It is often said you can’t have a battle of wits with intellectual conscientious objectors. In fact, many pro-evolutionary elements have advocated that these debates not be held with creationists out of fear of further fanning the flames of righteous ignorance. Yet such a strategy is doomed to failure as Creationists have found support among such kindred spirits as Tea Baggers and neo-conservatives types. This is fueling recent efforts to legislate the return of creationism into the public classroom albeit under the guise of critical thought. Don’t see the fit between Tea Baggers and creationists? Well, that because you’re literate enough to know that Obama isn’t Muslim, right? Moreover; there is no critical thought because creationism withers in the uncompromising light of logic and reason or what scientists call scientific methodology. Kinda of why we call it faith rather than science. Unfortunately, such nuance is lost on presidential candidates like Mike Huckabee as they pander to the lowest common denominator among the American public.
Here’s a passage from the Sensuous Curmudgeon, a evolutionary advocate that recommends disengaging debate with creationists:
“But critical analysis, as a slogan embraced by the intelligent design movement, turns the scientific method upside-down,” he said. “Proponents start with their conclusion—that evolution alone cannot explain the origins of humanity—and then construct an argument to undermine evolution. They do no formal experiments to test their hypothesis, and so they have no findings to publish in scientific journals. They produce no hard evidence. They discover nothing.”
The real problem is that evolution alone can, of course, explain the origins of humanity, only problem is that explanation isn’t t to the liking of most creationists. That said, this has more to do with the hubris and conceit of men rather than any literal word from god. Many religious types hate that humans are just an elevated hominid —notice I didn’t say ape which is scientifically incorrect— rather than being split off the spiritual evolutionary branch just above the angels. Damn it, we’re special and we even have our own personal god to watch over us as proof of that specialness! Never mind that god remains elusive save in the passages of three thousand year old bible verses but hey don’t let the facts get in the way of good old religious doctrine!
Believing in the literal interpretation of any document is at best a fool-hardy wistful endeavor. Tea Baggers often insist on the literal interpretation/originalism of another of their favorite documents: the US Constitution, only to be reminded that the original document precluded the vote of anybody other than a land-owning white male and promulgated the spread of slavery. But those were addressed by amendments conservatives would counter forgetting that to even think of an amendment requires you to think outside the literal interpretative box in the first place. Now do the founding fathers sound so omnipresent especially after they had to add a Bill of Rights? Don’t you just hate it when the facts get in the way of literal interpretation and fundamentalist perception?
Really, are the conservative and fundamentalist types really that stupid? No, I said this before and to reiterate my point, it would be a mistake to assume that just stupidity and intellectual laziness are at work here for pursuing such faulty logic. What accounts for this aberrant behavior is that many people will almost always embrace certainty over uncertainty, at any expense, including that of an inconvenient truth such as evolution (sorry Al)! After all, when you embrace a literal bible you can be assured of immortality either in heaven or hell; whereas embrace the theory of evolution you can only look forward to the possible continuation of your selfish genes and perhaps an unavoidable emptiness upon your demise. Now in light of that reality doesn’t the Bible version looks better and better?
Nah, I always prefer the harsh, coldlight of truth even when it’s at the expense of my preference for certainty. Really, I can handle the truth better than I can the empty lies of men who claim to be speaking for their god.
Cheers,
Erik John Bertel,
Author Flores Girl: The Children God Forgot
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