Home
Stepping Stones
The Fountain
sKrATch Pad
Dec. 6/89
Do the two have to be mutually exclusive?
Nov. 14, 2002Okay, so this isn't as current as it once was, but I think that it may still be relevant. Back in 1999, I came across several articles in the Washington Post that said that the school board in Kansas was striking the theory of evolution from its high school curriculum because it contradicted what is written in the Bible (Genesis 1, Garden of Eden... you know...). A lot of furor rose up about this that must have parallelled the hive of feeling surrounding the Scopes "monkey trial" back in the 1920's. There was a court case about it, and religious debates found their way onto the 'net. People from everywhere got involved. What amazed me the most is how much hadn't changed in the (then) 70 years that had passed since the events that were dramatized in "Inherit the Wind". People were just as stubborn in their beliefs and as unyielding towards all counter opinions as they had been back then. Of course, in those years, Creationism, a theory of the beginnings of the Earth based on Genesis and (as far as I know, which isn't much) some extrapolation based on the study of date references in the Bible, has become more sophisticated and developed.I can't remember now exactly how the court ruled. I think they may have made some concessions to the Creationists and allowed for the replacement of teaching the theory of evolution with the theory of creationism at the discretion of the individual schools. What struck me the most, however, was the ways in which of the anti-evolution theorists put their points across, both in the articles that I read, and on one of the larger online debates that I followed.
While reading the various articles, it occurred to me that most of the anti-evolutionary theorists seemed to assume that in order to believe in evolution, you could not believe in God or any of the tenets of Christianity. I argue that you can. Where does the little ball of matter that started our universe come from? Depends on your religion. I, as a well-grounded Catholic am perfectly willing to accept that God started the whole process going, and that God had a hand in evolution. The whole time debate is out of my depth (pure physics and geology are not my areas of expertise), so I'll leave that to those who are more familiar with them.
Besides all of that, just because evolution is not 100% fact (there are reasons why it is called a THEORY people!!!) does not mean it shouldn't be taught in schools. Schools should be teaching us to be open-minded, well-rounded individuals with a wealth of all sorts of knowledge that we can accept or reject ONCE we have learned first hand WHY the different ideas exist. This is what makes us learn.
By striking evolution from the curriculum, the school board and the adults that support it are telling their children that it is bad to think, that it is bad to be questioned. It also shows the rest of the world that they do not have enough faith to stand against adversity. They do not believe that the religious education that they give their children is adequate enough to stand up to conflicting theories. They seem to believe that once their children start thinking, they will cease to believe. And that is wrong. While faith can, and should at times, defy logic, thinking and believing are not always mutually exclusive of each other. In fact, in many cases, the very act of thinking can make one's beliefs stronger (as I have stated numerous times in my Journey musings already).
After all, isn't the greatest test of faith when someone questions it and shakes the very foundations of it? You can stand rigid and mulish, merely regurgitating from memory everything you were ever taught right down to the Bible passages and their reference numbers. But eventually, some one will get through and ask you a question that none of your teachings will be able to answer, and CRASH! BOOM! CLANG! There goes everything you ever believed in. Those, however who continually question their own faith, who find the answers to their questions themselves and who learn voraciously about the things that they believe in, and the things that others believe in, will be able to answer and still remain standing.
As a religious prof I knew once said, "The ideal Christian has the religious faith and passion of a Pentecostal, and the religious knowledge and thirst for religious learning of the athiests in my theology classes."
As for Creationist Science, what is it, and what is it based on?
I followed one of the debates fairly closely, and as far as I can see, the anti-evolutionists who wanted to ban evolution from the curriculum had lots of very obvious holes in their reasoning. I present some quotes from the Washington Post article for perusal (the article, sadly, is no longer online, so you can take my word that it is verbatim, or you can look it up in the library. I believe the article stems from early September, 1999.) for those who haven't already gotten bored.
"They began to focus instead on attacking evolution as an unproven theory, picking apart such basic building blocks as fossil records and geological dating."
Can we say for certain that absolutely everything that is written in the Bible (particularly Genesis 1) happened exactly as written? Is it any more an undisputed truth than modern science's theory of evolution? Just as there is no concrete proof for the theory of evolution, so is there no concrete proof for the Bible's version of creation.
