It is nice to have a post you can point to when people suddenly become hyperskeptical of Evolution. Thanks Qualia Soup.
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3 comments
October 17, 2012 at 9:04 am
writerdood
I had a talk with a collection of kids – friends of my kids – who are from very church-going conservative families of the common non-denominational Christian variety. Interestingly, they didn’t have a problem with evolution, though they know their church doesn’t like or promote it. The one sticking point they still had was that man evolved from apes. Their church apparently still holds the “monkey” terminology rather than indicating we had a common ancestor with them, likely because it sounds better when they say that evolution states we evolved from monkeys. That’s an interesting bit of propaganda in itself, but more interesting was that while they were willing to accept the concept of evolution, they still wanted to believe that God had created man. Apparently all the OTHER animals and plants on Earth have evolved, but man was created by God. POOF! There we were.
The fascinating thing is that there does seem to be some social evolution of thought going on among the younger Christians (or at least this group). Obviously this is a very small sampling, so it may be nothing, but they appear willing to oppose some of the philosophies being piled on them at church because they have been exposed to the concepts of evolution on the internet, in books, and in media. At least they are no longer discarding the idea of evolution, but they seem to want to hold on to this last bit of divine creationism. I didn’t try to talk them out of that. I generally avoid creationist arguments as I believe it’s important for these people to come to their own conclusions. I find it more interesting to observe them without attempting to enforce any beliefs of my own. (Unless they’re my own children, who I teach to respect the beliefs of others regardless).
In any case, I think there is hope that the concepts of evolution will bleed slowly into the Christian mainstream. It is possible that heretical mixtures may develop out of this – splinter theologies that regard Genesis as entirely metaphorical, and focus mainly on the new testament and the divinity of Christ. Atheists, of course, would like to see this eliminated as well, but they shouldn’t be so quick to discard progress. Social evolution is slow, and anything moving in the right direction is a good thing.
And just the other day, I saw a local Republican candidate state that they support gay marriage!
There is hope. Things are changing. A new generation is starting to apply itself. They’re still weak, but they are rising in power, and they will not hold the same beliefs as their parents as fact. Many of them will think for themselves, pick and choose, and be more open to new concepts. The country is beginning to shift.
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October 17, 2012 at 12:54 pm
tildeb
There is hope because the New Atheists refuse to do the same old thing and expect different results like the many generations before us who assumed that we should ‘respect’ the beliefs of others’ no matter how delusional, misogynistic, bigoted, and anti-scientific they may be… all because they find a nice comfy home inside this metaphysical tent we call ‘religion’. The New Atheists have lifted the flap and shown the next generation – by way of the internet (where religions come to die) – what a stupidly cruel, desolate, and knowledge-less place it really is. That’s why the Nones are the fastest growing cohort in Western countries. Sure, people will continue to pay a kind of social lip service to religious ‘heritage’, but when push comes to shove will not go along with the adult fairy tales we call religious belief. They are simply too well debunked to take seriously as well as suitably replaced by a method of inquiry that actually works to produce knowledge.
This didn’t just happen, and the shift is not due to ‘bleeding’. This has come about because people of intellectual integrity are no longer satisfied to keep their collective mouths shut and pretend to respect the abuse of the public domain when someone demands respect for using it to promote their fairy tales. They dare to speak up, to challenge people who just make shit up, who are willing to engage in honest debate armed with the facts from reality to confront those who wish to empower their religious beliefs. And nowhere is this ongoing battle between fairy tale ignorance and knowledge more pronounced than that between the POOF!ism of creationists (including the mainstream religions who go along with evolution but make a special historical exemption for the intervention of their privileged god) and evolution as it is properly understood: unguided, non-intentional change over time.
All of us have one of only three choices in this battle: to be a supporter of Oogity Boogity, a supporter of reality, or a fence sitter. That’s it.
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October 18, 2012 at 10:48 am
The Arbourist
Well that is certainly a hopeful future prognosis. Let’s hope that the current batch of the deluded in power do not manage to wreck stuff so that future generations do have the chance at progress.
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