Social media, such as Facebook, is replete with memes, which are captioned pictures that often rapidly spread from one user to another. Many of these are humorous; others seek to inform. I’ll start with a fun meme to start things off:
With memes like this, there is no need for me to point out that the only map that correctly portrays areas and shapes on Earth’s surface is a globe, because the Cat Meme is the end to all arguments! No further proof is needed!
Just kidding.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of silly memes out there that purport to do the same thing—to PROVE IN ONE PICTURE that my side is right and everyone else is an idiot. In reality, the debates we have can almost never be conclusively resolved one way or another through one meme, or even a whole string of memes. There are plenty of these Bad Memes out there, created by all sides in the debates between young-Earthers and old-Earthers, Christians and atheists, geocentrists and heliocentrists, and flat-Earthers and… well, I haven’t run into any good flat-Earth memes yet.
If you are inclined to think that it is just me, as an old-Earth creationist, who thinks these memes are bad, I suggest you grab some popcorn and watch Think Before You Meme! by two of my favorite young-Earth creationists, Paul Garner and Todd Wood on their Let’s Talk Creation YouTube channel. Their advice regarding memes to their young-Earth followers?
“Lots of these memes perpetuate misunderstandings and falsehoods… I would say just don’t share it period if it’s a creation/evolution meme. You’re much better off just not passing it on at all, because it’s not likely going to be a fair. I can’t think of how many creation memes that I’ve seen that are actually correct… So just don’t. Just don’t. Just stop.” (Starting at 1:04:45. My transcript is slightly edited).
If you see one of these bad memes on Facebook or wherever you wander to in social media, you don’t need to think any longer about how to answer. Just take my counter-meme and post it in the comments. Well, I’m kidding about not having to think about how to answer.
I’m starting this blog post with four bad memes and will keep on adding to it over time. I’ll post notifications of new entries on my GeoChristian Facebook page. I suppose one critique of what I’m doing here is that I am simply answering one meme with another. So be it.
Earth looks old because… Earth looks old (added 11/10/25)
As an old-Earth Christian with a deeply biblical worldview, I don’t believe Earth is old because I’ve been conditioned by naturalism or Lyellian uniformitarianism. I was once an earnest YEC, and switched to being an old-Earth Christian for two reasons: 1) The Bible does not tell us how old Earth is, and 2) There are many features in Earth’s rocks and landscapes whose origin cannot be squeezed into the timeframe of YEC geology.
And Charles Lyell is not the one who came up with the idea that Earth is millions of years old.
Jesus and Peter believed in a historical Noah’s flood, but they did not affirm YEC flood geology (added 11/10/25)
First Peter 3:6-9 is not about what young-Earth creationists often make it to be.
First Peter 3:6-9 is a warning against denying the reality of the future final judgment. It is a warning to those who reason that nothing supernatural happened in the past, and nothing supernatural will happen in the future. God has indeed acted supernaturally in the past, in creation (Genesis 1-2), in judgment (the flood, Genesis 6-9), in miracles (Exodus, the miracles of Jesus, etc.), and in Christ’s resurrection (Matt 28, Luke 23-24, Mark 16, John 20-21, Acts 1). No old-Earth creationist—and this includes just about all who call themselves evolutionary creationists—denies that God has acted supernaturally in the past, acted supernaturally in the life and resurrection of Christ—and will act supernaturally again at the end of this age.
Neither Jesus nor Peter taught YEC geology, and one may be a faithful reader of Genesis and not accept YEC teachings about the flood.
No, YEC Geology Does Not Require a 29,000-Foot-Deep Flood (added 8/28/25)
I’ll mix things up a bit and critique a critique of young-Earth flood geology.
A common criticism of YEC flood geology is that a global flood would require a 29,000-foot (8848 meter) rise in sea level to cover Mt Everest. I understand where people get that idea, but most YEC geologists believe that mountain ranges were not as high before the flood, so the floodwaters did not have to rise 5.5 miles to cover the highest mountains. I don’t know of any current YEC geologists who teach otherwise.
This “But Mommy” meme takes a rather mocking tone and attempts to ridicule YEC geology because of the effects of a 29,000 rise in sea level. In doing so, it shows a misunderstanding of what YECs are actually saying, in effect setting up a straw-man argument against YEC geology. There are plenty of good arguments against YEC geology, but not every argument against YEC geology is a good argument.
The meme comes across as not only saying that YEC flood geology is silly (as even a three-year-old could tell her mommy), but that the Bible is silly as well. This represents the same mistake YECs make: Reading things into the Genesis flood account that are not there. There are plenty of reasons to believe that the flood did not have to be global, as modern people understand global, and Genesis certainly does not teach that most of Earth’s fossil and sedimentary rock records were formed during Noah’s flood.
Questioning Science (added 8/7/25)
This “Peanuts” meme came from a young-Earth creationist Facebook page. Here is the meme, with Linus shouting that it is okay to not trust the science, and my short response.
Of course, Charles Schulz did not have Linus spout this wisdom about science; someone else did a little editing. And also of course, there is an element of truth in this statement from Linus the little philosopher. Questioning the science is something that scientists should do. Scientists should question their own scientific assumptions, methods, and conclusions, as well as that of others. Science is impeded when questions are not asked, and advances when questions are asked and addressed.
