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@PaulVanderKlay This really is a multivariate problem. As @Redshirt71 is alluding to below, Answers in Genesis has generated an enormous amount of white noise by making age of the earth a "gospel issue." I've seen firsthand the kind of damage this does. /1
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 I've lost count of the number of times I've indicated that I'm skeptical about evolution, and someone immediately begins putting me into a box where I don't fit at all. But for the average non-believer on the street, the AiG brand is what sticks in the mind. /2
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 To the extent that Christians have made adherence to a highly particular package deal on exactly what Genesis means a non-negotiable of Christianity writ large, they've done far more harm than good. On that level, I think you're right. /3
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 At the same time, I think it's helpful to define our terms when we talk about "the ravages of evolution" on the one side and "attacking evolution" from the other side. There's definitely no question that Darwin won the PR campaign. But did he win the argument? /4
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 Your point is "Whether or not he won the argument, he won the PR campaign and that is socio-culturally what matters." On a sociological level, fair enough. But I do think there are more than just sociological considerations here. /5
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 The problem is that the edifice of evolutionary thought is a castle built on very bad philosophy of science, and it always has been, from Darwin to the Dover trials. It's an open secret in the phil-sci community that Michael Ruse lied during his expert testimony. /6
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 That little tidbit I just shared is just one of many, many things you typically don't hear about when people talk about this debate, because so much of the conversation is happening underground and behind closed doors. /7
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 This creates a vicious cycle: The conversation is happening behind closed doors, therefore people see only the sign on the door that says "Everything is fine!" therefore they assume everything is fine. The Science Has Spoken. The Consensus Is In. /8
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 Meanwhile, very basic, common-sense intuitions are almost religiously drummed out of the universities and the public square as if they were bizarrely naive and "unscientific." But the truth is far more political than scientific. /9
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 At this point, the biases and presuppositions of evolutionary thought are so deeply entrenched that I am under no illusions whatsoever about effecting a sea-change or revival in people's thought on the issue. I focus on one individual at a time. /10
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 From my perspective, this isn't about "having success" or "breaking through" on the kind of scale that Jordan Peterson is now breaking through. I've been around the block long enough to know nobody will ever achieve that if they dare to question the evolutionary paradigm. /11
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 I'm ecstatic to see what Peterson has done what he's done with the platform he has, even though it's not philosophically coherent or scientifically sound. It's proof that God truly can work through all things, even really bad philosophy of science. /12
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 For myself, at the end of the day all I can do is tell the truth. I can't unknow what I know. I know it's not something people are lining up to hear. And many of the people who are even in my general vicinity are only here because of Peterson. /13
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 But my job is not to make truth sell. My job is just to tell it--to try to do as good philosophy as I can, and make it as accessible as I can for whoever sticks around to listen. /14
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 It may take a while for people to reach a point of diminishing returns with Peterson, but I think for at least some people they'll hit that point eventually. The evolutionary explanation for everything will start to feel lacking. /15
@PaulVanderKlay @Redshirt71 Who knows where Peterson will be at that point. But I'll be around for whoever is ready, whenever they're ready. /End