"In 1995, Alabama passed a law mandating that all biology books used in public schools bear a sticker describing evolution as a 'controversial theory. . . . No one was present when life first appeared. Therefore any statement about life's origins should be considered a theory and not a fact.'"
Maybe they should stick that on the Bible too?
"Scientists acknowledge that evolution cannot be witnessed or even re-created in a lab. But they note that this is true of many accepted scientific phenomena, such as atoms or electrons. Instead, scientists rely on fossil records and geological data to piece together the species record. It is that imperfect process creationists are attacking."
So, if some event can't be reproduced, that means the POSSIBILITY that it CAN happen is nil? And yet, there is no dispute about the miracles that Jesus and many of the prophets and saints performed. These cannot be reproduced in a lab either. I refer to such obvious double standards as "irregular verbs". You know, "I theorize, you guess, he pulls it out of his ass..."
"One of our staff members went to Alaska recently and found dinosaur bones that were not yet fossilized," said Looy, of Answers in Genesis. "If dinosaurs perished 65 million years ago, how could one have been around in the last few hundred years? That matches with what the Bible teaches -- that dinosaurs lived recently."
Wow! I'm gonna have the read my Bible again! I must've missed the bit about the dinosaurs!
"Like many of the neo-creationists, Abrams prefers to debate the science, not the Bible."
Again, is the Bible indisputable? On what grounds? MEN wrote the Bible. They may have had influence from God, but even God can't prevent human thought and/or opinion from influencing explanations. Free choice and all that...
"As a general principle, they wrote that 'no evidence contradicting a current scientific theory shall be censored.'"
No evidence contradicting the theory of evolution will be censored, but the evidence supporting it must be stricken out at all costs. This is further proof of what I was saying earlier: that these people do not have enough confidence in themselves or their belief system to allow for thought and the possibility of debate.
All in all, it doesn't matter in this debate whether the theory of evolution is the correct surmise of the origins of our planet. What matters is that these children in Kansas and everywhere else should have the opportunity to learn about it so that they can decide for themselves. It's not about Right or Wrong. It's not about Absolute Truth or Falsity, It's about the freedom to think, to decide for oneself whether something we've learned makes sense or does not.Not to mention that they would have a heck of a time coping in out-of-state universities with their Biology background!
A Shoutout to Theists with Superiority Complexes
There are some Christians out there, admirably devout but sadly devoid of thinking skills, who seem to like to flame and dispute those they do not agree with, yet refuse to state the grounds on which their beliefs are based. I've witnessed individuals like this on religious chat boards time and again, and let me tell you, it gets rather tiresome laying out your lines of thoughts carefully only to be avidly shot down with bullets such as "YOU'RE GOING TO HELL FOR THINKING THAT!!!!" or "Don't you fear God at all?" or even more cryptically, "Romans 15:24-26". For those out there who are like that, I have this shoutout for you:How can you possibly expect people to understand your point of view if you just turn around the minute you are questioned with a simple "Read your Bible" or "It's true and that's that"? Also, how can you expect to gain credibility if you say to some fellow anti-evolutionist/creationist/etc who does actually take the time and patience to explain their point of view (thank you, those of you who do) "Forget it, you are wasting your time"? You can have your own beliefs, but please don't try and join a debate or dialogue unless you actually have something to back up your opinions! Evangelizing is part of a Christian's calling -- this is true -- but isn't a part of evangelizing explaining why you think the way you do? Do you expect to win people over and impress them with the validity of your religion by simply snapping at the first sign of controversy and condemning them to hell? In case you haven't already figured it out, it actually makes them not like you even more. And because you're a representative of your faith, it makes them look badly on that as well. Is that what you want?Thank you for your time and attention.Also, for those who only respond with quotes from the Bible, this doesn't automatically clinch an argument. The Bible can be interpreted in any number of ways; it holds truth, but like all truths, it has many facets. Why not take time to explain to those who don't have a ready Bible on hand why you're choosing that particular passage? What makes it right (or relevant) besides the fact that it is in the Bible? As I said earlier, a devout Christian is an admirable person. But a devout, and THINKING, Christian is the best kind of Christian there is. Not only as a person, but as a representative of his (or her) faith.
Home |
Stepping Stones |
The Fountain |
sKrATch Pad |
Dec. 6/89 |
 Sign Guestbook |
 View Guestbook |