How do fundies explain dinosaur fossils?

[Proud2BAmurkin]

seriously, what do they say?

:shrug:

[Avalux]

1. I've had one tell me

the devil put them there to trick us. (no joke)

[Warpy]

10. another told me it was God's sense of humor

Yet another told me they were all faked.

These folks just aint right in the head.

[Ready4Change]

15. I've heard the Devil excuse as well.

Along with "God allows such things in order to test us."

[fishwax]

19. yeah, dinosaurs were put here to test us

and apparently most on DU have failed, since they believe all that archaeological propaganda.

Only kidding :) But I have heard the line that fossils were put here to test us :eyes:

[porkrind]

35. I think fundies were put here to test the rest of us.

:)

[fishwax]

38. lol ... should I hope to pass or try to fail?

:shrug:

:D

[Swamp Rat]

52. LOL! n/t

:D

[truth2power]

30. Yeah, I've heard that, too. So help me! n/t

[MissMarple]

43. It's quite like humming loudly, and saying "We can't hear you"

It's not that the evidence isn't there, it's that they don't want the evidence to clutter up their understanding of their perceived reality.

I have a strange feeling that these kinds of people have caused a lot of problems in our struggles for a fair and rational society. Perhaps we should mimic the pod people and point and scream whenever we discover them.

[MissB]

2. They were put there to test our faith.

Seriously.

[intheflow]

Yep.

That's what my recovering fundie boyfriend told me, too.

[Freedom_from_Chains]

31. Well am I ever surprised

I thought for sure they would be part of a big evil liberal conspiracy.

[BrklynLiberal]

3. Planted there by the Clintons

[Proud2BAmurkin]

LOL snort!

hahaha

[kittenpants]

8. lol

[Sugarbleus]

22. LOL...n/t

[NightTrain]

4. I thought fundies WERE dinosaur fossils!

:evilgrin:

[donheld]

42. "I thought fundies WERE dinosaur fossils!" If only

since when have you heard any fossils fuss as much as they do?

[Journeyman]

5. Someone told me they call them . . .

Jesus ponies.

[sarcasmo]

37. Wacko Jacko calls it Jesus Juice, so I guess Jesus ponies will do.

[xray s]

6. God's joke on us all

he has one weird sense of humor.

seriously, they can't explain it.

[InfoMinister]

7. They Point Out Fossilized Trees That Didn't Take Millions of Years...

to change into fossils. At least that's what I saw on the religious channel when a "scientist" came on there and talked about it. He also said that during the middle ages they fought dinosaurs and called them dragons.

[Proud2BAmurkin]

13. "fought dinosaurs and called them dragons"?

:wtf:

[InfoMinister]

17. I'm Just Repeating What The Guy Said

He said that the legends about the sea monsters that explorers saw in ships and the legends about the knights fighting dragons were in fact dinosaurs that lived during the same time as humans.

[Blue-Jay]

9. JESUS HORSES!

[Cleita]

11. I read someplace, but sorry I don't have a source,

that they were created in the seven days of creation like everything else, but they don't exist today. Maybe one of the Creationism sites can verify this. I don't feel like researching this particular thing because I am digging through other stuff right now

[Proud2BAmurkin]

16. So they think they lived 6000 years ago?

.

[thefloyd]

12. One of my fundie friends says the bible mentions

"great beasts that once romed on the earth". I have no clue what verse.

[Sugarbleus]

24. Yeah, I heard that one. The Great Behemoths and man

dwelled among them ALL AT THE SAME TIME. Why the Dinos disappeared completely and man didn't :shrug: Perhaps they didn't fit in Noah's Ark?? LOL

But................I like the "Clinton planted them" theory the best.

[fresnobill314]

14. Ask Noah!

I suppose they are the ones that didn't get on the ark.

[porphyrian]

18. They were put there by Satan...!

...to fool people into believing something other than a strict interpretation of the mis-translated fundamentalist version of the Bible. Well, only the selected parts they want you to believe.

[somnior]

20. Eh

It varies depending on who is asked.

The "explanations" I've seen most frequently are:

1) God put them there to test faith.
2) The devil did it.
3) Dinosaurs (as evil god-hating scientists call them) are creatures that existed in some form before the flood and their fossils are all that remain.

