‘Dogma on the Rocks’

And so The Times continues its dogged defense of the hypothesis of evolution--admirable loyalty to a sinking ship.

According to The Times, the currently fashionable estimate of the Earth’s age (4.5 billion years) is a proven fact, while the view of certain Creation scientists (6,000 years) is myth. The bulk of the editorial rehearses scientific gobbledygook (“rubidium,” “strontium,” “isotopes”), apparently feeling that a pile of obscure (for the layman) terms ensures the victory in the debate. All the arcane jargon in the world, however, cannot obscure the fact that trendy scientific dating methods all operate on unprovable assumptions .

For example, isotope dating must assume that certain constant, physical conditions have existed, and that comparative changes refer to time rather than some other factor, like process. It’s all a valiant stab by science, but it is anything but “proven fact.”

Darwinian evolution, by the admission of many of its former polemicists, is on its last legs. Try as they might, naturalistic scientists and willfully blind editorialists cannot rescue Darwin from obsolescence. Evolution is now, as it has always been, a “faith.” The Times does a disservice to clear thinking by its disingenuous adherence to the “proven fact” fallacy.

JAMES SCOTT BELL

Woodland Hills