From: Chris Ho-Stuart <>
Newsgroups: nz.soc.religion,aus.religion.christian
Subject: Re: AIDS and age of earth
Date: 20 Apr 1999 01:14:07 GMT

Able <> wrote:
> On Mon, 19 Apr 1999 19:10:12 +1200, Paul Wilkins
> <> wrote:

> >Able wrote:
> >> What are these other forms please?
> >> Could you list them.?
> >> It is very important that we understand the basis upon which we are
> >> working when determining the age of the Earth.
> >
> >Here we go.
> >
> >The Age of the Earth
> >http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/faq-age-of-earth.html
>
>  Paul this is a discussion group.
> Not a atheist web page referal center

That was not an atheist page.

It is a page specifically directed at answering questions about age
of the Earth for people confused by creationists. The idea of a young
earth (less than a million years) is as credible as a flat Earth.
This page helps explain why. It is filled with references to check
further.

Theism/atheism does not come into it.

Age of the Earth is off topic for this group. Far better to post a
quick reference to a good answer to the questions posed than debate
at length here. I do not mind debating age of the Earth or other
topics here when it comes up: but many others find it distracting.

Able -- you have said you are not really interested in the topic
of Age of the Earth, I think. But let me know if you would genuinely
prefer an on-line discussion rather than quick references to
helpful resources.

In the meantime, since people are interested in radiometric dating
and seem to be slamming anything from an atheist as necessarily
untrustworthy, let me recommend the web page
    http://asa.calvin.edu/ASA/resources/Wiens.html

It is by Dr Roger Wiens, an evangelical Christian. It is entitled
"Radiometric Dating: A Christian Perspective"

I quote the abstract:
    Radiometric dating--the process of determining the age of
    rocks from the decay of their radioactive elements--has been
    in widespread use for over half a century. There are over forty
    such techniques, each using a different radioactive element or
    a different way of measuring them. It has become increasingly
    clear that these radiometric dating techniques agree with
    each other and as a whole, present a coherent picture in
    which the earth was created a very long time ago. Many
    Christians are completely unaware of the great number of
    laboratory measurements that have shown these methods to be
    consistent, and they are also unaware that Bible-believing
    Christians are among those actively involved in radiometric
    dating. This paper describes in relatively simple terms how
    some dating techniques work, how accurately the half-lives
    of the radioactive elements and the rock dates themselves
    are known, and how dates are checked with one another. In
    the process the paper refutes some misconceptions prevalent
    among Christians today. God has called us to be "wise as
    serpents" even in this scientific age.  This paper is put out
    by the American Scientific Affiliation and the Affiliation
    of Christian Geologists to promote greater understanding and
    wisdom on this issue within the Christian community.

It is tragic that perfectly sensible and accurate information
is dismissed because the writer may be an atheist. The author
of the excellent talk.origins FAQ is Chris Stassen. I have no
idea whether or not he is an atheist. It simply does not come
up -- it is not relevant. Many authors of talk.origins FAQs
are atheists, but many are Christians. When you start to judge
science by asking whether it is done by atheists or theists you
have left the path of wisdom.

Cheers -- Chris