Isaiah 40:22, Job 26:7 -

a circular earth hung upon nothing; Job 36:27-28, Ecclesiastes 1:7, Amos

5:8 - the water cycle; Isaiah 51:6, Psalm 102:26 - the second

law of thermodynamics; Psalm 8:8 - ocean currents; Leviticus 17:11

- blood is vital for life; Hebrews 11:3 - the universe is composed

of invisible things (atoms); Job 22:12, Genesis 15:5 and 22:7, Jeremiah

33:22 - the stars are innumerable and are extremely distant from

the earth; Ecclesiastes 1:6 - wind currents; Job 38:12 and 14 -

the earth rotates on its axis; Genesis 2:7 and 3:19, Psalm 103:14 -

people are composed of the same elements as the earth.

The claim that the earth is

"the center of all" was promoted by Ptolemy, an ancient Greek

astronomer. (Even today we continue to use the terms sunrise and sunset,

geocentric terminology!) Kepler, a devout Christian, agreed with Copernicus

that the earth revolves around the sun and also discovered that the orbits

of the planets are elliptical.

Many do not understand the

difference between operational science (like the Mars missions and DNA

testing), which can be tested, observed, and repeated, and origins science

(both evolution and creation). There's a huge difference between

the two!

No one will ever be able to

scientifically prove evolution or creation because the beginning of the

universe occurred in the past, no human observers were there, and the

event cannot be repeated for observation.

Astronaut Rick Husband, the

Columbia mission commander, was a Christian. His faith did not prevent

his accomplishments, nor does others' faith in God suppress space

exploration or other scientific discovery, as Mr. Duran implies. In fact,

knowledge about DNA and the orderliness of our world supports intelligent

design.

There are many natural phenomena

that conflict with the evolutionary assumption that the earth is billions

of years old. The atmosphere today has just 0.05 percent of the helium

that it should have if the earth were really 5 billion years old. Although

comets also are also supposed to be about 5 billion years old, they disintegrate

too quickly to survive much longer than about 100,000 years, but 10,000

years is a typical age. Also, there is not enough mud on the sea floor

or enough sodium in the sea to support billions of years.

Calling Ms. Cox a "fool"

and those who question evolution's scientific validity "yahoo[s]"

and "intellectually dishonest" is indicative of one who is "unable

to articulate a clear and persuasive statement."

I do not personally know Ms.

Cox, nor do I agree with everything that she does, but name-calling does

not convince me that her proposals are wrong. (Ad hominem attacks and

straw-man arguments are logical fallacies and do not promote a clear understanding

of the issues. Using "President Carter's dismay and outrage"

as a reason against Ms. Cox's proposal is a logical fallacy known

as an appeal to a false authority.)

Appeal to fear (used when someone

makes you fear the consequences of not doing what he wants) is a propaganda

technique. Debate does not transport us