Why do creationists largely use only straw-man arguments?

[JSojourner]

     Generally because Creationists do not grasp Evolution. If they did they would become Evolutionists.

Exactly. They refuse to even consider the concept of evolution because of their never ending fear of death, but accept even the most ridiculous aspects of their religion as absolute truth, with no evidence. I have had to hear that 'I don't believe we evolved from monkeys' crap constantly, which the churchs feed them to make sure they stay dumbed down.

The thing that infuriates me the most if when they say, 'No one has ever observed evolution happening, so it can't be proven'. Beyond the fact that that statement is inaccurate, what do you accept Noah's Ark or the Tower of Babel? Did you observe those events? One again: A fear of hell and a longing for heaven.

That's a start, but it goes deeper.  It's true of a lot of irrational fundamentalists.  They have been told that A is true.  (Because the Bible says so, Pastor says so, the Pope says so, or whatever.) Therefore, if A is proven untrue...or is even thought to be understood differently than in the past...it must mean that B (something else I believe and cherish) must also be suspect. 

The hobgoblins of small, fearful minds.

I strongly suspect evolution is reality.  History.  I also believed God created the Heavens and the Earth.  And I see absolutely no conflict there.  I am not sure why so mnay of my fellow Christians feel threatened by the notion of evolution.  At least when William Jennings Bryan objected to it, he was largely concerned about the possibility that scientific Darwinism could lead us down the gilded age path to social Darwinism.  Oh, the irony.

Today, some of the most vociferous advocates of social Darwinism are those most outspoken opponents of scientific Darwinism. 

[JSojourner]

None of it can be proven in a laboratory.

My story is quite simple.  I have read the story of Jesus of Nazareth.  I find his claims to deity and bodily resurrection absurd on their face.  And yet I believe them.  Sure, there is the witness of the Bible.  There are historical witnesses, at least as credible as others of that era. And there are some logical arguments, purely from reason, that might lead me to accept His claims as fact. 

But none of that is going to prove anything. Any of those things can be refuted by someone determined to come to another conclusion.

I can only offer what I have personally experienced of Him.  Am I a goody-two-shoes believer in a fairy tale?  Perhaps.  But I accepted His invitation and, for reasons I shall never fully understand, He welcomed me into His embrace.  I belong.  I am accepted in spite of all my foibles, sins and flaws.   His story is preposterous in the extreme -- so unlike the story of any other guru or teacher or leader.  It is so absurd, I can't help but believe it.

All I ask of my Atheist friends is simple:  be nice about it.  Don't call me names.  Don't insult me.  Don't mistake me for someone dumber than a chicken salad sandwhich just because I believe a Jewish carpenter, who claimed to be God, is risen from the dead and happens to love me recklessly.  I'm no fool.

Well...okay.  Maybe I am. (More on that in a moment.)

The hard part is that followers of this Jesus (including me, sometimes, I am sad to say) are anything but Jesus-like.  We can act like unconscionable pricks. We have done sickening and shameful things in His name.  But it's only fair to point out -- as some of my more fair-minded Atheist friends have -- that we have also done some amazingly generous, kind and loving things throughout history.  At the end of the day, the question I had to answer was about Jesus...not about John Calvin or Martin Luther or the Pope in Rome.  What was I going to do with Jesus of Nazareth and his outlandish claims?

Oh -- and I know it's annoying when we Christians evangelize.  But my usual foe here, Jmfcst, is quite correct.  It's another thing this Jesus told us to do.  Now, when we do it -- we can act like jackasses and condemn everyone to the fires of hell if they don't believe -- we can go door to door and interrupt peoples' suppers, making complete nuisances of ourselves.  Or we can respectfully, lovingly invite those who do not believe into our lives as friends.  And let them know we believe God, in Jesus Christ, loves them.  (And if they say, "Thanks, but no thanks", we can CONTINUE to be friends -- simply for friendship's sake.  Nothing is more disgusting than Christians who treat non-Christians like nothing more than notches on a gun handle.  I have a sister like that -- if she can't convert you, she cuts you off.  Such a shame.)

Anyway, I digress...as usual.  Just know that if you are an Atheist, an agnostic or a member of another religion...I like you, respect you and will fight for your right to believe as you do.  Because my "master" taught me to do to others as I would have done to me.  I will offer you the invitation.  But no matter what, I will be your friend.  I'm hardly there yet, but I am determined to shuffle off this mortal coil having spent more time being a friend...and less time being another "asshole for Jesus". 

That said, a song by Michael Card seems apropos here...


"Seems I've imagined Him all of my life
As the wisest of all of mankind
But if God's Holy wisdom is foolish to man
He must have seemed out of His mind

For even His family said He was mad
And the priests said a demon's to blame
But God in the form of this angry young man
Could not have seemed perfectly sane

When we in our foolishness thought we were wise
He played the fool and He opened our eyes
When we in our weakness believed we were strong
He became helpless to show we were wrong
And so we follow God's own fool
For only the foolish can tell-
Believe the unbelievable
And come be a fool as well

So come lose your life for a carpenter's son
For a madman who died for a dream
And you'll have the faith His first followers had
And you'll feel the weight of the beam
So surrender the hunger to say you must know
Have the courage to say I believe
For the power of paradox opens your eyes
And blinds those who say they can see

So we follow God's own Fool
For only the foolish can tell
Believe the unbelievable,
And come be a fool as well."