[havocmom]

21. Google ' creationism museums ' for kicks & giggles

or just start here
http://www.creationism.org/

Been trying to find a site I saw three years ago about a guy named Baugh in Texas who was making a 'museum' and also held workshops so you could make your own and prove that the bible is 100%, literally correct. I think he may have been the guy to put human footprints in the riverbed along side the dinosaur prints to prove his point, but I am not positive.

He did have the workshops, though. Really wish I was a decent liar so I could have gone to one and pulled off being a Kool Aid drinkin fool so I could have gone to a workshop. All the giggling would have given me away.

edited to add: OK here is something about Baugh
http://creationanswers.net/currents/BAUGH1.HTM

<snip> Then in the mid-1980's, after some erosion along the Paluxy, a red stain began to become visible around some of the footprints. Some scientists claimed this reddish stain was evidence that the purported human prints were actually dinosaur prints. John Morris looked into this issue and after visiting Paluxy to see the stain, agreed that they may not be human and could be dinosaur prints. Thus, John Morris subsequently took his book mentioned above off the market and in 1986 John Morris published an ICR Impact article (number 151) explaining how the footprints had changed their appearance due to erosion and other unknown processes and that he was retracting his previous position. After that time, ICR no longer used the argument of there being human footprints with dinosaur footprints at Glen Rose. After ICR changed its position on the issue, Films for Christ took the film "Footprints in Stone" off the market and no longer allowed it to be shown anywhere. ICR stopped promoting the idea of human footprints in Glen Rose, while many other creationists, especially individuals with degrees in science, backed away on the issue, out of caution. Today, a number of leading credentialed creationists are still reluctant to believe in human footprints in the Glen Rose area.

<snip> During the unfolding of these events Carl Baugh took opportunity to purchase land in Glen Rose and set up the Creation Evidences Museum. By the time ICR backed off on the human footprints issue, Carl Baugh and the Creation Evidences Museum had already gained significant notoriety from promotion of the human footprints at the Paluxy. So, Carl Baugh parted company with most other creationists on certain issues and has promoted some ideas quite different from those of other leading creationists, especially those with degrees in the sciences. Mainstream creationist researchers have exercised a great deal of caution regarding the Paluxy footprints and have often not favorably reacted to Baugh's model of the Preflood Earth. Baugh continues to confidently defend ideas that mainstream creationists question.

<snip>The Paluxy river area is very well known in the secular scientific community for both the dinosaur footprints there and the controversy regarding human prints. Anyone in the fields of geology or paleontology would have heard of the claim of fossil human footprints near Glen Rose, Texas. This is a claim that was not and is not taken seriously at all by most university professors and scientists. Indeed there have been a number of well known evolutionist scientists who have investigated the Paluxy "man-tracks" in order to discredit the creationist claims. In years past, before ICR, there were some cases of carved tracks, which dishonest individuals made to sell, for instance. The efforts from some evolutionist scientists have also apparently included deliberate destruction of certain prints discovered by creationists.

http://www.creationism.org/cem/

[G_j]

23. what do they say about carbon dating?

just curious, if anyone knows..

[Sugarbleus]

26. It's a SIN to date a Carbon!!

:eyes:

[walldude]

32. They say Carbon Dating is not proven to be accurate.

Basically they say whatever it takes to "prove" their theory. Science has nothing to do with it.

[onager]

28. Stegosaurus spotted on Noah's Ark!

Well, at the Institute for Creation Research in San Diego, anyhow.

The Noah's Ark room is crafted to make one feel as though one is below deck on the great ship. Sounds of wind, thunder, and creaking boards add to the effect, and a carefully painted mural one sees in perspective upon entering gives one the unmistakable impression of looking down an immensely long row of animal stalls.

Is that the back of a stegosaurus we see in one of the stalls? Yes, our guide explained, dinosaurs were certainly on board the Ark, since the Bible tells us that Noah took two of every kind of animal.

Another wall includes reproductions of dozens of sketches and descriptions from explorers who claimed to have glimpsed or uncovered portions of the remains of the Ark. Part of ICR's "scientific research" is to continue that search.

And this atheist must say--keep on keeping on, wackos! The more time you spend looking for a non-existent boat, the less time you have to establish your theocracy here in JesusLand. And there's always the chance you'll get an opportunity to convert some Muslims, hopefully some heavily armed ones.

