Creationism, Minus a Young Earth, Emerges in the Islamic World

[groovedaddy]

AMHERST, Mass. — Creationism is growing in the Muslim world, from Turkey to Pakistan to Indonesia, international academics said last month as they gathered here to discuss the topic.

But, they said, young-Earth creationists, who believe God created the universe, Earth and life just a few thousand years ago, are rare, if not nonexistent.

One reason is that although the Koran, the holy text of Islam, says the universe was created in six days, the next line adds that a day, in this instance, is metaphorical: “a thousand years of your reckoning.”

By contrast, some Christian creationists find in the Bible a strict chronology that requires a 6,000-year-old Earth and thus object not only to evolution but also to much of modern geology and cosmology, which say the Earth and the universe are billions of years old.

“Views of scientific evolution are clearly influenced by underlying religious beliefs,” said Salman Hameed, who convened the two-day conference here at Hampshire College, where he is a professor of integrated science and humanities. “There is no young-Earth creationism.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/science/03islam.html?th&emc=th

[Cirque du So-What]

1. Why is it only fundamentalist Christians

who insist upon a 6,000-year-old earth? The book of Genesis is in the canon of scripture for Jews & Muslims as well, but there aren't any nutjobs in either of these religions who tout this most-literal interpretation of creation possible.

While visiting the home of a gullible acquaintance, I had the misfortune of viewing about 10 minutes of a video produced by fundie tax-evader & young-earth proponent 'doctor' Kent Hovind. When he smugly suggested that instead of being formed by a little water over millions of years, the Grand Canyon was formed by Noah's flood over the course of a few days, I announced that I had to go (lest my head explode from teh stoopid). Wonder if 'doctor' Hovind is teaching this claptrap to his fellow inmates?

[Sinti]

2. I wonder how this creationism thing stands up in light of the quantum enigma

Consciousness is required to collapse the wave - the observer/the observation causes the particle to be in one place rather than in all possible places at once. The problem is one of defining what has the capacity to observe, or what has consciousness... just a dumb question, but it seems related to me.

[Odin2005]

4. Uh, no, it's not, that is made up bastardization of the Copenhagen Interpretation by New Age cranks.

And most physicists don't subscribe to the Copenhagen interpretation ("OBSERVATION collapses the wave function") anyway, the majority are Many-Worlders (all possibilities exist in parallel universes).

[chaplainM]

3. This is actually GOOD news

Since we've failed miserably at making Americans smarter, the only way to rise in international standings is to make other countries dumber. We must do everything in our power to export scientific idiocy to the rest of the globe!

Let's start by sending Answers in Genesis to the Sudan.