I simply don’t get it…

There was a news article today which stated that the world’s oldest human footprints were discovered:

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,501325,00.html

According to the article :

Early humans had feet like ours and left lasting impressions in the form of 1.5 million-year-old footprints, some of which were made by feet that could wear a size 9 men’s shoe.

The findings at a Northern Kenya site represent the oldest evidence of modern-human foot anatomy. They also help tell an ancestral story of humans who had fully transitioned from tree-dwellers to land walkers.

“In a sense, it’s like putting flesh on the bones,” said John Harris, an anthropologist with the Koobi Fora Field School of Rutgers University. “The prints are so well preserved.”

I posted this article to my facebook account and shortly thereafter I got a reply from a devout fundamentalist Catholic friend of mine and the debate went like so (I changed his name because it’s really not necessary to post it here):

Friend at 8:52am February 27

I remember when they found Big Foot’s footprints too.
These dates they come up with are about as scientific as my kids guessing how many jelly beans are in the jar. Don’t be gullible.

Scott Springer at 8:53am February 27

yes, it makes more sense to believe that the world was created a few thousand years ago and that humans and dinosaurs lived together in harmony.

Friend  at 8:56am February 27

Makes more sense than researchers making up dates and calling it “science”. It is an insult to anyone with a brain.

Scott Springer at 8:59am February 27

riightt… it’s crazy that scientists would be try to put a date on something using scientific methods. Truly an insult to anyone with a brain.

But telling people that the world is a few thousand years old and that a book that has been re-written dozens of times is “the truth”… nothing insulting to anyone with a brain about that I suppose.

Friend  at 9:03am February 27

What scientific method did they article say they used? That’s the point. They AREN’T using ANY “scientific” method. I’m sorry you don’t get it. But they are lying to us. There is zero evidence that the world is millions of years old.
Funny how the great barrier reef is only 4 thousand years old though….hmmmm. Yeah, what I’m asking you to believe is CRAZY. My apologies. Believe the liars instead. They want the best for you. I’m sure of it.

Scott Springer at 9:09am February 27

of course. Let’s ignore things like carbon dating and fossil records and evolution. There’s clearly no evidence to support that. We’ll just rely on the stories handed down for two thousand years that use “magic” to explain everything. That’s much more grounded in fact.

Religion = good, only want the best for you & never lies.

Science = bad. Liars.

Friend  at 9:12am February 27

The age of the great barrier relief is religion and magic?
And dating things by the “theory” of evolution is science?
Never mind. I’m wasting my breath.

Scott Springer at 9:14am February 27

Well [Friend], how are you getting the date of the Great Barrier Reef? I’m assuming there was some scientific method for getting that date, right?

Incidentally [Friend]:

‘Coral Facts:

The world’s first coral reefs occurred about 500 million years ago, and the first closeAerial Picture of a coral reef relatives of modern corals developed in southern Europe about 230 million years ago. By comparison, the Great Barrier Reef is relatively young at just 500,000 years old. The current reef’s structure is much younger at less than around 8,000 years old.”

500,000 years old. Not 4000.

source: http://www.barrierreefaustralia.com/the-great-barrier-reef/coralfacts.ht

And I just don’t get it.

First, how can he make the claim that the Great Barrier Reef is 4000 years old?  I’m pretty sure there is no reference to the reef in the bible, so in order to make a claim about it’s age he had to be going by some kind of scientific measurement… the same kind of scientific measurements used to determine the age of the footprints or the dinosaurs or what have you.  So obviously he’s not adverse to trying to use science to suit his own ends, to support his belief in the Bible.   But use that same science to show the Earth is not just a few thousand years old and he’s calling them a bunch of liars who are out to scam people.

And I simply don’t get it.

Why are these people so desperate to cling to their mythology that they will actively ignore science in favor of superstition?

I simply don’t get it…