(March 15, 2018 at 9:20 am)robvalue Wrote: I find this hard to get my head around.
Do people really believe this stuff, or do they say what they want to be true?
Really believe it. I don't want the world to be any particular age. Has no bearing on my life. I'm just going where the evidence takes me. Note that as a Christian, the Bible is evidence to me - the most important evidence.
Quote:Are they saying what they are expected to say by their peers?
No. There are plenty of churches (including the largest one) that accept mainstream science on such matters. There's no need to be in a YEC church.
Quote:Is it possible to truly believe the Earth is so young?
Yes.
Quote:Is it physically distressing to try to keep yourself convinced of this?
No
Quote:Why is it important?
It isn't particularly important. You don't see me bringing it up. Why is it important to you guys?
Quote:Is it just to try and hang on to some sort of literal interpretation of a story book?
No. The Bible can be interpreted other than literally where the context warrants it. I've just never seen a good argument that Gen 1 was intended allegorically.
Quote:Why that aspect, when other parts of it are so easily ignored?
No parts are easily ignored by me. Some parts don't apply to me, but I reach that conclusion through study. I don't ignore them, and I still read them to learn about God, even though they don't specifically apply to me.
Quote:I don't really expect any answers here, I'm just thinking out loud. It gets to the point where I feel that I'm in a different dimension. I guess the most likely answer is indoctrination, having these things drilled into your head before you can properly think about them. I shouldn't be surprised by its power at this stage.
Not indoctrination. I accepted the mainstream science view because I went to public school and was indoctrinated into that. We went to a typical protestant church sporadically, and I don't recall the church ever addressing origins issues.
Anyone who's interested in understanding, rather than mocking, might want to check out this book:
https://www.amazon.com/Six-Days-John-Ash...F8&qid=&sr=