Many in the “Don’t trust the science” crowd, however, use questioning science as a cover for all sorts of nonsense, ranging from flat-Earth geocentrism (you believe in gravity? Ha ha ha!) to things that even mainstream young-Earth creationists consider to be fringe, such as hydroplate theory (vigorously defended by many social media YECs but by no one at AiG, ICR, or CMI) and the electric universe (craters on the moon aren’t impact craters but pits caused by interplanetary lightning bolts).
I don’t equate young-Earth creationism with flat-Earthism, and organizations like Answers in Genesis and the Bible Science Institute have produced some good rebuttals to both the biblical and scientific arguments of flat-Earthism. I do think, however, that the modern YEC movement is at least partly to blame for the rise of things in Evangelical Christianity like flat-Earthism, geocentrism, anti-vaccination sentiments, and anti-environmentalism. For decades young-Earth creationists have been proclaiming “Don’t trust the science” and “Scientists are lying to you” to the church, and the church has been listening. Many have taken the YEC “Don’t trust the science” message further than Henry Morris or Duane Gish ever would have dreamed of, even though they laid the foundations.
No Sandy Braided Streams? (added 6/11/25)
This meme is from The Creation Club, part of David Rives Ministries.
The problem? Not all braided streams have gravelly channels and deposits.
Perhaps the misconception stated in the meme comes from introductory geology courses. I looked in four introductory college geology textbooks, and the picture of a braided stream in each of them was a gravelly stream on glacial outwash downstream from an alpine glacier, such as in Yukon or New Zealand. That is the first thing I picture when I think of a braided stream. Not all braided streams, however, are gravelly, and there are many examples of sandy braided streams throughout the world. Two much-studied North American examples are the South Saskatchewan River in Canada and the Platte River in Nebraska. They are wide, shallow, and contain constantly shifting sand bars. Contrary to the meme, many of today’s braided rivers form wide, flat, sandy river channels and deposits, and these layers in South Africa could indeed have formed in a braided stream depositional environment.
Here’s the meme fixed up a bit:
The meme is based on a Creation Club article by Tas Walker: An Example of Catastrophic Sandstone Formation: South Africa.
Doorknobs in Coal? (added 5/14/25)
I’ve seen the “doorknobs in coal” meme in a number of young-Earth creationist Facebook groups. Three weeks ago (April 25, 2025) it appeared again in a group called Biblical Creation, where it already has over 11,000 likes and over 3,000 shares. It is complete nonsense. All it took was a quick internet search to discover that the doorknobs are not from a coal seam, but from the 1870 wreck of a ship called the Brunette that had a coal-fired boiler. Among other things, the ship’s cargo included doorknobs. The picture is from a scuba diving website. It is very rare for any YECs to point out the problems with memes like this, and it is sad that Facebook group administrators keep on posting the same garbage again and again after being corrected.
Despite the meme’s question, it really wasn’t about radiocarbon dating, so my answer only addresses the origin of the sample.
Nine Problems in One Meme About Assumptions for Radiometric Dating (added 5/14/25)
Memes about radiometric dating are common on Facebook pages about creationism. It looks like this was #25 in a series of “25 Reasons to Doubt the Theory of Evolution.” I guess my #1 could have been that radiometric dating is not part of the theory of evolution; then I would have had Ten Problems in One Meme. Radiometric dating is based on some rather solid assumptions, including the fact that atoms and ions in minerals follow the same laws of chemistry and physics as everything else in the universe. Many YEC complaints about radiometric dating are actually complaints against chemistry and physics.
Peter, Put Away Your Sword! And YECs, Put Away Your Axe! (added 5/14/25)
This cartoon shows all the wickedness of the world, such as abortion, racism, idolatry, sexual immorality, and false religion, as being rooted in one thing: “old earth beliefs.” That claim is historically, philosophically, and most importantly, biblically inaccurate. People did wicked things in Genesis, they did wicked things throughout the rest of the Old Testament, they still did wicked things in New Testament times, and they have been wicked throughout history since then. Evil does not exist because people believe Earth is old, because people were wicked when they thought Earth was young. Human hearts are ruled by sin, and it has been that way ever since the fall in the garden of Eden. The solution is not to proclaim a young Earth, because the age of the Earth is not the problem, but to proclaim Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Decades of False Environmental Predictions? (added 5/14/25)
I don’t want to just post bad memes about the young-Earth/old-Earth debate. This one is a meme I’ve seen in various forms listing supposed wrong predictions from environmental scientists. I’m not saying that there aren’t shrill voices out there in the environmental movement, but this meme was wrong for each of the five decades listed. I gave a longer analysis on Facebook in 2022.
More memes are coming, Lord willing.
Bad memes created by Christians are a bad witness to the world and lay a poor foundation for discipleship for the youth in our churches. Please think before you post, like, or share memes relating to science and Christian faith.
Kevin Nelstead
GeoChristian 
There is a starch, aggressive young earth creationist in my church who tries to corner me quite often during coffee hour. Last week he said, so tell me, what is your main reason for believing that the Earth is old instead of just believing what Genesis says straightforwardly? I usually just try to get away because I do not have my answers all in a row like he does. What do you suggest? I did say something using John Lennox‘s answer about why we are not all geocentric now and he said something about well. That was a Hellenistic idea that infiltrated the Jewish religion:-)! If I engage at all, then I have to have fax at my fingertips so I usually just prefer not to engage.
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