When my two boys were young, like most children, they would occasionally get into some nasty disputes with each other. It became very evident that if my wife and I would listen to only one child’s explanation of what caused the dispute we would usually get a rather skewed picture of the actual event. After listening intently to both children, along with a few probing questions, we were typically able to glean enough truth to piece together what probably took place. Whether we’re dealing with children fighting, friends in the midst of divorce or social issues such as whether global warming is caused from human activity or a natural phenomenon, it can be difficult at the best of times to glean enough truth to form a rational opinion. Let alone, a comfortable conclusion. It’s all the more difficult when one of the two voices is particularly predominant over the other.
Rationale, in our complex world, at times seems to be somewhat elusive. Ben Goldacre in his book “Bad Science” makes it alarmingly clear just how easily our minds can be deceived into believing absolutely in something that has no clear scientific validity what so ever. Coupled with clever advertising and the amazing power of placebo we can convince ourselves to believe in almost anything.
In spite of growing up in a religious family evolution or creation was rarely, if ever discussed in the home. In school, however evolution was scoffed at and ridiculed in the halls and as much as possible, avoided in the classroom. Creation was the predominant voice. I did not do well in most subjects except for science, at least on the occasion when I applied myself. So, it should have been no surprise that when religion became a passion in my early 20s that creation science would become something of an interest of mine. I read books, listened to tapes, watched documentaries and debated the topic regularly. It drove me crazy when I met fellow Christians that had “swallowed” evolution. I could not understand why it seemed that the most intelligent Christians were the ones that had no problems with combining their faith with evolution. It was clear to me that the Bible says God created the world in 6 days. That’s that, and there’s plenty of evidence to back it up. Or is there? I remember at one point I realized I was feeling a little smug in believing that so few people really new the truth, but I did. Then a thought crossed my mined. What if they are right and I’m wrong.
OK, I’m rationalizing. That was a long time ago. Do you remember what it was like when you found out there’s no Santa Clause? Well, now I do too. I was always taught Santa wasn’t real.
Its one thing to allow ourselves to think outside our little box, but it’s another thing altogether to stay out of the box. I have no intention of getting into a debate over evolution vs. creation or “Intelligent Design”. In my mind the fight was over a long time ago and a winner has clearly emerged. The mountains of evidence that continue to pile up daily only to be completely ignored by the six-day creationists is humorous to say the least. I do still find the topic interesting if not entertaining.
The thing about scientists is that they like to criticize each others hypotheses. That’s a part of what makes science work. It’s self-correcting. When a hypothesis is consistently disproved it is eventually discarded and we all move on to new ideas and hopefully a better understanding based on real evidence. Creationism, on the other hand has been completely discredited, exposed, invalidated and had holes shot through it to the point of complete annihilation, and they still keep coming back for more. Gotta giv’em credit for tenacity, if nothing else. It reminds me of the Black Knight fight seen in Monty Python’s “The Holy Grail”. “It’s just a flesh wound!”
If religion is the “opiate of the masses” maybe creationism is the placebo.
I get it though. I understand why so many Christians want to hang on to this. While it took some 20 years for me to dismantle my faith by discarding unnecessary beliefs, creationism was, embarrassingly, one of the last to go. As I eluded above, while many Christians have no issues with combining their faith with evolution, for me, it was one of the final blows to an already crumbling belief. There was simply nothing left for a god to be part of. The only exception was the psychological benefit of wishful thinking. And that’s just not enough.
The psychological benefit of wishful thinking is a brilliant tidy synopsis. This past weekend was Evolution Weekend & Darwin's Birthday and a chance for the minority of Americans who believe or understand Evolution to build some bridges.
ReplyDeleteOf all the modern democratic countries in the world, only Turkey has fewer citizens who believe in Evolution. To most of us this is a giant red flag but not to the "Manifest Destiny" crowd below us. Nope.
Poor America gets little sympathy from the rest of the world..especially for being it's own worst enemy. They just can't seem to separate church from government and even more importantly, boot out the lobbyists from the corporate overlords. Either way everything is unfolding exactly as the founding fathers feared it would...it's their worst nightmare.
A huge part of the problem is the whole dealing with reality "stuff" and relying on paranormal supernatural activity to restore peace & prosperity...even though they're trying to start yet another war for Oil?
Some 200 years after Charlie there are new Untelligent DUHsign bills trying to get passed in a dozen States. The Republicans have somehow managed to gain the support of half the citizenry who rely on their "faith" and choose to voluntarily ignore empirical evidence...Bill Moyers just talked about such a study..these people purposefully ignore facts if they interfere with their belief system. So the Republicans toss out the God & Country honey for them..plus this demographic believe that GOD has rewarded those "rich guys" and they were put in positions of authority by GOD!!
Personally I feel as though education is the only answer, and if that fails then some positive eugenics and a little pruning may be in order...c'mon every Sci-Fi book has some element of society being forced to take drastic measures. Technology has made us very dangerous super-apes..running around with efficient killing machines we are still armed with a prehistoric brain that runs on emotions and fear...not a very good combination. The only cure is to be aware of our circumstance, like "really" aware in modern terms..not mythical metaphors about the eternal struggle of our souls to seek refuge in the afterlife...besides this world doesn't matter if it's all about Heaven? Billions of humans would be content to nuke the planet into a sea of silicate glass.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-zimmerman/evolution-weekend-protect_b_1256367.html
“Personally I feel as though education is the only answer, and if that fails then some positive eugenics and a little pruning may be in order.”
ReplyDeleteI couldn’t agree more! Education is the only chance for the preservation of rationale. But as for positive eugenics, as mentioned in the forum in the huffingtonpost link you sent, I fear that with the liberals freely using contraception, depleting the gene pool, and the ultra-conservatives going forth and multiplying, we may be in trouble.
The huffingtonpost link is very interesting. I was aware that this year (or last) is the anniversary of Darwins birthday and the Origin of the Species but I was not aware of the Evolution Weekend.
For me, liberal minded and conservative minded Christians aren’t just “out there”, they’re family. I have no problem with conversing and working together with liberal minded, progressive, evolution believing Christians against the attacks on science from the ultra-conservatives but I cannot agree with their theories on the compatibility of Christianity and evolution. As for conversing with conservatives, when I get the opportunity to speak my mind, it’s usually disastrous.
Speaking of a brilliant synopsis, again on the huffingtonpost forum, Dragosufer wrote:
“It's all about the foundation, which for Christianity is all about Jesus, original sin, and Jesus saving mankind from sin. With that, consider this: The evolution of species is a demonstrable fact with overwhelming physical evidence and the collaboration of hundreds of thousands of past and present scientist, technicians, and engineers in the various scientific fields. Only an uneducated fool could deny evolution. Therefore, no Adam & Eve, no Garden of Eden, no tree of knowledge, no forbidden fruit, no talking snake, and no original sin and no need for a saviour. Therefore, the very foundation of Christianity crumbles, as does the foundations of all man made religions.”