To start off 2014, I’m going to get on my soapbox, after reading an article in the Christian Science Monitor recently, which was on the subject of More Republicans Not Believing in Evolution. As I read it, it was difficult keeping my jaw off the floor in disbelief. Honestly, I just really wanted to smack every one of those people upside their heads, and tell them,
If you don’t like science, you’re not allowed to use it. So give me your cell phones, clothes with synthetic fibers, your computers, cars, and go live in a hand-made log cabin, sew your own clothes from home-grown cotton, and otherwise get rid of everything made through science, since you don’t “believe” in it.
Ignorance is Not Equal to Knowledge & Does Not Deserve a Fair Hearing
Quite frankly, I am bamboozled, flabbergasted, bowled-over, flummoxed, and otherwise dumbfounded by the sheer ignorance being documented in that study. I know – I know, I’m being rude and offensive and dismissive, which is NOT Zen-like, NOT peaceful, NOT respectful….I just can’t get over this. The audacity of people who doubt science…….all the while living lives that absolutely depend on it, and being so clueless about it, and basing it on a book that was never intended to be about science, makes no claims about science, was written at a time of utter ignorance about science, and mostly by people who were poorly educated to begin with. I mean……REALLY?
What bugs me most, though, is that we’re seeing a steady push in the USA (maybe in other parts of the world, too, but very prominently here), that tries to claim that the BIBLE, of all books, is somehow the definitive science textbook in the world, and that all the really smart people doing all kinds of amazing research on all kinds of amazing topics, are somehow dumb, or misled, or the work of the devil, or SOMETHING that completely invalidates the work that they’re doing. This quote sums it up:
“God’s word is true. I’ve come to understand that. All that stuff I was taught about evolution and embryology and the big bang theory, all that is lies straight from the pit of hell,” said tea party Rep. Paul Broun (R) of Georgia in a 2012 speech. “It’s lies to try to keep me and all the folks who were taught that from understanding that they need a savior.”
I really don’t know how to respond to such ignorance, because it demonstrates such a failure to grasp the simple reality that, especially here in the USA and other technologically advanced countries, EVERYTHING we touch and use is built around science. I really and truly wish that Rep. Brown would go back to actually LIVING like they did in the Bible, since but he’s apparently incapable of actually comprehending that SCIENCE, not the Bible, is what created our modern American life. Yet he lives with and uses and enjoys all the benefits of science, but somehow doesn’t “believe” it. And depressingly, he’s not alone. Even more depressingly, this is a man with power in Congress!
The Bible is Not a Science Book
Before anyone goes and tells me I need to read it, let me state upfront that I have read the Bible from cover-to-cover twice, along with reading LOTS of it for Bible studies, personal studies, etc. And what is painfully obvious, is that the Bible is NOT a book about science. It’s a book of FAITH. It tells you how to live your life, about God (if you believe in the God of Christianity), etc. It does NOT talk about atoms, electrons, magnetic forces, biochemistry, cells, DNA/RNA, the movement of the stars or planets, gravity, etc. Given that the Bible doesn’t talk about ANY of that stuff, why do people use it to state that science isn’t true, and that they can ignore whatever they want, and simply believe whatever they want, even if they don’t actually understand it?
To Claim Evolution Doesn’t Exist, You Must Actually Understand It
The second photo in this post is from a debate between Richard Dawkins, a(n) (in)famous atheist, and Wendy Wright, a(n) (in)famous anti-evolutionist, and the words are an actual quote from Wendy, taken from that interview. Sadly, it seems she really thinks that her statement means something, when in reality, it implies such a gross misunderstanding of how evolution works, she is absolutely incapable of even understanding her error! And unfortunately, far too many people simply don’t understand evolution and make demands for proof that are non-sensical, or illogical, or irrelevant, and then because there are no answers to those demands, they think they proved their point.
I’m not going to make an attempt to describe evolution here, because quite frankly, that’s an endeavor that would require writing a textbook, and even more frankly, there are a lot of good ones written already. But my main point in writing this little rant is this:
If you want to claim that evolution doesn’t exist, or that science is wrong, and the Bible is right……please go back to living like they did in the Bible, and quit living a modern-day life that is utterly dependent upon science working as it claims. And if you don’t understand something, please don’t go to other people who don’t understand it, because they obviously can’t explain it to you, either. Go to people who are actually knowledgeable about it, or read reputable books, or find reputable web sources, but PLEASE educate yourself properly before spouting off about things.
OK – rant over. Glad I got that off my chest.