For All The Extremists, On Either Side...

...not of politics, but of the so-called "intelligent design" debate.



Let me clear things up for you, yet again, since this seems to keep coming up over and over.



Science and creationism are not mutually exclusive.



EVOLUTION and creationism are not mutually exclusive.



Theology and science explore DIFFERENT THINGS.



Science explores HOW something happens. Theology explores WHY it happens.



The Biblical book of Genesis says God created the world. IT DOES NOT SAY HOW. It says God created all the animals, insects, fish, plants and everything that inhabits the planet. IT DOES NOT SAY HOW.

It DOES say it took six days, but considering there WASN'T such a thing as a day until quite a bit along in the process, I find that figure to be allegorical for "we don't know how long it took, but it was cool."



Genesis also says that God's first act of Creation was to say "Let there be light!" (Fiat Lux! Woot Latin class.) Science says the light from the Big Bang can still be seen today. That's a pretty huge light, like, say, what would happen if God said "Let there be light!"



Science says that going from the Big Bang to now took "we don't know how long, but it was cool." Sound familiar? They don't know exactly how long it took. They can come up with a reasonable guesstimate, but even the foremost of physicists point out that according to their experiments, as you get closer to the conditions at the Big Bang, the rules of time become somewhat flexible.



Genesis says God created all life. It never, even once, says "...and He in his wisdom did NOT use evolution to do so." BECAUSE RELIGION IS NOT CONCERNED WITH HOW. IT IS CONCERNED WITH WHY.



Science does not speculate as to the meaning of life, or the REASON there was a Big Bang in the first place. BECAUSE SCIENCE IS NOT CONCERNED WITH WHY. IT IS CONCERNED WITH HOW.



Is this clear enough? I am sick of people on either side of the "debate" trying to pelt each other with apples and oranges; the two sides are simply not discussing the same things.



Science belongs in a classroom, because it enables our children to find jobs.



Religion belongs in a church, because it enables our children to find themselves.



Science does not belong in a church, mostly because organized religions are innately illogical, and science requires logic. Coincidentally, so does the function of the universe, which seems to escape most religionists.



Religion does not belong in a school, mostly because  organized religions are inherently illogical, and jobs require people who can think logically.



There's nothing wrong with being spiritual, but if you let it shut off your brain, and its ability to compare theory to evidence, then you're risking dire consequences, such as being surprised when you drop something and it falls onto your toe.



As I said, the universe functions logically. Just because we don't know how it all works yet is no reason to expect that we won't eventually, or can't; it just means we don't right now. The supporters of intelligent design frequently use the argument that life contains an "irreducible complexity," which means that it's so complicated that it is impossible to truly understand.



To which I respond that if they weren't aware of this, we didn't even know there is such a thing as GERMS 200 years ago. Just because we haven't figured it out yet, doesn't mean we CAN'T.



The IC argument is the same as saying "the bus has been on time all week, so it will always be on time." Wanna bet?



As an added bonus, I will throw in Something To Think Aboutâ„¢. IF you assume that God created the universe, you imply that the universe contains rules. You might call those rules PHYSICAL LAW. Do we know what they all are? Nope, not by a long shot. But the fact that we live here - under those rules - means that it IS inherently possible for us to understand the rules, since to do so all we have to do is understand OURSELVES and the deed is accomplished.



Since God is - dependent on your point of view - either outside those rules, or the physical substance of them, or their enforcer, we are inherently unable to understand him in specific terms, and only able to generalize.



Which is WHY religion and science are concerned with different things; science is the study of the rules under which the universe operates, while religion is the search for that which lies outside those rules.



Since the MSM will never, ever get that straight, I felt I was obliged to clear that little matter up for you.