Rep. Mike Pence was asked by Chris Matthews if he believed in evolution. Mike could not admit that he believed in evolution. Why? Because he know the price he would have to pay amoung his conservative Christian base.
Please be clear – there is no controversy, no doubt at all that the facts support evolution. What there is is a religious objection to evolution – because it contradicts some folks’ reading of the book of Genesis. Dr. Tood Woods, a creationist and a scientist qualified to understand the evidence for evolution writes:
I have hope because I’m a sinner saved by grace. That’s my whole reason. It’s not because I can refute evolution (I can’t) or because I can prove the Flood (I can’t) or because I can make evolutionists look silly (I don’t).
So while the usefulness, relevance and certainty of evolution continues to grow, the demands of certain religious conservatives are also growing – demanding that what they could not get in the university, in the science lab or in the courts (the right to teach religion in science class), they are now demanding by threats and intimidations. This is only a problem if we give in.
So what? Why not let them have their “teach the controversy?” A few things are happening – first, many people, raised in a conservative Christian faith, are distancing themselves from science becuase they are being taught that sceintists are the enemies of faith, and that evolution is an atheist conspiracy.
This antagonistic view of science is damaging. Though it is not doubt true that science can be bought, the antidote in cases like the dangers of smoking was better evidence and fewer cover ups. Creationism is just the opposite – and insistence that we bury the evidence and cover up the fact that there is no scientific controversy.
Mind you, there is a controversy – but this over how to read the bible. Is it a magical book, right in everything written between its covers, or is it an artifact of human culture, reflecting the peoples, civilizations and worldviews of its various authors? This controversy should not be worked out in science education and litmus tests for political candidates . The religious controversy, not the proxy war over creationism – is the struggle that Christians should be facing up to.
We need to find ways of embracing evidence-based living – looking around us to see what actually works and what doesn’t, not battling over things that have already been established – like evolution and the age of the universe. If we don’t, we will find ourselves talking across a vast gulf – with mutually exclusive ways of understanding the world, and very different approaches to addressing the problems we face.