More fun with fundamentalism here...

http://www.positiveatheism.org/writ/pennock.htm

[karlrschneider]

29. I worked with my dad off and on for years around Paluxy in oil fields

when I was a kid back in the 50s. He drilled more than 50 oil wells in the area, and I recall seeing the "mantracks" way before Baugh got involved...they are clearly NOT human footprints (my dad was an eminently qualified geologist and a bit of a somewhat amateur paleontologist) I have some pictures we took somewhere, probably in my mom's attic...I should rummage through that stuff and see if I can find them. One of these days I need to drive down there again and see :wtf: is it with that 'museum'...(I still get some royalties/residuals from those oil wells, but they're pretty much dried up by now)

[havocmom]

62. Hey, let us know if you make that trip or find the pictures! Cool !

Yeah, the footprints were there first, but there used to be a site up where they offered workshops on how to make more so people could have them in their areas too! The amazing thing is even when they come up with 'evidence' that wasn't there, they still believe it and can sell it to others.

Would be cool if you found your dad's photos. Let us know, OK?

Oh, and let us not forget about that book in the shop at the Grand Canyon about how it is only 4000-6000 years old. The US Parks employees were REALLY pissed about having to put that one on their shelves! It is like saying: The US government endorses this really bad science as fact. The overworked, underpaid public servants trying to teach people at the Canyon sure appreciate THAT kind of backup from the wackos in charge of things.

[yellowcanine]

67. Hey! Just like Kent Hovind - Carl Baugh revised his "dissertation"

A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education

Submitted to Pacific College of Graduate Studies, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, and Poplar Bluff, Missouri, U.S.A.

By Carl Edward Baugh

Fall, 1989

This offering subordinates and recalls an earlier dissertation on Anthropology and Religious Motivation submitted December, 1986 with a view toward enlargement of scope and academic material.

Copyright © by Carl E. Baugh, 1989


Funny - I didn't know one could revise a doctoral dissertation after the fact. I did hear about a master's student who was so embarrassed by his master's thesis that he stole the library copy and destroyed it.

[havocmom]

70. Just another case of editing the past to suit the agenda?

Or is he just a 'flip-flopper'?

[misanthrope]

25. Deception...

...of Satanic origin.

[uberotto]

27. Pre-Processed Oil Reserves...

Apparently, it takes god quite a long time to turn biological in to black gold.

I've had one fundie tell me that Dinosaurs existed during the Creation period, and were removed from existence by God when he created man. I guess if you can believe in a loving, caring, jealous, vindictive, cruel, just god, you can believe in anything...

[Kerrytravelers]

33. Liberal propaganda, pure and simple.

I'm quoting Archie Bunker here. :eyes:

[jdj]

34. you don't want to know, see, because I have this book, see, and

it's called "A guide to the Awesome Works of God's creation."

this is how they explain dinosaurs: Noah had two of each on the ark. After the flood, he set 'em loose, but people hunted them because they though they were dragons (I guess fundies think dragons are worse than dinosaurs...a fine distinction, but nevertheless) and so they all got hunted to extinction, and the fossils ended up laying wherever the hunters shot 'em (presumably with arrows, although I don't think any arrowheads have been found along dinosaur fossils, have they?).

[depakid]

36. Check out dinosaur adventureland

Darwin free fun for the whole family!

http://www.wehaitians.com/darwin%20free%20fun%20for%20creationists.html

[DuaneBidoux]

39. Not to mention the Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthal

and in roughly descending order:

Homo habilis
Homo antecessor
Homo ergaster
Australopithecus robustus
Australopithecine gracile
Australopithecus boisei
Australopithecus aethiopicus
Australopithecus africanus
Australopithecus afarensis


Best bet? Don't think about it too hard.

[KC_25]

40. I proudly call myself a Christian.

I have no doubt in my mind that Dinosaurs walked the earth millions of years ago.

I also have no doubt that God Created Heaven and Earth.

I know that I am a sinner, regardless of my faith. ALL humans, in my belief, are sinners.

However, we as Christians, are supposed to love all. Invite all. Take care of all.

How, you ask, do I justify dinosaurs with my belief?

Time construct.
What is a "day" to God?
Is the Bible the literal translation of the Word of God?

The Bible is the Word of God, according to man (as in written by man).

As to "fundie christians"

I as a Christian, have certain fundemental beliefs. In other words, in my faith, and my belief, Christ is the way into Heaven. That he is the Son of God. If you do not believe that, I should try and convince you that you should. I however, will not, It is your right to believe, or not to believe, as you see fit.

