more on Marcus Ross

February 25th, 2007
Opinion, epistemology, religion

The case of the PhD paleontologist and young earth creationist, Marcus Ross, is still being debated among the science blogs types, including Larry Moran and Janet Stemwedel. In “Scientific and unscientific conclusions: now with pictures“, Janet gives us an interesting analysis.   I find the Marcus Ross case interesting if simply because I find it difficult to “believe” in one thing but to think and act contrary to that belief. But in the widely discussed Marcus Ross case, I’m not sure all possibilities are being considered. To begin with, we cannot know for sure what Marcus Ross actually believes, either about his scientific work, or his personal religious beliefs. What he says may be quite different from what he thinks. It may, one way or another, be a blatant lie - very intentional. And it may simply be for entirely self-regarding purposes. Certainly the intellectual conflict between “being” a paleontologist and young earth creationist has created a degree of celebrity status for Mr (Dr) Ross! And that in its own right is of greater value (to some) than being simply one or the other! This is another example of the “doctrine of equivocation”. It may not matter at all to Mr. Ross one way or the other except that he has increased his notoriety - to his own benefit (which remains to be seen). For example, authoring a book - any book is sure to generate some advance sales based on this controversy! And, so long as he continues to profess his creationist belief, he is assured a nice tenured venue at Liberty University all the way to retirement! Not a bad deal at all. He can take that all the way to the bank. While this mercenary use of his PhD may be despicable to the Ivory Tower purists, this is very common. My favorite example is lawyers. After four years of jurisprudence study, they quickly learn that the objective is to win - at any cost. They divorce themselves so throughly from any ethical or moral judgment about their client or the opposition they can win at all costs! If you think you’ll find justice in a court room, you’re sorely mistaken! The bottom line is mercenary. Morally reprehensible, but profitable. Such is life!

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