In the National Academy of Sciences a new publication helps answer in detail the ways in which the dinosaurs were made extinct. New evidence in North Dakota has paleontologists excited and helps fill in some gaps. This post briefly explores that topic and explains why science is important and why its time for evangelicals to accept science.
“Dinosaurs did not walk with humans. The evolutionary record says different. They gambled.”
Steve Martin
“I was very fortunate, during my early years as a paleontologist, in that my field crews and I made some remarkable discoveries indicating dinosaurs to have been extremely social.”
Jack Horner
11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants[e] yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. 12 The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
Genesis 1:11-13 ESV
Dinosaur at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.
About sixty-six million years ago an event occurred that changed civilization and the Earth permanently. An asteroid crashed into the shallow sea near Mexico and created a crater that is 90-miles wide. The asteroid hitting the earth was the equivalent of about 500 million Hiroshimas and resulted the entire Indian subcontinent to catch fire. Debris was cast far into space and about 85% of all animals and forms of life on earth were ended. This event is what led to the death of the dinosaurs and making an entire species extinct. When the asteroid hit the area in Mexico off the Yucatan peninsula debris that consisted of molten rock and glass fell to the earth. Ancient fish caught glass blobs in their gills as they swam. Cataclysmic waves threw animals onto dry land and then were buried in silt.
According to The Washington Post, a new study was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This report is based off new developments that scientists discovered in North Dakota. Scientists engaged in paleontology found some fossils of fishes, and animal life that died within hours of the asteroid hitting earth. Many in the discipline of science are thrilled with this discovery and what has been learned. As a result we know much more about the event that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. This development was covered in the New Yorker as well. I read about this while I was reading The Washington Post the other day. Normally I don’t do articles about science at this blog. But when I read that article I was amazed and decided to write about this issue.
Science is Amazing and its Time Evangelicals Embrace it
Science is absolutely amazing and a blessing to our society and culture. When one considers what science has accomplished it should give one pause. Recently through geology and paleontology researchers were able to determine the details of the extinction of the dinosaurs. That is incredible and it helps civilization to understand how life ended for many species. But step back from this one area and contemplate the other forms of science and what they accomplished and what they can teach us.
Consider modern medicine. Think of about the invention of the vaccine and the diseases that have been eradicated because of the work that Jonas Salk did in regards to polio. Think of the other vaccines that keep harmful diseases which are a threat to our society at bay. Then there are other medical treatments and developments that results in ways to deal with cancer or other topics. Don’t get me wrong as there is still a lot of ground to break. Plus we still need to create a vaccine for HIV. But think of how life has been expanded upon for those infected with HIV. In the 1980’s HIV was a death sentence. Today people can live and have an ordinary life with HIV. Consider how science has helped our environment. Think of the way we are moving away from plastics to biodegradeables. But it was also scientists who invented plastics by a chemist in the early 1900’s. Then you also have biologists and the expanded food supply and modern agriculture. In the 1940’s new varieties of corn, wheat and rice were developed. Also developed is new ways to deal with pests and insects that threaten crops. It will be scientists that climate change will be addressed and ways to deal with it explored; after all they are warning of the topic.
Science is a field that we need to invest in. It remains and needs to be a pillar of our society and civilization. I have long been fascinated by science and demonstrate this by going to museums, aquariums, and more. When I was in the Boy Scouts I camped in the Sierra Nevada mountains in camp. Sometimes laying on the ground late at night and watching the Milky Way and shooting stars is impressive. Free from light pollution I recall watching satellites moving across the sky. If you have not done something like that then your life is lacking and appreciation for astronomy grows.
I write all this to say that it is long past time for evangelicals to embrace science. In many ways they already have each time they go to the doctor or take antibiotics for an infection. Whereas Catholics and mainstream Protestants have accepted science it is the evangelicals that are often still stuck in the 1400’s on this topic. Why do many have to be at war with science is something I have never understood. When I was reading that article in The Washington Post I remember thinking to myself, how many evangelicals could not be in awe at what was discovered? How many would run away and have problems with the subject matter? It doesn’t have to be an either/or scenario. Why can’t some evangelicals accept science and live in the tension?