Gay? Lesbian? Murderer? Liar? Adulter? Communist? Socialist? Democrat? Republican? Human?

We are all equal in Gods eyes. We all are deserving of His Grace, all we need to do is ask. Does this make me better than you? No, I am surely still a sinner. We all sin...sin is an error.

Just meh 2 cents on it

[ChairOne]

44. The lack of ability for moral discernment is typical of bible-thumpers...

... For example, they see no difference between murderers and Democrats, or between adulterers and gay people.

It's really one of the most pure forms of nihilism possible. Bible-thumpers are far more deserving of that appellation than, say, Nietzsche ever was. Just goes to show - PR is worth a lot.

[KC_25]

45. what are you trying to imply?

"For example, they see no difference between murderers and Democrats, or between adulterers and gay people."

They should also see no difference between themselves and murderers..

or themselves and gay folks....

there is no difference...we are all human,

If you aren't Christian does that make you better than me in your belief?


edited for the quotation marks

[ChairOne]

46. I think my post stands on its own....

... and even if you don't see any differences between things in the world, would you at least humor the rest of us hell-bound, and put quotation marks around statements that aren't yours?

Thanks much!

[KC_25]

48. well...

apparently {quote} {/quote} doesnt work..
I apologize..

rest of post self edited

[ChairOne]

50. I *know* moral discernment isn't an issue for you - lol

That is after all what prompted my original post - LOL

I have no idea what lead you to the conjecture that the Death Penalty (why are we capitalizing that?) as a topic would lead me to say something different than when dinosaur fossils are the topic...

Hell, I'm not even sure where, precisely, I was being venomous. I suppose that's to some degree in the eye of the beholder, but lots of folks around here have seen me a lot worse...

You seem to think I have it out *specifically* for christians. That is false. I have it out for anyone who takes from man what is properly man's. Abstractly, it's the same issue as Congress abdicating their responsibilities by giving gdub a blank war check.

I don't recall ever saying, suggesting, or implying anywhere at anytime under any circumstances that I wouldn't allow you to state your beliefs. Can you please jog my memory for me? Thanks!

Re: going to hell. You're right. I totally made that up. I'm sure there's a fair bit of information freely available on the internet concerning the use of hyperbole as a literary device. You're welcome to examine it.

This is one of those fortunate times where there's no need for you to "guess what {I'm} telling {you}" - you can actually read what I told you, and know for sure.

EDIT: I have no idea where those last italics came from...
EDIT EDIT: Oh I see now - should be fixed.

[KC_25]

53. I wasnt guessing

You were trying to imply that I see gays as adulterers and just as guilty so on and so forth..

I wasn't.

I didnt mean too, if I did.

My point,was that WE ALL ARE EQUAL.

maybe I should learn to be more eloquent..or post when I am less tired.


I shall edit my other post as I was angry without truly understanding..
ni ill will..

and why doesn't {quote}{/quote} work?

[ChairOne]

54. And I quote: "So, I guess what you are telling me..."

A similar quote (of yours) can be dragged out clearly implying the equivalence of murderers and gays. That the equivalence uses god as a middleman is merely a rhetorical subterfuge, and is of no moment.

It's not about eloquence. It's about acknowledging the parentage of one's own words, and not letting them live their lives as bastards.

If your "angry" post was directed at me, you needn't bother - I'm quite thick-skinned, and would never, say, run whining to the mods about somebody being mean to me on the internet...

I have no idea why quote tags don't work. I just use the keyboard quote key. You keep trying though.

[KC_25]

56. with this, I say goodnight

"Not letting them live their lives as bastards?"

I am sorry, but you are attaching a meaning to words, that were certainly mine, that was not there. I was not equating gay with murder any more than I was gay with human or straight with murder. There were no sublte undertones, and no malicious intent. How could I have stated it so that it would not have set off your radar?
What is the correct answer, order, comparisons for you to accept that I believe that all are equal in God's eyes and meant simply no more or no less than that?
My beliefs are my beliefs and I have no need to defend them to you. As you have no need to defend yours to me. What I do have the need to defend is the attachment of meaning to them that was not there.


I need to go bed now.

