Thoughts of LoWriter

Sacriligious and Offensive

(And I probably mis-spelled both of those. Ha!)

I should probably be really offended by this, but I'm not. I think it's hillarious. This probably means that I am going to Hell. (Although, if I am going to Hell, I am probably going for better reasons than this.) Maybe I can be rescued by a "noodly appendage."

This website does bring up an interesting debate, however: The age old question of "Which is scientifically more accurate: Evolution or Creationism (currently getting a makeover as "Intelligent Design"... which means Creationism).

It should be noted that this debate is similar to the arguement regarding which came first, the chicken or its embryo, but not quite as important.

Here's my thing: I believe God created the world. I don't particularly care HOW he created the world. I believe he could have used evolution and taken millions of years and finally wound up with humans. I also believe that it is possible that it simply looks that way and that God really did make everything in seven days. Carbon dating, as I understand it, assumes that carbon has always decayed at the same rate it currently decays at. It's possible that temperatures, etc., the likes of which can never be known to man, were involved when the earth was created.

The bottom line is this: I don't care. I accept both theories in their respective realms. The seven days creationism story can be a metaphor and instructive whether or not it actually took seven days-- and yes, whether or not it actually happened that way at all. Evolution could have taken place and does not neccessarily conflict with Christianity in anything other than the minor detail of "was the earth really created in seven days or not," which is something even most Christians can't agree about.

In both theories, humanity was the last thing to arrive on the planet, not the first, which should tell us something about our theories and the relative importance of them. Namely that, in either case, WE WEREN'T THERE.

That said, the current socially acceptable theory is evolution. It's not really that much more believable than Creationism (or Flying Spagetti Monsterism) in my opinion, but that's the theory everybody believes for the moment. Why wouldn't you at least want your kid to know about the theory that has shaped most scientific thought for the last 100 years or so? You can teach them Creationism yourself. Or your pastor can teach them Creationism. Whatever.

I took geology in college and don't feel any worse off for having to learn about evolution and the current popular scientific theories about how the earth and various types of rocks were formed. Then again, I've always been a firm believer that if my faith/religion is really doing what it's supposed to do, then it should stand up to the study of other beliefs/theories, etc. If it doesn't, then I don't want to believe in it anyway.

Then again, I'm probably going to Hell, so I don't know if I'd take anything I say regarding your eternal soul too seriously.

Posted by LoWriter at August 30, 2005 08:12 AM