I was in a sort of debate the other day on msn regarding the theory of evolution vs. creationism, and I was astounded at the misconceptions and false ideas that some theists have regarding evolution. It reminded me of when I was a fundamentalist myself and studying in the seminary to be a minister. That experience was one of the ones that motivated me to study and search more on matters of evolution and other alternative creations stories.
That day I had been looking forward to class since I was a natural at debating and loved to learn everything about alternative belief systems. We had reached the point in our curriculum where we were finally going to discuss evolution. I can remember the excitement I felt when I entered the classroom, but that excitement soon turned to anger and dismay. When the instructor had reached the point in the book on evolution and began to explain it, well, let's just say that he didn't explain it but simply laughed and brushed it aside.
He basically said and I quote:" If you want to believe that you came from a monkey then you go right ahead but I know that I am a child of the living God!" He then turned the page and moved on. It's no wonder that alot of theists are ignorant regarding evolution through the process of natural selection. I must admit at the time I had the same ideas in my head that we were once monkeys and evolved into what we are today. But in reality that is not what evolution teaches, it teaches that we share a common ancestor which is saying something completely different.
In this debate this theists rambled on about how basically everything in creation and the creation of the universe itself was explainable by accepting by faith that god did it. The usual conscious suicide of reasoning that you hear from theists. It is almost as if it is a sin to think, analyze, and question things that contradict the scriptures. The bible defines anything that does so as being of the devil and states that it is meant to lead you astray from "the truth"!
In my mind god did it is a cop out and a lazy way of trying to make sense of those things that even today we may not understand fully. One thing that surprised me is that some theists are starting to reject the Adam and Eve tale and have relegated it to an allegory. I think that the reason for this is that it can not be reconciled from a logical standpoint with reason at all. This leaves the theists without a creation story, I am anxious to see what they will make up next.
Hi Chatpilot,
ReplyDeleteGood to meet you. I chose the avatar and posting name, "archaeopteryx" simply because so many theophiles have maintained, as proof that evolution doesn't exist, that there are no intermediary fossils, which is clearly untrue, as the archaeopteryx is obviously a transitional phase between a reptile and a bird.
To those who doubt evolution and the way it works, I say, consider the common dog. Thirteen or fourteen thousand years ago, Man domesticated the wolf - likely by finding cubs and taking them to raise. Over those relatively few thousand years, Man has, through selective breeding, caused those early wolf cubs to evolve into the many breeds of dogs we have today.
Normally, through natural selection, evolution requires millions of years to affect a significant change, but in the case of the dog, we have replaced the natural selection process by one of our own, and cut the time required for evolutionary change significantly.
Just a point you might consider for your next evolution v creationism debate --
pax vobiscum,
archaeopteryx
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