Goodnight

edited for mispells and grammer

[ChairOne]

57. lol - g'nite! /eom

[pauliedangerously]

49. Whatchoo talkin' 'bout, Willis?

"If you aren't Christian does that make you better than me in your belief?" (notice how I used quotes)

When was that ever implied? Why would you even care? YOU'RE the one who is going to heavan.

YOU'RE better.

Feel better?

[KC_25]

51. Sure...

self edit

[pauliedangerously]

59. That's great...

I don't know what you wrote at first, but as long as you feel good about yourself, no-one else's opinion really matters.

I don't think in terms of "better" because there's no such ruler and no such measurement when it comes to people. You stated that in the prior post and I agree with you.

Sorry if I came across as a snot; it was an outburst that arose from past experiences.

Peace.

[begin_within]

41. They point to each one and say whether they are first or second cousins.

[Dunedain]

47. I asked my sister that question

She said she would pray for my damned and tortured soul.

[Stirk]

55. God put them there to fuck with our heads.

I've been told that, anyway. How one reconciles that with the idea that god is just, kind, and loving is beyond me. Sounds more like a mean-spirited 3rd grader with an antfarm.

Meh, if you cared about consistency you wouldn't be a fundamentlist in the first place.

[yellowcanine]

64. Creation with "apparent age" - AKA "Adam had a belly button"

What I think is the most hilarious explanation (but probably the most honest) is that the world was created by God with "apparent age." In other words, God created the fossils and geological features to make it appear that the earth was old. Likewise Adam and Eve were created as adults complete with useless navels. Why God would want to "trick" us is not explained. It requires a very cynical view of God and one that sees God as not having any respect for his creation, let alone viewing it as "good."

[DemBones DemBones]

58. With ridiculous but creative answers they learned at church.

Thank God I was not born into a fundy family. I would not have been amenable to the conditioning.

[noonwitch]

60. When I taught Sunday school (in a liberal church), the kids always asked

"Are there Dinosaurs in the Bible?". I always referred them to the Book of Job, because God, in his response to Job's complaints, describes all of His accomplishments. He describes beasts that could be dinosaurs.

I never get into that argument with fundamentalists. They have some argument about the "bad science" of radiocarbon dating, and as I know very little about the process, I'm not going to try to argue that issue with them. I prefer to argue with them about interpretatin of scripture, as I do know a great deal about the Bible.

[mwb970]

61. Sometimes they use a "scientific" approach.

I had one fundie give me a very elaborate calculation involving the total dinosaur body mass and the energy content of coal, plus some other stuff. I think he was saying that "fossil fuels" couldn't actually be from fossils. (He was a 6000-year man, of course.)

[yellowcanine]

66. Wow - I knew fundies were old farts but 6000 years old? Heh.

I am a 3.5 billion year man myself.

[tsuki]

63. AH HA! This answer I know.

A sixth grade teacher (?) in our area told his class when quizzed by the A student on the same question that the devil placed the bones in the earth to fool the "faithful."

[yellowcanine]

65. I guess they don't believe their own Bible when it says God created the

Heavan and the Earth. Doesn't say one thing about the Devil having the ability to make dinosaur bones or carve out a Grand Canyon through millions of years of deposited sediment (also apparently put there by that pesky Devil. What a guy!)

[coffeenap]

71. No, no, the Grand Canyon was part of the flood,

at least as told to me by my Jehovah's Witness in-law and niece, and nephew, and, oH, there are just too many in my family to name. Help!

[WoodrowFan]

68. several things

Depends on the fundy, they can be..

1. fakes by scientists.
2. a trick of the devil.
3. a test from God.
4. Animals drowned in the flood.
5. creatures from the period of chaos before man was created.
6. still around in deep jungles (the Loch Ness monster is one too).

[mtnester]

69. What I have been told - If God wanted us to know what fossils

were really about, he would have written it down, so it must not be meant for us to know anything about, or important for us to know why God put them where he did..it is just not for us to know.

This, from an otherwise well read, environmentally sensitive, bright, smiling Mom of about 35. You would have never believed this came out of her mouth, but it did. Her hubby piped right in with the same agreement.

And this came from her mouth after we had moved the discussion from how to prolong a man and woman's...ahem...gratification, a conversation she initiated. So it was REALLY bizarre and unexpected.

[coffeenap]

72. A schlolar friend of mine says that if you don't believe in science,

then your computer is not allowed to work, and neither is your cell phone.;-)