Creationist Using Trump’s Executive Order To Take Rocks From Grand Canyon To Prove Biblical Flood

The Australian geologist and Creationist Andrew Snelling is using Trump’s recent executive order, which gives greater religious freedom to Americans, to extract rock samples from the Grand Canyon to try and prove his theory that the biblical flood was a real event. It is his belief that the Grand Canyon was formed within the last 20,000 years as a direct result of this flood.

Snelling obtained his PhD from the University of Sydney in 1982 and helps to run Answers in Genesis, a group who take the Bible literally and believe that the Earth was created just 6,000 years ago. The geologist had previously asked for permission to take 50 to 60 rocks from the Grand Canyon, but had been turned down.

This prompted Andrew Snelling to file a lawsuit in May claiming it was religious discrimination to not allow him to collect the rock samples from the Grand Canyon, although he had actually been refused on the grounds that his study had no real scientific merit.

The geologist’s lawyers stated that the National Park was in direct violation of the new Donald Trump executive order, which gives greater religious freedom to individuals, and Snelling said he felt that his request had been refused because “they didn’t like the question I was asking,” as the Guardian reported.

Many scientists have openly disagreed with Andrew Snelling’s sentiment that he was denied access to rock samples at the Grand Canyon because of his beliefs, and the University of Sydney’s Dr. Gilles Brocard has stated that there is already ample evidence about the formation of the Grand Canyon and that there are no signs of catastrophe that are consistent with a Biblical flood.

“We know what the impact of extremely large floods on Earth are. We know they happen sometimes, we have glaciers that have big ice dams that have a very distinct signature on the landscape. It produces extremely special features that you’re able to identify. These are just normal rocks, they are mundane. They do not show traces of catastrophe.”

Besides, Dr. Brocard attests to the fact that nuclear dating at the Grand Canyon has already shown that the rocks there are around 2 billion years old, while the Earth itself has been around for roughly 4.47 billion years.

“All the methods are concurrent, there are no contradictions. The only contradictions have been in the age of the canyon itself. Twenty years ago, people had the view that it formed around 20 million years ago, but more recently they think it may have formed in the past 5 million.”

It is believed that the main thrust of Creationist Andrew Snelling’s argument is that he believes the rocks at the Grand Canyon were not formed slowly with the passing of time, but that they were created extremely quickly and as the result of a massive, Biblical flood.

Snelling has said that now that he has been given the go-ahead to take 50 to 60 rock samples from the Grand Canyon, it is his goal to make sure that the results of his study are made public, regardless of what those results may be. He has also said that no matter what he finds, he will continue to hold onto his belief in Creationism.

What do you think about Trump’s executive order which allows Creationist geologists like Andrew Snelling to take rocks from the Grand Canyon to try and prove their religious beliefs in a Biblical flood?

[Featured Image by Sean Gallup/Getty Images]