Ancient skeleton > evolution debate

[Dr. Shane]

Ancient boy's skeleton sparks evolution debate

Quote:

Deep in the dusty, unlit corridors of Kenya's national museum, locked away in a plain-looking cabinet, is one of mankind's oldest relics: Turkana Boy, as he is known, the most complete skeleton of a prehistoric human ever found.

But his first public display later this year is at the heart of a growing storm -- one pitting scientists against Kenya's powerful and popular evangelical Christian movement. The debate over evolution vs. creationism -- once largely confined to the United States -- has arrived in a country known as the cradle of mankind.

"I did not evolve from Turkana Boy or anything like it," says Bishop Boniface Adoyo, head of Kenya's 35 evangelical denominations, which he claims have 10 million followers. "These sorts of silly views are killing our faith."

He's calling on his flock to boycott the exhibition and has demanded the museum relegate the fossil collection to a back room -- along with some kind of notice saying evolution is not a fact but merely one of a number of theories...

Followers of creationism believe in the literal truth of the Genesis account in the Bible that God created the world in six days. Bishop Adoyo believes the world was created 12,000 years ago, with man appearing 6,000 years later. He says each biblical day was equivalent to 1,000 Earth years.

Adoyo's evangelical coalition is the only religious group voicing concern about the exhibition...

For most of the Christian world, they may see this story as an evolution v. creation story. However for Adventists, I would think we would see something disturbing about this bishop (presumably Catholic) just wanting to hide evidence that seems to disagree with his religious beliefs, which really aren't even Biblical.

[bevin]

Quote:

"I did not evolve from Turkana Boy or anything like it," says Bishop Boniface Adoyo, head of Kenya's 35 evangelical denominations, which he claims have 10 million followers. "These sorts of silly views are killing our faith."

I doubt he is Roman Catholic - the RC's are actually fully accepting of the theory of evolution as a viable scientific theory.

It is the evangelical protestants who are sufficiently anti-mind anti-science anti-logic to a take this kind of stance

I agree, such suppression of countrary evidence is bad

/Bevin

[Dr. Shane]

Apparently Bishop Boniface Adoyo belongs to the Nairobi Pentecostal Church. It is still disturbing. Rather than wanting to find a plausible, scientific explanation, he seeks to hide the evidence. It is like the priests paying the Roman soldiers to say they fell asleep.