Young Earth Creationism is a belief that the world was made in six literal days and is less than 10,000 years old. Some versions of this belief apparently promote the notion that God created evidence of a universe that is 14 billion years old, of an Earth that is 4.5 billion years old, and of evolving life on this planet. But this was created purely for the reason of testing our ability to deny that evidence in favor of what this minority calls faith.
In The Language of God, Francis Collins addresses claims such as this patiently, though not without a hint of exasperation. He offers compelling evidence for the Big Bang, evolution, and God. He disputes this Creationist "image of God as a cosmic trickster." At least, he says, these Young Earth Creationists are now admitting the evidence. That's progress from a history of denying it. It is also, he says, perhaps "the ultimate admission of defeat for the Creationist perspective."*
This insistence that God must follow our own nostalgic perceptions of how a Creator behaves is somewhat baffling. I alternate between shrugging it off as another example of Christian nincompoopery and fuming over what it does to our collective witness. Presenting God as the prime deceiver seems blasphemous.
But this distorted view of God may help make sense of another source of bewilderment. I have lamented the church's penchant for lying. But if God deceives, then we, created in God's image, can (should?) embrace deceit. Endless deception can be viewed as evidence of godliness, not just a liability to be tolerated. If God deceives, so should we!
Does this explain how so many, in the name of truth, have embraced the lies? Might a Great Deceiver demand that we endorse "the country’s most accomplished trickster"** for the highest office in our land?
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Your thoughts are welcome! I'll try not to flinch if there are nasty ones, which I understand are fairly common nowadays.