AW! Epistles
From Deborah
Abstract
Sunday, 31 October 2004
I have the following comments on: AW! Discussion Pages 027. James R. I just came across this article while searching for something so totally different but would like to comment. I have never been to Spain, but am told about it and know others who have been and I, through faith, believe it is there. I can choose to go there if I would like but I have no desire. I cannot explain why it is there. How it got there or why it is, but it is and I accept that.
Is this meant to be an analogy of faith? You might accept on faith what you have been told about Spain, but you do have the option of confirming it for yourself, or you can seek the views of people with quite different outlooks who have actually been there, like Moslems and Christians and atheists, and they will confirm that Spain exists, and tell you something about it. You cannot visit heaven, or get a written confirmation of it from angels and devils or God Himself. Fairyland is no different.
To me it takes a lot more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in God. And then there is that age old question of which came first; the chicken or the egg.
Doubtless it takes a lot more effort to believe in evolution. That is why religions are so readily accepted by simple people who find thinking an effort. God “explains” everything! But to attribute everything to God explains nothing. How does God explain the chicken and the egg? God could just make chickens with no need of an egg, or even just make eggs with no need of a chicken. Evolution explains such things. Why has God chosen to make a world that looks as if it evolves? Does He want to fool poor humanity? If so, He is not too good for a God, is He?
Believing what you want to is true freedom.
It is also insanity. So you believe that true freedom is insanity! You can believe that you can fly or walk on water, if you wish, but my guess is that you will not be insane enough to try them. The fact is that no sane person just believes what they want to. They gain experience throughout life about what to believe and what to reject. Regrettably, there are always confidence tricksters who will persuade you through their skill and assumed authority that something is true that is not, and you finish up giving them money. Pelates and parsons have done it for centuries.
Believing what you can see, touch, taste and feel is not faith.
Indeed not. Since you believe that we are made in the image of God, you will quickly realise that we have these senses so that we are not senseless! We have the ability, through our senses and our intelligence to test the truth of things. Do you think that God made a mistake in giving you these senses because He expects you to have mere faith in spite of what your senses and brain tell you? It seems you do, because you are determined not to use them.
By the way, why do we need to taste? Why does it matter as long as it is nutritious if its taste is agreeable? Is that a gift from evolution? It cannot be because bitter foods are not good for us so we evolved into taste. Just suck a piece of lemon and tell me it is not good for you although its taste is bitter. Everyone has faith in something be it evolution or creation. One of us is wrong.
I suggest that you would be ill-advised to suck too many lemons, as you might do if you had no sense of taste. It is quite in line with evolution, but you have to remember that the point of evolution is that it happens. Things change by degrees, so human beings evolved into meat eaters when flesh would not have been a large part of our diet only a few million years ago. If we evolve in such a way that we can cope with the acidity of lemons, perhaps we shall be eating far more of them in the future. Evolution permits change. Religion resists it.
I find your thoughts fascinating… its as though you have the same answer for everything. Its as though you only have to accept one thought instead of figuring out the why’s and what for’s.
If this is meant seriously, I do not understand it because attributing everything to God, as Christians do, is more what you are suggesting. As I said to you in my previous email, understanding evolution is hard. It is however true. You might, of course, be being sarcastic, but it amounts to the same thing. The whys and what fors are addressed by science but are fobbed off to God in Christianity. That is why Christianity is for lazy and simple people. It offers what purports to be an easy explanation, the trouble being that it does not explain anything.
Got any advise for help with menopause? :) I know, its an evolution process and I dont need my ovaries anymore :) I do hope you have a sense of humor…
Well, I always thought I had a sense of humour, but perhaps I am wrong. I don’t get your jokes. No doubt God created the menopause to punish women for the sins of Eve. Wicked and horrible God!
Thank you for your thoughts and insights. I respect your opinons and am glad to have heard them directly from you.
Well you are very welcome to them, though once again you sound as though you are being sarcastic. I suggest that you read what I have to say, and then, if you have cause to criticise it you can do, and perhaps make up some better jokes too.
My father is from Christ Church, England and he doesn’t get my sense of humor either and many times I don’t get his! But we respect and love each other just the same. In going over my letter, I was only joking about the menopause. I am going through it and ask most everyone the same question. I would in no way make a joke out of what you believe to be true nor apply sarcasm. I find this a much too serious topic to sound off with flip responses. You too sound a bit sarcastic and flip too, Mike, still I enjoy hearing your point of view. I have never spoken with anyone who didnt believe in God or a higher power and didnt change their mind. As a matter of fact, my son’s high school Science teacher was an Evolutionist until my son asked him to teach both evolution and creation. Now he is a Creationist… I am not looking to sway your opinion as you are not trying to sway mine. Just a couple of people exchanging thoughts…
There is no need to apologise for being sarcastic—to me, at any rate. As you say, I am often sarcastic to Christians, though I offer serious arguments too. The trouble is that Christians cannot be swayed by argument, and so one might as well be sarcastic. You might not be trying to sway my opinion but most Christians are in the opinion-swaying business. It is a requirement of their belief, it seems. But, Christians are dishonest in pretending to be reasonable when they are not. They will reject all arguments and rely solely on belief when push comes to shove.
Moreover, you say I am not looking to sway your opinion, but you are wrong. Argument is not just an exercise for the brain. It has the very purpose you deny. It is indeed to sway opinion. I hope that some Christians might have a modicum of reason left in them by some negligent pastor, priest or parent, but few have. Mostly their indoctrination is fairly complete, though they will not admit it.
You have probably not heard of anyone who did not believe in God and retained that view because you move in narrow circles. Your acquaintances are all like you. The fact that Christianity is in decline shows that your impression is wrong, though perhaps you live in an untypical place.
As for your son’s teacher, he should be struck off. He is no scientist to be teaching creationism, and so should not be teaching science either. Creationism is not an alternative to science, it is non-science—nonsense even. That God created anything is merely an opinion with no unequivocal evidence for it. Nor can it actually explain the many truths about nature that evolution can. I never cease to be amazed by the stubbornness of believers in rejecting the vast amount of evidence for evolution in favour of "GOD DONE IT!" as an answer for any question asked.
I would save your son from that inadequate teacher at least. You can teach him creationism but you cannot teach him evolution, and it is evolution that is true.
I hope your menopausal symptoms are not too distressing, and do not persist too long. Older women are wise women, and they get a new and more important purpose in life than bearing children. Wise women can do immense good in the world. That is why the patriarchal Christian churches have little role for women except as cleaners and adorers. I hope you find a true purpose for the many years you can expect to enjoy.
