Title Author Date

Public Debate Yakuboff, Keith Mar 16, 2008

Why doesn't someone who can adequately represent your point of view challenge Dr. Ross to a public debate? As it stands now, each of you have your own fora where you can spout your views unchallenged. If you're right, having a debate open to public scrutiny would discredit Hugh Ross and put the matter to rest, no?

Keith

Title Author Date

Public Debate TalkReason , Mar 16, 2008

Mr. Keith Yakouboff:

We appreciate your letter and the suggestion to invite Hugh Ross to participate in a public debate. Perhaps you are not familiar with the history of the creationism vs. science confrontation. Public debates, like the one you suggest, have taken place many times. For example, on February 15 of this year one of our frequent contributors, Dr. Mark Perakh, debated the prominent ID advocate Michael Behe on TV, on the program hosted by Larry Kane of Comcast TV in Philadelphia, PA. Many more public debates in various formats have been carried out with the participation of ID advocates from one side and defenders of genuine science from the other side (like the debate between Dr. Niall Shanks and Dr. William Dembski at the University of California, Los Angeles; the debate at the
Biola University where five prominent advocates of ID argued their case against five opponents of ID, and many more similar events that have taken place over the years). Therefore your suggestion looks like waving hands after the fight is over. Even more important is the fact that creationists of all stripes can always respond to critique in writing, which certainly is a much better way to discuss the issues than an oral debate where the limited time forces the debaters to compete in sound bites rather than offering detailed and substantial arguments. Specifically, the writings of Hugh Ross were analyzed in various posts and articles, where, besides debunking his creationist ideas, his (amazing for a PhD) ignorance of elementary concepts of physics and of the Hebrew language (which he took the liberty of discussing lacking in fact any knowledge of it) was pointed to. Hugh Ross has never replied to that critique; he has had ample opportunity to do so without engaging in an oral debate, which anyway hardly can be of interest given the actual level
of his discourse.

Best wishes,

Talk Reason

Title Author Date

Public Debate Yakuboff, Keith May 15, 2008

You wrote: "Perhaps you are not familiar with the history of the creationism vs. science confrontation."

Evidently I am not. I'd never heard of these debates. Is there any record of them? I'd love to see/read/hear an unedited version of them. Is
that possible?

Thanks.

Title Author Date

Public Debate TalkReason , May 15, 2008

Dear Keith:

Perhaps you are familiar with Google, are you not? Just search for "Evolution-creation debate," and you'll find links to the records of various debates that took place in the course of recent years.

Talk Reason administration