Evolution, Reason, and Faith

This week on "The View" there was a discussion concerning a study conducted by NOAA scientists describing how natural laws may have played a role in the Exodus story of the Red Sea parting. Sherri Shepherd, a panelist on the show, was visibly upset by the encroachment of science on her faith. This discussion lead her to explain, briefly, her belief system which does not include things like evolution, etc. Similarly, Christine O'Donnell stated in 1998 that "evolution is a myth" and she's running for a Senate seat in Delaware. Several Republican candidates for President of the United States, Mike Huckabee, Sam Brownback, and Tom Tancredo, during the primary debates, stated for the record that they do not believe in evolution.

The debate has and seem to continue to be that a belief in a religious life or a deity, is exclusive of scientific facts. In other words, one either believes in Science or one believe in God, and these beliefs are incompatible.


NONSENSE!!

Until recently, say the last 150 years, many scientists, in fact, were clergy, since those were the guys that got the most education. They certainly didn't seem to have a problem of balancing belief with knowledge. Isaac Newton defined thermodynamics of Thursday, and still preached the Gospel on Sunday, and I'm sure his congregation benefited from having such an intelligent and learned vicar.

The real debate here is one between knowledge and belief. Knowledge being something that we know is true, either by direct observation, or by the application of logic to provide  a  deduction based on those observations. Belief, on the other hand, is an opinion. It may also be based on logical observation and deduction, but often without the strict methodology that is required to call it knowledge. In other words "I know it in my heart" or "I know it in my gut" is not the same as "I know it."

The two, Knowledge, and Belief do not have to be mutually exclusive. I remember being nineteen years old discussing this very thing with an Anglican priest. I asked if he believed the Adam and Eve story. He chuckled and told me he thought it was a nice story, but that's what it was, a story. When he saw the confusion on my face he told me that science may describe the possible mechanism used by God to make me, but it didn't affect his belief that it was God that did it, and that God loves us all.

I recently read a study based on some experiments done in Canada concerning authoritarianism. I do recommend following the link, and reading the study. It's written for laypeople, so you don't have to be a social scientist to follow it. One of the things this study points out is the lack of intellectual curiosity in people with a certain orientation toward authority. This is not to say that these people lack intelligence, in fact they may operate at a genius level, but they defer to authority to provide their answers. So if they are told, by their trusted authority that something is not worth knowing, they will avoid the understanding of this "unnecessary" knowledge.

I honestly feel sorry for people that close themselves from knowledge. As Galileo once said:

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

So, let's say the Red Sea was parted by a constant wind, it sure happened at a convenient time for Moses and company. Sounds like a miracle to me. As more discoveries happen, I am more in awe of the wonders in the universe, and the God that made them.