Its line in the sand time. Science or religion. God or nature. Or is it that simple? While briefly researching the Creation side of the equation I was surprised by the number of competing Creation theories out there. They all share the notion that God created man and the universe, but they vary in the details on how it was accomplished. (mainly the timeframe).
What we generally accept as the theory of evolution comes from Charles Darwin and involves natural selection - sometimes called survival of the fittest. Darwin proposed what has become the most famous/infamous notion - common ancestry - that drives the discussion/debate/argument. Surely you have heard the "man comes from the ape" discussion at least once and heard it severely critiqued by fundamentalist Christians. That is NOT part of the equation - simply what we these days call fake news. Man and chimps/apes share 98% common genetic makeup. Oh - and 50% of our genetic makeup is the same as a banana. Watch out for offended vegans denying the banana comes from man argument that just might occur. It might also explain this -
Gotta keep your sense of humor in these matters - and that's a cool song from my perhaps misspent youth.
If pressed on the matter I have to admit that I see evolution as a legitimate mechanism an intelligent creator might use to further his/her agenda. I especially see the fact that evolution creates imperfect things and that fits with the model an intelligent designer that creates beings as imperfect as humans and demands absolute fealty - even though those beings were given free will to think and act on their own. I am not so unsure of the existence of an intelligent designer to categorically state there is none. I simply do not know nor do I possess a degree of faith - as do several friends - to categorically state there is an intelligent designer. Call it God if you choose. People that know me understand my stance on God is best summed up by U2. If you are new to me simply click on the U2 link.
Back to the topic at hand. Given a choice, I fall on the evolution side of the equation. There is simply an overwhelming amount of scientific evidence - commonly called facts - to convince me. The earth and humanity are older than 6,000 years. And, even the old earth creationists do not convince me they are correct. I'll stick with inquisitive guys like Neil deGrasse Tyson who are constantly searching for answers. I am confident the answers will be found eventually. If my faithful friends are correct, though, it is not likely to happen in my lifetime so I'd better get used to some heat.
I also realize this is a topic better suited to a more detailed discussion than this little weekly blog allows. Anyone wishing to have more detailed discussion with me on this issue is free to contact me.
This week's topic was my idea. To see where my cohorts stand on the issue please check their blogs at the following links - Ramana, Pravin, Maria and Ashok.
Fair enough. I think that the sense of humour bit helped to negotiate the post further. I personally don't think that there is any conflict between the two because I follow a different path than the creationists of the West. I would still give them their space and leave them alone though I would recommend that their children be taught Darwinism in schools.
ReplyDeleteTraditionally evolution has been taught in schools but now the religious right has decided creationism should be taught in schools and I am wholly against that as it crosses the separation of church and state - honestly when I picked the topic I was looking forward to the Indian group responses.
DeleteI think we're totally on the wrong track thinking it's an either or situation with creationism vs evolution. Quite possibly the two are integrated in some manner. I, also, do not discount the possibility that life may, in fact, have arrived on this planet from elsewhere in the universe. I'm content to let others expend their time and energy studying the intricacies of all this. That said, I think creationism is basically a religious construct and has no place being taught in the public school system. Mellow tune seems fitting. FWIW U2 link was unavailable to me.
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more -there is a version ofCreationism that does what you suggest, debunked by fundamentalists - imagie that,
DeleteCouldn't agree more. Although using science to back up one's argument has not resulted in much success with today's version of humankind :P
ReplyDeleteI describe this as a very complicated human's brain nerve network, in which there are two sides in it, the left (rational-oriented) and the right (intuitive-oriented) which was interconnected. The both sides is an inseparable unity. If we split this unity (the brain) into the left and the right with knife, then the entire unity (human itself) will be extinct. Western approach and eastern approach are slightly different in absorbing the things.
ReplyDeleteAt the end, my sliding level is slightly toward Ramana.