Fred Flintstonensis

Early in my life as an athiest, lo those many years ago before there was the internet, I used to hear that creationists routinely staged "debates" which were scripted, with an actor playing the evolutionist, written of course so that the creationist wins decisively. I even saw a debate on a christian TV channel which I suspect must have been staged as the "evolutionist" spoke and argued like something out of a Chick Tract.

I also met an actor who said that in the early eighties he turned down several jobs like this, but he might have been full of it. Does anyone else know anything about highjinx like this?

Doubting Didymus

How disturbing. I've never heard of this myself.

RufusAtticus

Creationist Christians wouldn't do that because that'd be lying. . . .

B. H. Manners

I've heard that before myself. I doubt the mainstream denominations would sponsor let alone tolerate such as that. However, a lot of the smaller "mom and pop" independent "ministries" often times have poor ethics.

Doubting Didymus

The big creationist organisations would avoid it. The fallout when an actor confesses would destroy them. How would you live that down?

LaFlavor

they've survived being exposed as liars time and time again. i doubt they even think about it.

Albion

I assume the actor would also be a fundamentalist, just to safegurad against actors spilling the beans about it. Fundamentalist actors also probably wouldn't see it as dishonest, they'd see it as spreading God's word in while exposing Satan's minions.

Zadok001

It does happen, but it's not very common.

pz

Creationists don't need to do this. They have a proven strategy:

1. Creationist gets up, says 100 lies in 10 minutes.

2. Evolutionist tries to respond, in order to correct the first lie he needs to spend 10 minutes giving audience basic education in paleontology, biogeography, genetics, and biochemistry. Just begins to address creationist point #1 when he has to sit down.

3. Creationist gets up, ignores everything evolutionist said, says 100 new lies in 10 minutes.

4. Evolutionist staggers up, looking like a gaffed fish. He can't believe his opponent could be this dishonest and this stupid, or that the audience could be so moronic that they'd swallow that crap. Struggles to get across a few points so simple that his freshman students get it on the first day of class.

5. Q&A from audience. Most are mindless comments praising the creationist's good christian attitude.

faded_Glory

I used to do that here, but I stopped because it was no fun being soundly trashed by the likes of Douglas Bender, Eternal and Ed.
There weren't even any beers afterwards to make up for it.

fG