Customarily, on Fox & Friends, the banter between the host(s) and the guest(s) is like the old time religion "call and response" in that both the host(s) and guest(s) are totally in synch with regard to the theme of the piece. Sunday, however, it appears the theme of the piece didn't match what the guest presented in that what seemed to be Peter Johnson Jr.'s initial framing of the narrative was a bit out of synch with the message of the guest. While Johnson seemed ready and set to present a segment about how "God" was involved with the biblical flood story, the discussion took a different turn with the result being that science trumped Fox religious propaganda. Was Johnson's production crew asleep at the switch? You be the judge.
Johnson began with commentary about how the story of Noah'sArk had "fascinated Christians" around the world. While showing a video of a pie chart that indicated that 78% of Americans believe that the origin of life was "guided by God," Johnson said that "it comes as no surprise that when asked about the origin of life, an overwhelmingly 78% of Americans believe that God played some part in our creation." He added that "creationists have always clashed with scientists whose theories threaten to disprove until now." He introduced his guest, David Montgomery who is a geology professor at the University of Washingtonand and the author of "Rocks Don't Lie," a book about the clash between religion and the geology behind Noah's flood and other creation stories.
After Johnson asked Montgomery to tell the audience "where we come from" based on geology, Montgomery explained that geologists "put to rest the idea of a global flood." But he did say that, based on evidence, it appears that there might have been a catastrophic Middle Eastern flood which became part of folk legends that include the bible story of Noah. He also noted that many early geologists were clergy who discovered a "longer history of the world" and a "more complicated history than a creation and a single flood." He added that theology influenced the development of geology as a science and that, subsequently, affected the theology. Johnson concluded with the comment that Montgomery's book should "give succor to people of faith and of science."
Johnson's guest's presentation didn't seem to match what seemed to be Johnson's original narrative about God and the creation. The only "God" connection was the fact that God guys were early geologists. It seemed that Johnson and Montgomery were on two different tracks as the piece didn't have the usual Fox & Friends unity of content and presentation. It seemed odd. Anyway....