truth.

I think that you raise an excellent point here. It's hard to imagine how they think they can claim to be a science and at the same time depend so much on blatant lying and propaganda to promote their position. Imagine what would happen if any genuine scientific field depended so much on deliberate dishonesty.

Answer 2

Your comment sounds as if its directed toward creationists as a whole. I'm sure you're not meaning that, but I'll go ahead and say this anyway: we do not ALL lie about our "evidence."

I think that, for most creationists who spread false ideas, they are simply "parroting." Unfortunately, most people (whether atheists or Christians or those of other religions) would rather quote someone else they believe is reliable than study the material themselves. I know this, because I was like this. I also know this because I see it time and time again on this board for the atheist argument (through my biased eyes, albeit - I'm sure Christians do this just as much if not more).

Also, many Christians, I think, feel that they must defend God no matter what, even if it means stating things that are obviously false. In their minds, what they've heard sounds good enough and since God does exist, what they've heard must be true.

It takes a lot of faith to go do research with an open mind into whether or not God exists. Because the truth is, they're worried about what they might find.

In the end, though, I believe in God. I was strengthened in my faith when I investigated the science, history, arecheology and other methods that investigate it. I suggest other Christians do this, as well.

Answer 3

Ill informed or listening to wrong sources.

You don't know some people still think Pluto is a planet, because they don't read the news they just remember what they were taught in school.

And by the way Darwin never said anything about monkeys or apes.

One of his postulates was that whales might have been formed by bears going into the water.

The whole thing about USING evolution to JUSTIFY something, which both sides do all the times, is moot. NO ONE has ever documented the process with a complex creature.

NO one has ever documented random organic chemicals spawing life.

Few schools give degrees in Evolution as compared to those who grant degrees in Genetics (founded by a Catholic Abbott) or Biology.

Evolution is a philosophy. Darwinism is a religion until such a time as science can pin down ABSOLUTE rules and laws.

If science can't, they'll abadon it. They've done this in the past.

Psychologists have tried to prove that facial characterists equate to different psychotypes and that got abandoned because they could never prove it.

The proof is in the pudding and Evolution has never proved a bear became a whale or a bird became a cat.

Answer 4

Creationists have, literally, a different standard of truth than you do. I am not being sarcastic.

One person rejects scientifically tested findings because they contradict religious "revealed truth," another rejects a religious "revealed truth" because it fails scientific testing.
The first submits their judgment to authority; the second submits their judgment only to the test of reality itself.

The first regards authority as the most dependable source of truth, the surest method to correct for individual human flaws in perception and judgment. Therefore if one accepts even the slightest flaw in the acknowledged authority, one is left with no truth to depend on at all. Rejection of authority is a moral outrage. The refusal to submit personal judgment to the claims of authority is a moral failure.

The second regards truth as the only authority, and multiple independent tests by observation and experiment as the surest method of correcting for individual human flaws in perception and judgment. Because all humans are flawed, no source can be accepted as THE authority, and all must be checked. If the rules of logic and evidence are not followed, one is left with no truth to depend on at all. Any violation of the rules of logic and evidence is a moral outrage. The failure of an individual to independently check sources and test claims is a moral failure.

Any debate between people with such fundamental differences is like a competition between someone with a tennis racket and someone with a golf club over who can get the baseball into the basket first. It may have some entertainment value, but not much else.

Answer 5

I think youre overstating the power of a misunderstanding. If you heard a rumor going around that the president had terminal cancer, then repeated it to people only to find out later it wasnt what you thought, you wouldnt be considered a liar. People do that all the time and its just a misunderstanding. Lying is when you KNOW something isnt true.

When it comes to Darwin, that is a legend that was handed down that by all accounts doesnt have any evidence. And who knows with the evolution vote thing but anyone who esteems himself to be wise should know that science isnt something you vote on. It is something that you endlessly hypothesize and test.

Answer 6

Such creationists as Henry Morris invent much nonsense, so he seems to be a cynical con man. People who blindly repeat his $#!+ are incapable of thinking for themselves and want to believe whatever he says. Christians have tunnel vision all too often. They are like the Bible verse about seeing a dust mote in their neighbor's eye but missing a weaver's beam in their own. Indeed, I have told many Christians, including my oldest sister, that they are violating the rules they profess to follow by bearing false witness against evolutionists and atheists.

Answer 7

They lie on purpose. That is easy to prove because at the very outset they confess in their fundamental belief in god and therefore nothing they say or write can contradict the bible. Therefore if they have to write on a subject that does contradict the bible, then obviously they can only write about it by distorting the truth.

You should read the book " Telling Lies for God " by Ian Plimer.

Answer 8

There are so many points you make, I don't know how to address them all.

#1. Creationists lie. They're probably parrotting something that they've heard that's untrue...just like everyone on Y! A was parrotting about the "gas-out" two days ago that was supposed to bring about a sharp reduction is gas prices.

#2. Many creationists are Christians (including me). Christians are NOT supposed to bear false witness. However, if you study Christianity at all, you'll know that a tenet of the Christian faith is that "...all have sinned." There isn't a single Christian that is able to keep all the commandments they're supposed to follow. This does not make us hypocrites. It makes us sinful human beings, in dire need of forgiveness.

#3. Many Creationists and Darwinists alike lack the ability to properly articulate their positions. I'm a creationist, but I don't think for one moment I can pursuade anyone who isn't a creationist to buy into my beliefs through this medium (Yahoo! Answers).

Answer 9

I can't say that creationists are deliberately trying to deceive others. They could be just misinformed. Most church people are misinformed about the earth's creation. They feel that their beliefs are based on the Genesis account of creation. They think the earth was created in 6 literal 24-hour days. But does the Bible say that?

No. Gen. 1:3 says that light was "created" on the first day. But if you look back just one verse, you will see that the still-developing earth was already in existences. How long it had been there, we don't know. It could have been there for millions of years.

The six days of creation in Genesis are huge stages in time that Jehovah used to prepare the earth for animal amd human habitation. They have nothing to do with the creation of the planet.

Answer 10

don't be stupid all people has "set ideals". all people is likewise particular that their ideals are genuinely the certainty. and perhaps all people is solid. in case you have faith in something it would besides be genuine. all of us view certainty with the aid of our very own twisted perspectives. Our feeble human minds will never draw close the finished scope of certainty. as an occasion, we basically see a small ingredient to the electromagnetic spectrum in this form of what we call seen mild. would not that is cool to work out x-rays. Their isn't any primary certainty, basically interpretations. %. a purpose your tender with and be satisfied.

Answer 11

They lie and obfuscate quite deliberately to protect their beliefs. Just look at the comment up above "evolution is the lie" when it is supported by such a mass of evidence you'd have to be insane to even question it.