Evolution?
The other day, while listening to a backlogged To the Best of Our Knowledge (TTBOOK) on my beloved iPod, I was struck yet again by the argument between the creationists and the Darwinists. TTBOOK has been running a series called From Electrons to Enlightenment, and if you’re interested in how religion and science work together and where they argue bitterly, you might find this series interesting.
Anyway, I was yet again hearing people argue about the beginning of the universe, and of life on Earth. Was the Earth and life on it created by God, in 6 days, as described in the Old Testament? Was the big bang the cause of it all, and life just a series of lucky random events, eventually resulting in life as we know it? Or perhaps, could God be the creator of the big bang? If you believe the scientists, then you follow evidence and facts, and you look at fossil records and soil samples and dinosaur bones…and you come away with one set of beliefs. If you believe the creationists (and I’ll go out on a limb and say any creation story, not just that of the Christians and Jews), you believe that some all powerful creator made the world in which we live, with a divine goal in mind. If you’re a scientist, you probably won’t be convinced to ignore the facts and embrace faith instead. If you’re a creationist, you probably won’t be convinced to ignore your faith and embrace evidence instead, because, duh, if God is all powerful, and beyond our understanding, the world and its evidence is all part of his plan, right?
So, where does that leave us? Honestly, it leaves me a little bored and annoyed. I have my own beliefs, which since you know I’m atheist, I believe in evolution…but still, I’m tired of hearing that one side is right, the other side wrong, and no one really listening to each other. What I would LIKE to hear is someone say, “OK, we’re here. Life exists, and who cares how we got here?” Wouldn’t all of that effort be much better spent trying to find solutions to poverty, hunger, cancer, AIDS, war, crime, violence, and so on? I’m much more interested in working in the world in which we live. Let’s let the science classes teach science, the churches teach religion, and then let’s all work together on trying to make this a better place, OK?
12 Comments
Ml
I agree with you! I wish they would quit fighting about who is right and who is wrong as well. What bloody difference does it make? I, too, have my own beliefs, but I don’t try to shove it down other people’s throat. What’s right is right for me…what’s right for you is right for you. Now let’s just move on.
ally bean
“OK, we’re here. Life exists, and who cares how we got here?â€
Great post. I’m with you on this one. A solution to a real problem is preferable to a conjecture about a theoretical problem.
Beenzzz
This kind of stuff makes me crazy. I really dislike it when people take the words of any religious text literally. How can you take something like that LITERALLY? Isn’t it all metaphor? Anyway, the scientist do work from fact, but they may not have all the facts. I too believe in evolution, but you know in ten years scientist will come out with something new to explain the big bang. It’s always changing and I’m not so arrogant to believe that what I read or what I’m told is the absolute truth.
Py Korry
To quote one of my least favorite Rush song, “Roll the Bones:”
Why Are We Here/Because We’re Here/Roll The Bones/Why Does It Happen/Because It Happens/Roll The Bones
🙂
But you’re right, the argument between science and religion won’t end anytime soon, so why bother trying to prove the other side wrong and live with a kind of soft pluralism. Alas, in this day and age, tolerance and pluralism seem to be “nice ideas” confined to certain areas of the world.
Michelle
I agree that keeping religion out of the classroom is important, though I am religious myself. It seems that religion has caught a wave of resurgence in popularity with the rise of what is often called “the Christian right.” I’m not sure how I feel about this new-found popularity–so much of what has resulted politically is angry and ethnocentric and intolerant.
I myself see no variance between science and religion where the earth is concerned. If someone believes there is a God and that He is all-powerful what does it matter how the world was created? We know it’s here and we know we’re here so isn’t that enough? As you say, what are we going to do about it? That seems to be the important issue.
Gina
Agreed!
Cherry
Oh man!
Eric and I just got into this topic last night which was meltdown #2 for the year. I have no idea why I get all uptight that he must push the god factor and yet he believes in evolution (sort of), but I suppose this is something that we need to work out seeing as kids may be involved at some point.
Lalunas
Ok, I am ready. Hopefully this blog will reach out to many readers they in turn will tell their friends to read it and pretty soon most people will be working towards a better world.
starshine
Hi J! Thanks for this thought-provoking post. For me, I can’t just say to myself, “Who cares how we got here.” If I was created by God with a purpose, I want to know what that purpose is and live accordingly. So for me, the question of how I got here is not one that I can ignore. I heartily agree that part of our purpose on this earth is to make it a better place for each other to live in. Definitely!
Thank you for your good wishes on my blog today!!!
wordgirl
I’m with you! There should be no governing religion in this country and, unless your kid goes to a parochial school, none in the school either. Science should not rely on faith and therefore, religion (which does require faith) should not pass for science.
Jess
I get frustrated with this old argument as well. It will never end…at least not in my lifetime.
But I love the concept of working together to make the world a better place. 🙂 Happy New Year, J!
PS: the Charlie Brown Christmas Coke-funding story came from Mother Jones magazine. Alas, it seems to be true.
J
I agree wholeheartedly that if we were put here with a purpose, we should work towards that…I think my “Who Cares” attitude comes from people fighting so hard about that issue, when there are so many more important ones out there…like what to do with the world in which we live. I suspect most of the prophets would agree that how we live our lives is more important than how we got here.
I think, if there’s a God, he’s strong enough to stand some serious critical thought, so children are best taught both ideas, science in science class, and religion in church, and they can figure it out for themselves. God isn’t threatened by science any more than Narnia is threatened by Disney or whatever…the truth is the truth, and nothing threatens it. So I don’t see why it is so important for so many, and really, let me make it clear, on BOTH sides, for everyone to prove their side is right? What’s right in your heart is right. That’s how I see it, at least. I’m tired of scientists treating creationists like they are idiots, and I’m tired of creationists treating scientists like they are minions of Satan. That’s all I’m writing about here, I guess. 🙂