It is truly hard for me to imagine that there are otherwise intelligent people out there who actually believe the earth is only a hundred and fifty something thousand years old. That there was a literal Adam and Eve, and that God simply snapped his fingers or yelled abracadabra or something and everything we know as the universe flashed into existence, apparently in it‘s present form.
It would be easier to accept if these simple minded ideas were only held by fringe types, but they’re not. In fact, many who hold these ideas to be true are among the movers and shakers within our society. People willing to use their influence to enact initiatives like the one in Kansas just a couple of years ago banning the teaching of evolution in public schools. Thankfully that law was overturned, but the efforts of these purveyors of ignorance have not subsided. And that’s what makes this a political debate.
In the last two and a half centuries scientists have learned a great deal about our universe and how it came into being. They’ve discovered endless complexity where each answered question asks a thousand more. They found that the cosmos began with an event where all matter was occupying a single point, and then was followed by a great explosion that scattered the basic elements of the universe and is known as “The Big Bang.” They discovered that life began with very simple single cel creatures that evolved into more and more complex organisms eventually leading to us.
These are not disputed theories, they are fact. But any scientist will tell you there are far more mysteries about the universe than known facts. But it’s the absolute denial of facts that troubles me. And telling me that the denial of these facts is based on their religion is like telling me they don’t believe in electricity because they can’t see it. I think that to deny indisputable facts because your religion tells you so more likely causes God to roll his eyes in frustration. The God I believe in would not want me to blindly follow a mere man’s interpretation of the Bible.
The answer to this debate is easy as pie to me. Evolution is a mechanism of Creation. As a lay scientist, I prefer the provable and evolution has been proven. As a devout Christian I believe God created the universe. The mystery to me is why anyone thinks they have to be mutually exclusive. Scientists can tell you the universe began with the big bang, but they cannot tell you how that matter got there or what ignited the explosion. They can tell you that life began when some complex proteins combined with some amino acids, but they can’t tell you what caused them to become alive. And for me that’s appropriate because a scientists job is to report the facts, not guess about what they don‘t know.
So for me, these facts become the mechanism God used to create the universe and God’s intervention becomes the answer to the mysteries behind what we don‘t know. And if you think about the intricacies involved in the forming of galaxies and solar systems. The unimaginable complexities of evolution. It causes me to see God as far more magnificent than I ever did before.
For those literalists who insist on taking the Bible word for word. Please try to remember that all ancient cultures used symbolic stories to explain their origins. After all, I don’t think the people of Moses’ day would have been able to grasp a literal explanation of how God created the world.
To put it another way. If you believe in God and that he is our father, then what father would be angry about his children being curious about how he did things. As a father myself, it makes me feel great when my kids take an interest in what I do.
Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent
Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published every Tuesday and Thursday to
Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.
Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.
You can find all of Devin’s columns at http://gather.com/leftoftheright
You can keep up with Devin’s postings and his Gather activity by joining his Gather network. Just click here: http://kiwina58.gather.com and then select the orange “Connect” button on the left-hand side of the page.
You can find Devin and other Political Correspondents, plus celebrity content and plenty of other politics experts at Politics.gather.com.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 8
Science and religion are both about the search for the truth. But, there's a fundamental difference in their operating paradigms. Religion says, "We have all the answers." Science says, "We don't even know all the questions." Science is so rooted in uncertainty that even proven facts are still called "theories". Religion is firmly rooted in faith. That dichotomy makes it hard for religion and science to relate to one another. But it doesn't mean that either is wrong.
Stephen Jay Gould (1941 - 2002)
As a Roman Catholic, I tend to argue against a "literalist" interpretation of Genesis from a religious, as opposed to a scientific angle. After all, the writings of a people who literally believed that there was a physical barrier in the upper atmosphere and beyond that there was a vast ocean of water where all the rain came from cannot be assumed to be best source for a science textbook. As a famous bishop said around the time of Galileo, "The Bible tells us how to go to heaven, not how the heavens go."
If you believe in a "literal" version of Genesis, you must believe that rain water passes the moon before it reaches the earth. I think I prefer my Halliday and Resnick to explain physics to me, and the Bible to explain my faith. Hawking once claimed that if space time was closed the universe could be described as "It is." He failed to realize that only "I am" could make "It is." The Bible is more "truer" than most literalists could ever imagine.