Human population growth

      A standard methodology that is employed by Biblical creationists is to assume that certain natural processes remain constant, even when the evidence available proves that the rates go through periods of flux. This inappropriate use of constant values proves to be convenient in creating arguments such as that of impossibly large human population growth, which, not coincidentally ‘proves' that the (contradictory) lists of genealogies and inconsistent and conflicting lists of the duration of the reigns of certain Kings in the Bible gives an accurate age for a young earth, which conveniently takes us back to a literal interpretation of the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden in Genesis, and also handily takes into account the destruction of the earth during the time of Noah's flood. That the rate of growth is chosen to fit the Bible, not the actual evidence, and that it all turns out perfectly for them is not proof of their literalist interpretation of the Bible but rather of the nature of the propaganda that passes for scientific evidence in the conservative creationist camp. This is a fine example of tweaking a mathematical equation to get the results to conform with a predetermined outcome. This is not science, but rather, once again, conservative Christian apologetics masquerading as a science, and using the language of pseudo-science to mislead those who are not scientifically literate.

     There are a number of ways to refute this pseudo-scientific approach, and it seems to me that first and foremost it would be good to refute the false dogma of Biblical inerrancy, which states that the Bible is literally infallible and inerrant as an historical document. This doctrine was rejected (ironically) by the radical school of Jewish prophets as well as by the early church, something I go to great lengths to demonstrate on this site. Any unbiased reader should be able to determine for themselves, based on the evidence presented, that the Bible is not an historical document, but rather a book of religious and even political polemic. The Bible is not consistent in ideology (not consistently conservative and reactionary) but actually represents view points from the reactionary religious right on the scene at the time of its composition and (ironically) also includes the protest writings of religious radicals who resisted them. Conservative religious reactionaries consistently refuse to give voice to the radical prophets found in the Bible, instead nullifying them and disposing of them for the sake of preserving the fiction that the Bible presents a consistent and constant endorsement of social reaction in religion, since to do otherwise would undermine the authority they claim to have been granted by God. They also nullify the scientific evidence in the same way, and twist and distort and ignore inconvenient facts, just as they twist and distort and nullify the Bible itself. When ignorance about the Bible is dispelled, the blatant propaganda of the pseudo-science of conservative reactionaries promoting ‘Biblical Creation Science' would automatically be exposed as baseless propaganda, not the singular teaching of the Bible, but rather the mishandling of the Bible by a faction of religious zealots seeking social and political control. ‘Creation science' and such distorted arguments as that of ‘uncontrolled population growth' would be exposed as just one more weapon in the propaganda arsenal of the religious right..

     The promotion of Biblical literacy should be combined with a little scientific literacy as well, since these fundamentalists posing as ‘scientists' rely heavily on public ignorance about the Bible to lend an air of credibility to their arguments concerning ‘fairness' and their demands for ‘equal time' in the science classroom for a viewpoint that is not scientific, but rather a form of religious apologetic, and this a form of religion that was actually condemned in the Bible itself. But then literal creationists do not admit the evidence from the Bible and the same principle extends to the evidence in the field or the laboratory, so exposing both of these coverups and the deceptive handling of both the Bible itself and the scientific method and data should be employed hand in hand to overturn the successful propaganda assault launched by these fundamentalist literalists in recent decades. I say successful, because statistics indicate that up to half of high school students and the general population are so lacking in the most basic of Bible literacy and consequently so unschooled in the pseudo-science employed by skillful religious propagandists in the creationist camp that they approve of giving ‘equal time' in the science classroom to the fabrications and distortions of both the Bible itself, and the scientific evidence as practiced by the evangelists masquerading as ‘scientists'.

     Distortions of evidence and outright nullification of inconvenient facts are the hallmark of both conservative interpretations of the Bible and it is not surprising that this technique carries over into their handling of scientific evidence. In using the argument of ‘population growth' to support a literal interpretation of the genealogies and lists of Kings in the Bible the social reactionaries in the church employ a similar falsification of the evidence. It is asserted that the Bible presents an internally consistent (conservative reactionary) data set, and it is asserted that a certain rate of population growth has been consistent since the time of the Adam and Even in the Garden of Eden and Noah's flood. The false claim is made that human population growth is consistent and constant, and the fact that population growth has changed dramatically in this century in line with advances in nutrition, food production, and medical science is also nullified and ignored. Balances in nature are ignored as Biblical creationists present the absurd claim that the human population would have increased by now to a fantastic number if the earth was any older than a few thousand years. There are variations in the populations of every species, and when a species increases in numbers, either food decreases or predators increase, and checks and balances are constantly at work which keep populations within certain limits. These natural forces were also at work in controlling human populations until scientific advances in the last century have allowed human populations to grow dramatically by freeing human beings from the checks and balances which had previously been the limiting factors.

      These facts are ignored by creationists, because Biblical creation science is actually not a science but instead a skillfully designed propaganda assault against science and a branch of conservative evangelism and is the product of the right wing religious political movement. A convenient rate of constant human population growth is chosen to ridicule an age of the earth any greater than a certain interpretation of the genealogical lists in the Bible would produce. That the data set is manipulated to produce only a predetermined result should be obvious, and this is not science, but rather conservative polemic masquerading as a science.