Deep Concerns About Ken Ham
When it comes to science there is one individual who this blog believes creates needless controversy, conflict and is nothing but a pain in the rear end. I am referring to Ken Ham from Answers in Genesis of course. He is one of the more polarizing individuals. This blog has toyed with the notion of starting a Go Fund Me to buy Ken Ham a one way airline ticket back to Australia. 😛 Ken doesn’t bring much to the topic instead he brings conflict. I see him as a narcissist who loves to be the center of attention and who creates these problems for fame and more. He has been trolled by atheists in the past, and this blog has rooted for the atheists. You can read that in, “Ken Ham is Trolled by the Freedom From Religion Foundation, Meanwhile he Attacks Atheists and the Media, is Under Scrutiny by Kentucky, Plus He Blames Hurricanes on Sin.” Ken Ham needs to exit the conversation and go stage left. Our society and churches will improve considerably with his absence. That is it for the day guys, this article came about due to reading the newspaper yesterday.
Wondering Eagle 
Oh, I see…this is really about Ken Ham, not dinosaurs. Science can’t even be right about global warming, uh, I mean, climate change. If we are still alive in 12 years, without any change in living our lives, THEN WHAT? New evidence in North Dakota?
What’s wonderful about science, is that when they change their minds based on new evidence, the old evidence is nothing more than science fiction. Makes for a good movie, but nothing of real value that’s gonna change my life any.
Right now, there are no dinosaurs, and right now, I could care less if there ever were. There is fish in the sea that NO ONE HAS YET TO SEE YET, and when science finally finds them, they will declare they found the MISSING LINK.
Science is nothing more than SPECULATION. NO ONE alive now, was alive then, so there is NO EYE WITNESSES.
We all know that dating things is accurate to a certain point, then it skews tremendously, proving that carbon dating is inaccurate, and all sorts of other means of measurements.
Now, if we want to bash Ken Ham, that’s something that I would enjoy. So, is this really about dinosaurs, or Ken Ham?
Ed Chapman
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You’re behind. Right now there are still dinosaurs, I have one chirping in a cage in my living room. It’s the non-avian dinousaurs that died out 65 million years ago, the ones that survived (birds) are doing just fine.
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Nice story, but I think it’s still all guess work more than it is science. I have no problem dating the earth as old as science may say, but dinosaurs? I think dating creatures is a task that science hasn’t mastered yet. And the reason that I say that is that I have no problem saying that DIRT is pretty old. Mix that dirt in with bones found…I’d say it’s pretty difficult to date things. But, makes for a good movie.
Right now, I see no difference in the doom and gloom of science vs. the doom and gloom of some…and I cringe at the word, EVANGELICALS. I’m still wondering why that word is used, when Evangelicals is not even the right word.
So, you got some science people predicting 12 years. PEOPLE ARE DYING, AOC said. Hey, none of us gets out of here alive.
Here we are worried about global whatever, and people are dying of drug overdoses daily, getting murdered due to a drug deal gone bad, robbed, raped, etc., and science can’t figure out how to get people to stop committing crime.
Why did we not have that much morality problems in the 50’s? Science stripped away the need for God. And now look at the crime rate. A 10 year old girl was murdered by another classmate last week.
We have people worried about Russia interfering in our elections, yet, how many American Citizen children even PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE to this country in the first place?
Ya…look at what science has done. Heroin. Cocaine, and crime.
Your average citizen in a capitalist free society has nothing to do with the science that created stuff to cause global whatever, but AOC wants us to PAY, and PAY DEARLY to clean up the mess that science created.
Ed Chapman
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What does AOC do with this post Ed. Is she the spikeswspok for Answers in Genesis?
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No, Wondering, she’s all about science! She’s the spokesperson for science, that we’ve got 12 years before mankind is extinct, let alone extinct dinosaurs! She want’s your money.
I just paid for an all expense paid vacation for my daughter to Hawaii for her birthday in August. Figured I better do that before airplanes are extinct, too.
Ed Chapman
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“Why did we not have that much morality problems in the 50’s?”
We did. We had all those “morality problems” and a lot more besides, back in the 50’s. And we had people who told each other not to talk about “morality problems” because it was “shameful” and so a lot of it was hushed up. And we had the Baptist church openly supporting segregation, and the Catholic church covertly covering up the abuse of children, while claiming to be the voice of moral authority. And we had oppression of people because of their skin color, or because of their gender, but the people in charge (white men) proclaimed it to be normal and moral. What we didn’t have in the 50’s was the internet and 24-hour news coverage. So now you think things are so much worse, when the truth is that things are better, but you just hear more about the bad stuff now. Crime is actually down. Teen pregnancy is down. Violence is down. But those things don’t grab headlines, so they don’t get covered.
