Creationists are in denial of facts backed by science

Editor,

Andres Saenz thinks the Great Pyramids in Egypt were built by enslaved Israelites. I don't think so. The Great Pyramids of Giza and many others were built by the third and sixth dynasties of the Old Kingdom from 2686 B.C. to 2175 B.C. Indeed, the three Great Pyramids were built specifically between 2589 and 2496, some 700 to 600 years before the Israelites were even recognizable as a people, and they were erected by trained professionals and conscripted labor paying a type of tax. Indeed, historians and archaeologists have been increasingly doubtful that Israelite slavery and the Exodus even happened.

And as far as teaching creationism in public schools, Saenz might be surprised to learn that education and its many disciplines are not democratic, especially when it comes to utterly discredited theories. Many creationists cling to the Young Earth Theory, holding that the Earth is not older than 6,000 to 8,000 years. Virtually, every scientific discipline has utterly exploded this belief. Several key pieces of evidence have been found here in New Mexico - evidence such as the Clovis and Folsom points, Sam the Seismosaurus, the ashes and lava from Jemez Volcano, etc. Creationism is simply denialism writ very large.

David Leon Higdon

UNM faculty