>>>>>>>>Religious belief is the result of years and years of indoctrination. I
>>>>>>>>vividly remember my first time in church, before I was 6 years old. I
>>>>>>>>thought it all arrant nonsense. It took the Christians literally years
>>>>>>>>to indoctrinate me, but it didn't readily stick, as it apparently does
>>>>>>>>with some people.
>>>>>>> Well, no wonder. Six is way too late to start the indoctrination
>>>>>>> process. You are already developing the ability to reason at six. If
>>>>>>> they aren't a Christian by three they will be an atheist by ten.
>>>>>>As a Christian I have heard several Litanies of the Church of Darwin.
>>Not really. Most of it seems to occur on talk.atheism for some
>>unknown reason.
Actually if I had to posit a young earth argument, I'd zero in on the
magnetic decay of the earth, as shown in the article below, complete
with hyperlink. The countervailing argument is that there is a
corresponding increase in the non-dipole field, but I am reliably
informed that that increase carries nowhere near enough energy to
compensate for the steadily decreasing strength of the earth's
magnetic field.
Now either we're about to see the magnetic poles flip, as the sun's do
about every eleven years (with no corresponding increase in magnetic
field strenght however), or the earth is nowhere near as old as
evolutionists need it to be to for their theory to have a snowball's
chance in hell of holding water.
I think it's no more than about 10,000 years old.
Read on.
http://evolution-facts.org/Ev-V1/1evlch06a.htm
33 MAGNETIC FIELD DECAY As you probably know, the earth has a magnetic
field. Without it, we could not use compasses to identify the
direction of magnetic north (which is close to the North Pole). Dr.
Thomas G. Barnes, a physics teacher at the University of Texas, has
authored a widely-used college textbook on electricity and magnetism.
Working with data collected over the past 135 years, he has pointed
out that earth's magnetic field is gradually decaying. Indeed, he has
shown that this magnetic field is decreasing exponentially according
to a decay law similar to the decay of radioactive substances.
"During the past 150 years, the magnetic field has declined in
strength by 10 percent. If the decline continues at this rate, the
field will reach zero in about 1,500 years." "The strength of today's
[geomagnetic] field, for instance, seems to be decreasing by about
seven percent each century." *Roberta Conlan, Frontiers of Time
(1991), pp. 15, 21.
"It is known that the earth's magnetic field is decaying faster than
any other worldwide geophysical phenomenon. A comprehensive ESSA
Technical Report gives the values of the earth's magnetic dipole
moment (the vector which gives the strength and direction of the
magnet) ever since Karl Gauss made the first evaluation in 1835. The
evaluations have been made about every 10 or 15 years since then. Each
evaluation required accurate worldwide readings over an epoch (a year
or so) and special mathematical reduction to 'wash' out the 'noise.'
These reliable data clearly show this relatively rapid decay. The
report stated that on a straight line basis the earth's magnetic field
would be gone in the year 3991 A.D. But decay is exponential and in
this case has a half-life of 1400 years.
"A relatively recent NASA satellite preliminary report shows a rapid
decay in the earth's magnetic field. No knowledgeable scientist
debates the fact of the rapid decrease in the earth's magnetic field,
nor does he question that the associated electric current in the core
of the earth is using up energy. The present rate of loss is seven
billion kilowatt hours per year. The earth is running out of that
original energy it had in its original magnetic field. "T.G. Barnes,
"Depletion of the Earth's Magnetic Field," in Creation: the Cutting
Edge, p. 155.
In 1835 the German physicist K.F. Gauss made the first measurement of
the earth's magnetic dipole moment, that is, the strength of earth's
internal magnet. Additional evaluations have been carried out every
decade or so since then. Since 1835, global magnetism has decreased 14
percent!
