Planting seeds for
creation
Planting seeds for
creation
[An excerpt: Planting seeds for creation by Robert Doolan]
"Botanist Dr Margaret Helder is probably the most prominent woman in creation
science. Robert Doolan finds out why.
What do seaweed and spy novels have in common? Or mushrooms and classical music?
Or oil paintings and freshwater ponds?
Answer: They are all among the interests of Dr Margaret Helder, scientist,
writer, mother of six, and Vice-President of the Creation Science Association of
Alberta, Canada.
Creationists sometimes lament that they can count the number of prominent women
creation scientists on two or three fingers, but Margaret Helder is the first
that most would name.
Her articles appear regularly in Christian publications, she has written guide
books for creationists visiting evolutionary museums, and in 1981 she was called
as an expert witness for the state of Arkansas during its creation/evolution
'balanced treatment in public schools' trial.
She regards testifying for the defense in that trial as her most unusual
adventure.
'Although I expected the creationist stance to be unpopular, I was nevertheless
amazed at the hostile treatment which the media accorded creationist testimony
and creationist credentials', she recalled...
With a degree in botany and a lifelong love of studying the biology of
freshwater ponds and lakes (limnology), Dr Helder has done extensive study on
algae and fungi. She even described and named a species of aquatic fungus new to
science—Chytridium deltanum Masters (Masters being her maiden name, and the name
under which she published the description).
Not surprisingly, her favourite evidence for creation is the complexity and
beauty of living things, including algae and fungi.
'The beauty of many algae and fungi, and their interesting life cycles,
particularly interested me in studying science. Among the algae we see plenty of
evidence of the richness and variety in creation. Similarly, examples of
all-or-nothing systems or evidences for design are myriad among living
creatures.'
Apart from algae, Dr Helder sees compelling evidence for creation in
photosynthesis, cell anatomy, alternation of hosts of certain fungus and worm
parasites, sexual reproduction in plants such as fig trees, echo-location in
bats and whales, eyes of trilobites and horseshoe crabs, anatomy and life-styles
of cephalopods (squid, cuttlefish and octopus, etc.), and the human body
(especially the immune, excretory and nervous systems).
She is concerned that evolution is so uncritically accepted among scientists.
'No matter how fantastic materialist explanations are, secular scientists refuse
to query whether the data even lend themselves to an evolutionary
interpretation. They have locked themselves into a system of explanation that
ignores the testimony of nature...'"
Planting seeds for creation, Robert Doolan.
Planting seeds for
creation