Help me figure out a response

[eclectic_boy]

Someone knocked on our apartment door around 7:30 tonight, just as Noda and I got finished with dinner. It was four people who I recognized as living in our building. Three of them were between 7 and 11 years old, and the other was their mother. The older of the two boys was the spokesperson; after asking if I was good at understanding English (which made me smile inside -- I like our very diverse building with its immigrants from many nations) he offered a DVD ("free!") about the history of the Earth, with a lecture by Dr. Hovind on it. I asked if I should give it back to them after I had finished watching (suspecting what it might be about), and he was a bit thrown, but said no, I should pass it on to someone else. I took it and said thanks, and they went off to the next door

Noda and I skimmed through a lot of it. Yes, it's a creationist DVD, a lecture by someone who taught school science for 15 years until about 1990 and has since become a lecturer on creationism, dispelling myths about evolution. He's a pretty good public speaker, sometimes funny and sometimes friendly, but with a bit too much snake oil to him. He's a Young Earth Creationist who states that every word in the "Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth" is literally true, and has arguments for why evolution, the big bang, the Old Earth, and lots of other things, are not just untrue, but unscientific.

We didn't watch the entire thing, but a fair amount, and now I ask you for help:
How should we respond? I could of course ignore the incident and just use it as an anecdote, but they told me which apartment they're in, meaning I can go visit them, and I don't want them to hear Dr. Hovind's arguments without hearing the other side. But being confrontational about it is not the way.... maybe I can knock on their door, thank them, and ask to talk about my impressions of it? Maybe I could find some DVD or reading material to leave for them (or for other people in the building, since I'm sure they've all been offered copies of this DVD). Their visit to our door was out of the blue, but that doesn't mean I should just ignore the opportunity it may have given me. Any advice?

Comments

[metasilk.livejournal.com]

I might send them a note: "Thank you, that was educational. It's interesting how we try to adapt ways of thinking about some things into other lines of inquiry. Take care, J-----. "

I agree that it would not be helpful to discuss creationism and evolution (either as conflicting or not). What might be helpful when the kids are or older, or with the mother, is discussing the different ways people approach truth, the scientific approach to truth (and its limitations), and the faith approach (and its limitations). The hardest bit is seeing that neither approach can answer satisfactorily all questions about all subjects, but that both provide ways to explore. (And they are neither, as far as I can tell, incompatible nor free from overlap.)

This of course requires being comfortable with uncertainty, and again with difference, as well as a certain openness to reason. Not to mention a very solid grounding in and acceptance that at some point, we do rely on what other people say (researchers, historians, yadda yadda...)

Well, I gotta get back to work. Miss ya, treasure-boy!