On the basis of facts obtained from 1835 to 1965, this magnetic field
appears to have a half-life of 1400 years. On this basis, even 7,000
years ago the earth would have had a magnetic field 32 times stronger
than it now has. Just 20,000 years ago, enough Joule heat would have
been generated to liquefy the earth. One million years back, and the
earth would have greater magnetism than all objects in the universe,
and the earth would have vaporized! It would appear that the earth
could not be over 6,000 or 7,000 years old. (For more data on this,
see two articles by Barnes: Battle for Creation (1976), pp. 230242;
Creation: the Cutting Edge (1982), pp. 154165.)
"As the magnetic field energy decays, it is transformed into heat. The
energy involved in this hypothetical extrapolation less than 30,000
years into the past would be sufficient to heat the entire earth to
5000C (9032F] and completely vaporize it by now. The earth obviously
is not now either melted or vaporized. In the light of this analysis
of the earth's decaying magnetism observed for 130 years,
extrapolation of earth history 4.5 billion years into the past leads
to an absurdity. The evidence supports an earth history of not much
more than 10,000 years. "R. E. Wahl and K.L. Segraves, The Creation
Explanation (1975), p. 194.
This magnetic decay process is not a local process, as one would find
in a uranium mineral, but worldwide; it affects the entire earth. It
has been accurately measured for over 150 years, and is not subject to
environmental changes since it is generated deep in the earth's
interior.
"All the recent commotion about the exponential depletion of our
natural resources has singularly failed to mention that we are also
running out of a rather vital, apparently nonrenewable resource, the
Earth's magnetic field, quite rapidly." *Fredrick B. Jueneman,
"Magnetic Depletion" in Industrial Research and Development, 20(8):13
(1978).
The data pertaining to this has been carefully evaluated and checked.
"The only dependable historical data on the strength and direction of
the earth's main magnet are the evaluations which were first made by
Gauss in the 1830's and the subsequent evaluations made through
worldwide magnetic observatory collaboration every few decades
thereafter. These data show an exponential decay in the earth's
magnetic field with a half-life of only 1400 years. A solution to
Maxwell's equations for the electric currents and associated magnetic
field of the earth's magnet reveals that there is an electric current
of 6.16 billion amperes flowing in the core of the earth and a power
loss (going into heat) of 813 megawatts at the present time.
"It is obvious that this magnetic decay phenomenon could not have been
going on for more than a few thousand years, as the magnetic field
would have been implausibly large for the earth. This is strong
physical evidence that there must have been a relatively recent origin
of this electromagnet or some unknown catastrophic 'reenergizing'
event. The validity of this theoretical and observational result is
confirmed by means of an independent check, namely an evaluation of
the total magnetic energy in the earth's present field and checking it
against a hypothetical reference magnet of the same strength and
dimensions. The check is excellent, and leaves little doubt that this
physical solution is the most meaningful interpretation of the earth's
magnetic history."Thomas G. Barnes, S.I.S. Review, 2:42-46 (1977).
The problem is a serious one.
"If this decay rate persists, the earth's dipole magnet will vanish in
A.D. 3991."*Keith McDonald and *Robert Gunst, "An Analysis of the
Earth's Magnetic Field from 1835 to 1965," in ESSA Technical Report,
IER 46-IES 1(1967), p. 1.
Charts from pages 166 and 167
CLICK TO ENLARGE
Additional evidence was obtained from NASA's Magsat satellite which
orbited the earth from October 1979 to June 1980. It was designed
expressly to study earth's magnetic field. The data was analyzed by *
Robert Langel, chief project scientist, who issued the official
report.
"A satellite launched by NASA in 1979 has gathered new data on the
earth's decreasing magnetic field. Magsat, as the satellite was called
during its eight-month lifetime, measured the earth's main magnetic
field.
"The overall intensity of the earth's field was found to be declining
at a rate of 26 nanoteslas per year, with a half-life of just 830
years) Thomas Barnes' results based on earlier data gave a decay rate
of 16 nanoteslas per year and a 1400 year half-life. . Extrapolation
shows that the field strength should reach zero in 1200 years. The
earth is younger, and time later, than many think."Donald B. Deyoung,
"Decrease of Earth's Magnetic Field Confirmed, " in Creation Research
Society Quarterly, December 1980, pp. 187-188.
