Young Earth Creationism

Thank you for accepting this challenge. First I must state that my opponent did not yet provide any evidence to support the position of young earth. I did not create this topic to debate the potential existence of a universal creator. This is strictly about the age of planet earth and the universe. I can agree that it does not necessarily have to be a literal interpretation of the bible; however, my opponent needs to do more than show that some of the science is flawed. Science does not know everything. By accepting this debate he has agreed to provide evidence to show the earth is tens of thousands of years old. I will provide evidence that shows the earth is millions to billions of years old. Now, I will offer a rebuttal to my opponent's 4 main points. Since the focus of this debate is young earth, much of his argument is irrelevant to the debate, so I will try to be quick and to the point. 1. My opponent claims that free will contradicts the natural physics of the universe. This is an interesting opinion, but can one really claim that our physical actions do not create the various situations we experience in our lives? Is that not cause and effect, but on a different level? Are we not on this planet and able to live our lives because of the law of gravity? Science does not know nearly enough about the universe to make such an assumption about free will. The same thing goes for the idea that humans are special. I am not claiming that science is all that there is or that nothing else exists. There is a good amount of phenomena that science cannot explain, but it is still fallacious to fill that gap with assumptions simply because we do not know the answer yet. 2. Again, there is a lot that we do not understand about the universe and human beings. That is, in no way shape or form, evidence to support the divine or for a creator. That is the infamous god of the gaps fallacy. Obviously, I am not saying that the concept of a creator is impossible; I am claiming that the earth and universe were not created in 6 days and that the earth is in fact millions to billions of years old. 3. My opponent seems to think that since we are able to change the world around us that we are manipulating the universe and defying the laws of physics. If you look at the macrocosm, human beings are not manipulating anything. If planet earth blew up tomorrow, most of the universe wouldn't blink an eye. It would keep moving and would still follow the laws of physics. The universe is not fine tuned to us. We are fine tuned to the universe. Both natural selection and micro evolution are hard evidence of this. Self awareness has most likely evolved in the brain slowly over time, as with most traits and features. It certainly did not just suddenly sprout up overnight as my opponent infers. Any pet cat is evidence that lower mammals can create situations where many outcomes are possible, as well as experience certain emotions. Humans are more intelligent, but is there any evidence that shows other smart mammals are not self aware? Is it impossible to think that most animals could very well have free will, but do not have the intelligence to understand it as we do? 4. I do not need to prove free will does not exist, in order to demonstrate that the earth is millions of years old or that it was created. My opponent needs to prove that free will even makes a difference to determine either of these things. My opponent's entire argument is filled with assumptions, none of which have any evidence to back them up. He seems to believe that I support the notion of a deterministic universe and nothing else, which is not true. This does not indicate that his argument is plausible in the least and is essentially god of the gaps. In order to give credibility to his position, my opponent needs to provide evidence to support the notion that: A. Humans do in fact defy the laws of physics. and B. Humans are special compared to other animals, besides just having more intelligence. AGE OF THE EARTH Here I will list several scientific facts that prove that the earth and universe are much older than most young earth creationists claim. 1. The speed of light The speed of light is measured in light years and is equal to the distance light can travel in one year. The closest galaxy to earth is around 2.5 million light years away. The furthest one discovered is just over 13 billion light years away. If the earth and universe were less than 100,000 years old, we would not be able to see a large portion of the stars and galaxies that we see in the sky, since the light would have not have reached us yet. This demonstrates that the universe is at least 13 billion years old. 2. The fossil record Palaeontologists have discovered millions of different species that have inhabited earth throughout its history. If the earth were thousands of years old, rather than billions, the earth would have been ridiculously overcrowded and sustaining life would be near impossible. Since fossils are rare, we aren't even close to knowing every single species that ever lived. This proves the earth is way more than 100,000 years old. 3. Radiometric dating This method of dating is based on the decay of radioactive isotopes in atoms. This method of dating is observable and repeatable today. There are several different methods of radiometric dating that scientists have used to date sedimentary layers and other rock formations. The oldest rock layers to contain life have been dated around 3.8 billion years ago. Read more at the link below. http://en.wikipedia.org... 4. The age of sedimentary rock layers is consistent with the type of life found. There has never been a mammal discovered in the same layer as a dinosaur, or a reptile discovered in the same layer as the early bacterial life. This is impossible on a planet that is millions of years old. If not, it would indicate that evolution is false and the fossil layers would be a huge mix of various creatures. Instead we have the layers that are dated the same, producing the same type of fossils, which is hard evidence for evolution and a billion year old earth. 5. Ice drilling. Glaciers and natural ice formations have been studied by scientists extensively. They can actually count the number of years in which they go down into the ice based on the freezing and melting point lines. The only way it would be possible to have a 10,000 year old earth with this evidence, would be if we had hundreds of winters per year, which we know is false. Drilling into the ice, we can also determine the amount of CO2 in the air at the time, which is also consistent with the type of life that inhabited the planet during that time and is also consistent with the fossil record. Summary: These 5 scientific facts provide excellent evidence to support an old earth and old universe. I have only included the basics for now, but I'd be happy to provide more details if requested or provide more examples. The burden now lies on my opponent to debunk those 5 facts, plus provide examples that indicate the earth is less than 100,000 years old. Good luck!