Tuesday, September 22, 2009

Banana Man's Buddy Touts the Bible Again





I don't really know where to start with this little diddy, but it's just too good to pass up. Christians sure hate those pesky Darwinians don't they?

I can't imagine why this argument remains central to Evangelicals. I can't even imagine having this argument. What else can we argue? The earth-centric view of the universe? Any other ideas from the Stone Age? This ship left the dock eons ago. And really, it wasn't much of a big deal until the Protestant Reformation when future television evangelists decided that a literal interpretation of the Bible made sense. I guess they felt the expanse of knowledge brought about by the recent Scientific Revolution gave cause to tighten the belt a little - else the coffers become leaky.

The Creationists are always quick to point out that evolution is only a "theory" (with finger quotes next to each ear). Ahhhhh, enlighten us - should we be skeptical of all theories? Like atomic theory? Or the theory of electricity? I wish Creationists were on the forefront challenging Newton's Gravitational Theory.

What is the hang-up with the Origin of Species? Charles Darwin certainly wasn't the first to come up with the idea of evolution - he himself traced it back to Aristotle and even earlier Greek philosophers - more importantly, he wasn't the last. For the 150 years since it's publication, it's been been expanded-on by numerous scientists and has become the cornerstone of all life sciences. All knowledge of biology, physiology, genetics, and a host of other life sciences that I don't know enough about to mention are furthered and explained through evolution.

It's no wonder Evangelicals are still fighting over the legality of Obama's election and whether or not he's a Christian. Hell, nine or ten months is nothing to someone fighting this 150 year-old dilemma. Be proud Evangelicals - you've earned your place right there with the birthers, flat-earthers, moon hoaxers, and the Sasquatch searchers.

I really enjoyed the presentation from Cameron and his accomplice. The reference to Hitler is a classic staple of Right-Wing nonsense. Evolution = Hitler, Obama = Hitler, okay I got it.

My favorite part though has to be the references to all the scientists "who believed that God created the universe." The argument is fallacious in itself - that one would suppose evolution is false because one believes in a Creator. The Deist come to mind (which incidentally Albert Einstein, Sir Isaac Newton, and Nicolas Copernicus all claimed to be). In fact, of the seven scientists mentioned, only one, Michael Faraday, claimed to be a Christian. Moreover, he's the only one mentioned of the seven that could even remotely be considered a contemporary of Charles Darwin. Given that Roger Bacon lived nearly 600 years before the Origin of Species was published, it's not overly baffling why he didn't agree with it. Johannes Kepler's works of planetary motion was so scandalous in the 1600's that attempts were made to have his mother tried for witchcraft! And Louis Pasteur, he invented a process for making beer and wine safer to drink - without which this blog wouldn't exist - so he isn't so bad.

2 comments:

  1. This was hard to watch, almost unbearable. I do appreciate the "theory" arguments. Evolution is a theory, a theory based on observation, based on the fossil record, based on the knowledge we have of how the Earth changes. Creationism is based on stories and a talking snake. Even if we have the theory of evolution all wrong, it's based on "real" observation. Cameron states he wants to get the Christian Origin of Species into the hands of college students and specifically, doctors - so maybe they'll pray for your cancer to go away, Lawyers - a real stand up group of samaritans, and Politicians - no comment.

    I don't see a problem with a majority of our professors in university being atheist or agnostic. If you want God, there is Sunday service and Wednesday bible study...and it's almost for free!

    My question is this: why do religious people feel that their religion needs to be represented in every aspect of our lives? If I'm a professor and I'm agnostic, how does that make me a bad or even, less than a professor who believes in God? What's with the urgency in Cameron's message?

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  2. Frankly, I think this video is all that is wrong with Christian creationism today. Does there need to be a distinct disconnect between what the Bible "says" and man's reasoned understanding of the Universe? By this I mean, do Christian's have to insist that science can't offer the correct theory because it doesnt' follow the literal interpretation of the Bible? If Paul, Peter, John and... god rest his soul, Judas, would have had science to help them with a deeper understanding of the world around them, I doubt they would have turned to faith(or lack thereof) as the ultimate explanation for their salvation. Perhaps even Jesus himself would have appreciated the clockwork that is the universe.

    I am of the opinion that the authors of the Bible would have recognized science for what it IS... a means to explain why, when, and how things happen around us.

    Is it too difficult to conceptualize the meaning of progress... or better yet, evolution of thought? It seems to me that Christians would like us to have the same thoughts about the world as we did 2000 years ago. Or maybe I should just take someone else's word for it...

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