"If one takes the Langel projection, the earth's magnetic shield will
vanish completely in the year 3180 A.D. If one takes the projection in
a 1967 ESSA technical report, the vanishing data for the earth's
magnetic field is 3991 A.D."TG. Barnes, "Satellite Observations
Confirm the Decline of the Earth's Magnetic Field, " in Creation
Research Society Quarterly, June 1981, p. 40.
The half life of carbon 14 is approximately 5,700 years. The earth's
magnetic field is decaying about eight times faster than the rate of
decay for C-14. Yet without its magnetic field, the inhabitants of
earth would have no protection against harmful cosmic rays. Normally,
most of them are deflected by our magnetic field. But the few that
enter, produce showers of secondary rays in the atmosphere and then
head downward. They have been found in the bottom of deep lakes.
(Since it is cosmic rays which originate carbon 14 in our atmosphere,
this ongoing change in earth's magnetic field produces changes in
carbon 14 rates. This, in turn, dramatically affects C-14 clock dating
results and makes those dates unreliable.
"If one computes the magnetic field strength back in time 10 thousand
years, the earth's magnetic field would have been as strong as that of
some magnetic stars. The reasonable assumption has been made that the
earth never had a magnetic field as strong as a star's magnet.
"On the basis of an original magnetic field strength of the earth that
is less than that of a magnetic star, the origin of the earth's magnet
is less than 10 thousand years ago.
"Since there is no power generating plant in the earth, its origin
must have been at the time of creation. This means that the young
magnetic age of the earth's magnet also means a young age for the
earth itself. These conclusions are based upon the decay theory of the
earth's magnet. That is supported by (1) The real-time evaluations of
the earth's magnetic moment [from 1835 to the present]. (2) The only
rigorous theoretical explanation of the present processes in this
electromagnet. (3) Three types of independent confirmational checks on
that theory."Thomas G. Barnes, "Earth's Young Magnetic Age Confirmed,"
in Creation Research Society Quarterly, June 1986, p. 33.
None other than * Isaac Asimov agrees with the basic findings in
regard to the decay of our planet's magnetic core:
"Earth's magnetic field has been weakening. It seems to have lost 15
percent of its strength since 1687. At the present rate of decrease,
it will reach zero in 2,000 more years. Between the years 3500 and
4500, the magnetic field will not be sufficiently strong to ward off
charged radiation from outer space. "*Asimov's Book of Facts (1979),
p. 326.
Evolutionists try to defend their long ages theories with radioactive
half lives, but radioactive mineral decay rates are highly unreliable
because they are open systems, and are subject to many forms of
contamination and other factors which can change their clock
mechanisms (see chapter 7, Dating Methods). If any fundamental
planetary process ought to be a reliable indicator of the earth's age,
it should be this earth's magnetic fieldand it indicates an upper
limit of decidedly less than 10,000 years for the age of the earth.
"The facts are:
"(1) The earth's dipole magnet is located in the core of the earth
more than a thousand miles from the earth's crust (where the
observable rocks are located).
"(2) It is an electromagnet dissipating almost a billion joules of
energy per second now.
"(3) It is known to be decaying more rapidly than any other worldwide
geophysical phenomenon. If the present decaying process continues, the
magnetic field will have vanished within the extreme limits of time of
2,000 years to 11,000 years, depending upon whether one uses an
evolutionary or a creationist presupposition.
"(4) There is at present no known source of energy to re-energize the
magnet when its energy runs down to zero. One can safely say there is
no theoretical reason at present to consider anything other than a
single continuing decay process that started in the not-too-distant
past, a creation only thousands of years ago, not millions or billions
of years ago."Thomas G. Barnes, news note in Creation Research Society
Quarterly, December 1982, p. 196.
Most of the factors described above would apply to the age of the
earth, which appears to be decidedly less than 10,000 years. Most of
the following items of evidence would apply to the length of time
since the Flood, which evidence indicates may have occurred about
4,350 years ago.
http://evolution-facts.org/Ev-V1/1evlch06a.htm