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Key word you used is SHAMEFUL. Who is shamed these days?
I’m from a state that didn’t have the racial issues people on the east coast and the south had. I like to say, racism is y’alls problem, not mine. My family had no problem with different races. And we don’t apologize for being white. Again, that’s y’alls problem. I don’t believe you when you say crime is down. I don’t believe you when you say that just because we have internet today that it only seams like crime is up. I went to school in the 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s. No one would talk back at a teacher without swift consequences. Chewing gum was a reason to go to the office. Who would even think of bringing a gun to school for shooting people? I took a gun safety class at the school in the 6th grade. And in regards to Baptists and Catholics, is say that Islam is more dangerous. Dude, we reap what we sow. Get rid of God, the floodgates open up for debauchery. Openly, with no shame. We did have newspapers before internet. And believe me, people read them. Crime is not down. Jusse Smollet is your example that crime is down, I suppose? State Legalization of an illegal federal drug… Crime is down? Homeless people living on the street without being charged as a vagrant? Crime is down? Small amounts of illegal drugs is allowed, and crime is down? I’m not getting your statistics.
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Ubi going back to the good old days when society is moral means that blacks sit in the back of the bus. Domestic abuse and rape are covered up. Women are property of men. People go back into their closet (whatever it is… Atheist, gay, etc..) Wonderful family values.
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Wondering,
You know dog gone well that is NOT WHAT I MEANT. People like you twist the real meaning of it, all because that’s what today’s liberals do. So to you, to make America Great Again means that we old white men want blacks to sit in the back of the bus?
Spare me that psycho babble. That’s not the morality that I am discussing. But you think that OLD WHITE MEN are racists and rapists.
My MOM NEVER CONSIDERED HERSELF PROPERTY TO MY DAD, and neither did my grandma to my grandpa. Where do you come up with this nonsense?
Ed Chapman
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Wondering,
Regarding atheists, what year did atheists come out of the closet? I never knew that they were in a closet to begin with.
My point regarding atheists is that they need to understand that they live in a religious country, we don’t live in a secular nation as you wish to promote, and have been successful at.
Regarding gays, who didn’t know that Liberace was gay? But we don’t want to have them flaunt their gayness as a GOOD THING, no more than we want thieves to flaunt the money that they stole. Just play the piano, Liberace. Sing We Will Rock You, Freddy Mercury! Who don’t love Queen?
We just think it’s sick to think that a man is attracted to another man’s poop shoot, the exit only, and doesn’t find a vagina beautiful. Icky!
And ya wanna talk transgender? I’m a lesbian in a man’s body! That used to be funny, until we were told what not to laugh at anymore, otherwise, you could get killed.
Yes, debauchery used to be HIDDEN to where CHILDREN didn’t see it, and were not influenced by it. This is why children are not allowed to drink alcohol, or enter into a bar, or buy cigarettes until the age of 18.
The left used to say, stay out of my bedroom. Now they invite everyone into their bedroom, to join in.
Bottom line…respect for others pious conduct is now disrespectful towards them, and to be pious is considered evil in the eyes of society, while they openly flaunt rainbows.
Ed Chapman
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“HOW DO YOU KNOW? WERE YOU THERE??? HUH??? HUH?? HUH???’
— Standard Ken Ham Disciple Duckspeak response.
(If Donald Trump is the First Person of your Trinity and Ken Ham the second, who’s the Third?)
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Ronald Reagan is the third! The 80’s were the best of times. I was in the Navy stationed in Japan, MTV actually played music videos, and we all got along, for the most part. Life was good.
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For the creationists, I think this is about tribalism more than anything. Their identity rests on absolute biblical literalism. Accepting the findings of biology would mean having to accept that their perfect book is less than perfect, and they can’t do that and keep their tribal identity intact. And it’s more important to them to be an accepted part of their chosen tribe than it is for them to have an accurate understanding of the world. So much more important that they have built fake museums and a giant fake boat to show off how much they say “LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU” to new discoveries.
You can show them new evidence all day, and they won’t care and won’t change their minds, because it’s not about evidence for them and never was.
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AKA
ALL LIES.
ALL FAKE NEWS.
WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?
VAIN IMAGININGS OF MEN OR WORD!!!!! OF!!!!! GAWD!!!!!
It’s a specific case-example of Grand Unified Conspiracy Theory, and all the tropes of Conspiracy Theory are in effect. And born-again Christians these days are prone to Conspiracy Theory thinking; see http://www.acts17-11.com/conspire.html for an older Web essay on the subject.
