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Re: Human evolution and religious beliefs.
fkellaway@shrsys.hslc.org
26 SEP 95 01:32:18 GMT
Probably not the forum in which to advance this/these ideas, but...
I can't help thinking that such a thorough, high-powered, sure-to-succeed
attack on creationism may be a grave error. Not because it won't defeat its
foe; it certainly will. But let's just look at the issue from a somewhat
more detached point.
I speak as a human upon this Earth of ours. If evolution, and its refine-
ment, sociobiology (evolutionary sociology, call it what you like) is true, as
I and most thinking people are convinced it is/they are... so what? These
theories show that life, if lived according to truth, is meaningless and
purposeless.
Yet we as humans are saddled with this thing called human nature.
We desire happiness. We like truth, but really, that is not our overriding
priority. Happiness, which for the most part depends on a sense of meaning to
life, is much more our goal. And why should it not be? if there is ultimately
no real meaning or purpose to life. Except for the fact that is is not true,
one could in effect say that the supreme achievement of conservative Christian-
ity and other religions like it is that they recognize life's meaninglessness
and man's need for meaning and then jump in and provide it (meaning/purpose.)
So why do we, as modern intellectuals who understand evolution and its sig-
nificance, try to destroy the worldview of conservative Christians?
Really, I fear it's quite misplaced antagonism.HELP
Really, I fear it's quite misplaced antagonism. Somewhat like when the
confident older child unthinkingly destroys the younger child's belief in
Santa Claus.
Of course, if one belives we have discovered some other moral or otherwise-
motivating truth, one could take issue with what I say. But as far as I am
aware, today's data has not produced anything along those lines. People who
claim it nonetheless are, it seems, merely our modern religionists. Not,
perhpas, known under that appelation but religionists just the same.
So that I may go a step further and say that the war against creationism
or conservative Christianity in general, if waged with full understanding of
the issues I have raised, is really a war between religionists; a holy war.
A modern-day holy war! What a sight. Will wonders never cease.
your anti-war protester,
fjk
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