Mark Finley is echoing what Cliff Goldstein has said: …

Comment on GYC Q&A addresses universities who hire and protect evolutionists by David Read.

Mark Finley is echoing what Cliff Goldstein has said: If you are a Darwinist, have some integrity and go teach at a public university where Darwinism is the norm. But we know these folks won’t do that. First, it has taken them years to get a foothold in our system, to get control of a biology department in an Adventist university. It took years of maneuvering and conspiring, under the guiding hand of Larry Geraty, to accomplish this, and you can be certain that they won’t just walk away.

Moreover, they believe what they believe as strongly as we believe what we believe. They believe that Darwinism is rather obviously the true history of life on this planet, and that it is damaging to our young people to allow them to take literally the Genesis narrative, which to them is very obviously not to be taken literally. They believe they know the truth, and, as Randal Wisbey has stated, that they will be doing a service to the SDA church by helping it to incorporate this new scientific truth—evolution of life forms over the course of hundreds of millions of years—into Adventist theology and doctrine.

So Mark Finley and Cliff Goldstein can fantasize all they want to about these people having intellectual integrity, and resigning, but it is not going to happen. First, they worked, planned, and schemed very hard to get where they are. Second, they believe that disabusing our young people of an untenable “fundamentalist” understanding of Genesis is a great service, and absolutely the right thing to do. So, no, these people will not resign. They are going to have to be fired, terminated, canned, sacked, etc.

Likewise, Don Schneider’s approach isn’t going to work either. He says that he can sit down and talk privately with people and convince that they aren’t having fun in church employment because they don’t support the mission of the church. Then they voluntarily agree to find something else where they will have more fun, thus relieving Schneider of the need to take any formal action. Well think about it. If I were teaching creationism in a biology, geology, or paleontology class at a major public university, I would be having the time of my life. I can’t imagine anything that would be more gratifying than holding the Charleses (Lyell and Darwin) up to public ridicule in a hostile environment. Now put the shoe on the other foot, and remember that they believe what they believe as strongly as we believe what we believe. Don’t you think those guys at LaSierra are having a blast spreading the gospel of Darwinism to a crop of young kids unprepared to face that assault in an SDA setting, and probably unequipped to counter the arguments of their professor? I think they’re having a great time. So, no, Don Schneider, you’re not going to be able to convince these folks that they aren’t having fun. Again, these people are going to have to be fired, terminated, canned, sacked, given the heave ho, etc. and looking at this crop of administrators, I don’t see any of them, with the possible exception of Ted Wilson, who have the intestinal fortitude necessary for that distasteful duty.

David Read Also Commented

GYC Q&A addresses universities who hire and protect evolutionists
@Bob Pickle: At this time, chrystal clarity is not to the advantage of the Seventh-day Darwinian party. Expect more avoidance and obfuscation. It is to their advantage to soft-pedal their Darwinism and continue to promote the idea that things are not so bad, and that the people like Shane and Sean are irresponsible wingnuts with a far right-wing agenda. The truth is that things are worse than most people know. The problem is not limited to LaSierra. The Darwinist party is active at several institutions. But it is currently only at LaSierra that the Darwinist party is in complete control, deeply intrenched, and has been for several years.


Recent Comments by David Read

The Reptile King
Poor Larry Geraty! He can’t understand why anyone would think him sympathetic to theistic evolution. Well, for starters, he wrote this for Spectrum last year:

“Christ tells us they will know us by our love, not by our commitment to a seven literal historical, consecutive, contiguous 24-hour day week of creation 6,000 years ago which is NOT in Genesis no matter how much the fundamentalist wing of the church would like to see it there.”

“Fundamental Belief No. 6 uses Biblical language to which we can all agree; once you start interpreting it according to anyone’s preference you begin to cut out members who have a different interpretation. I wholeheartedly affirm Scripture, but NOT the extra-Biblical interpretation of the Michigan Conference.”

So the traditional Adventist interpretation of Genesis is an “extra-Biblical interpretation” put forward by “the fundamentalist wing” of the SDA Church? What are people supposed to think about Larry Geraty’s views?

It is no mystery how LaSierra got in the condition it is in.


The Reptile King
Professor Kent says:

“I don’t do ‘orgins science.’ Not a single publication on the topic. I study contemporary biology. Plenty of publications.”

So, if you did science that related to origins, you would do it pursuant to the biblical paradigm, that is pursuant to the assumption that Genesis 1-11 is true history, correct?


The Reptile King
Well, Jeff, would it work better for you if we just closed the biology and religion departments? I’m open to that as a possible solution.


The Reptile King
Larry Geraty really did a job on LaSierra. Personally I think it is way gone, compromised beyond hope. The SDA Church should just cut its ties to LaSierra, and cut its losses.

As to the discussion on this thread, round up the usual suspects and their usual arguments.


La Sierra University Resignation Saga: Stranger-than-Fiction
It is a remarkably fair and unbiased article, and a pretty fair summary of what was said in the recorded conversation.