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“Singing ‘Bye, Bye, Miss Cretaceous Pie,
Drove my Chevy to the levee…”
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Reason being at the time the Indian subcontinent was at the direct antipodes (directly opposite side of the world) of the impact site at Chicxlub. The shock wave from the impact would concentrate with constructive interference at those antipodes, focused by going around a sphere. Result? The shock at the antipodes would have been almost as great as at the impact site itself.
This triggered the Deccan Traps eruption, where the shattered crust liberated all the magma from the mantle beneath it. Result? A Thirty THOUSAND year-long runaway volcanic eruption all over what’s now central India, laying down lava beds well over a MILE deep. Not only adding Volcanic Winter to Impact Winter, but flooding the atmosphere with sulfur and other toxic gases.
Maybe the dinosaurs could have survived the impact alone, or the Deccan Traps alone, but both at the same time? The first touching off the second in a One-Two Punch?
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Lazy article alert! Do you do research first or just repeat the easy drivel out there. Francis Collins. Michael Strauss. Larry Kwak. Many more I could go on…most Evangelicals don’t “fight” science. Sure some do, and some atheists run around streets naked tossing fake blood on pubs that sell burgers. Personally, the science doesn’t scare me about my faith, it’s the folks that peddle it. Do you see the next steps in anything you believe? Global warming…scientific? Sure. Results of embracing a political solution to it? Devastating. We, the US, are told to send billions to countries doing nothing to fix it (who have corrupt leaders because they’re third world countries) so they can figure out how to fix it. Seems pretty obvious where those funds will go. Oh and we need to cripple our infrastructure to make that happen too. The VAST majority of emissions are from the ocean releasing CO2 at a steady rate for nearly 200 years. Google anything about it and you’ll see very dire graphs about man-made percents – which are well below 10% of the overall CO2 contribution – never the overall global figures (including non-human contibution). Can I find a pie chart on the first 5 pages of google showing both man-made and non man-made graphed out for me? Hell no. Without going on and on here, my point is science is no longer science. It’s a money maker, same as what you attack churches for. Both sides of those disciplines should be called out when the BS is flowing thick. Science doesn’t get a pass just cause it published more books.
There are consequences to giving up rights to people who peddle “science” these days. Many folks don’t like being called stupid or science deniers, so they write blogs about how dumb evangelicals can be. Others of us will try to look past the shallow vanity that comes from a worldly longing of acceptance and try to decipher what the end game brings. You and many commenters fall victim to all the classics. Turning blind eyes not only extremely well respected evangelicals and other Christians in science today, but also all the contributions evangelicals (or any Christian denomination) contributed towards the betterment of society. Unknowingly joining the side that embraces silencing anyone with a viewpoint that could affect research funding or personal wealth enhancement (Al Gore?).
Anyway, I lost track and wanted to comment more on the dinosaur stuff but am droning on here. Ken Hamm is an outlier, and caters to a specific group of people. He is narcissistic and just playing on the naivety of certain folks. My experience with most main stream evangelicals is that they don’t fight science, they just put faith ahead of it. They shrug off the “conflicting points” and look to God, and that really pisses off the big brains cause their book sales suffer (sounds familiar…). In reality I find that God is revealed by digging into science. Fascinating books about string theory and multiverse are practically staring at the footprint of God. Some people are satisfied with not reading those books, so why attack and belittle with a bandwagon blog post? There’s no substance here other than “Dinosaurs roamed earth, evangelicals are not interested in fossil hunting, Ken Hamm is a jerk. Evangelicals are dumb for all these reasons”.
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Wondering Eagle, I have appreciated some of your blog entries in the past, but this one misses the mark. Do you actually believe that evangelicals as a group “are often still stuck in the 1400’s” when it comes to science? Pre-Newton? Pre-Galileo? Pre-Kepler? Seriously? My elder chairman, who holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from MIT, would beg to differ with you. Even if one allows for hyperbole, the statement is irresponsible. A classic straw man fallacy. Please list the evangelical leaders who only accept pre-Enlightenment scientific advances. Perhaps you would be willing to qualify your statements.
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David thanks for the comment. If there were more Francis Collins I would not write a post like this. But Ken Ham does have sway and its popped up in multiple ways. There are a number of evangelicals hostile to science and intellectual thinking. Ever read Mark Noll’s Scandal of the Evangelical Mind? For me that plays into this as well.
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