Thursday, November 23, 2006
This string on evolution is going on longer than I intended, but I do feel the need to post a few more points.
Religious people are often rightly accused of taking positions on God and morality without first validating the foundation from which they claim to draw authority. They have not cornered the market on this approach. Many in the naturalist camp do the same, discounting the possibility of a supernatural realm or framing the conditions of debate in such a way as to eliminate the same. This is not intellectually honest. That applies to both camps.
Evolution is a term that applies to a wide range of theories as well as some established and observable realities. Belief in God and the religions people build around that belief also run a wide range of systems. Evolution in the macro sense has never been observed. People still accept it as truth because they believe they see evidence of it having occurred. Evidence of God has not been observed in my life time, but I accept His existence because I accept the evidence that He has interacted with His creation in the past.
I liken it to the dark matter issue. The physicist believes dark matter exists because it needs to be there for the universe to work. He has never seen it nor measured it's presence, but he looks because he has faith in his calculations. I accept the possibility of God so I look for evidence of His presence. Guess what?
Religious people are often rightly accused of taking positions on God and morality without first validating the foundation from which they claim to draw authority. They have not cornered the market on this approach. Many in the naturalist camp do the same, discounting the possibility of a supernatural realm or framing the conditions of debate in such a way as to eliminate the same. This is not intellectually honest. That applies to both camps.
Evolution is a term that applies to a wide range of theories as well as some established and observable realities. Belief in God and the religions people build around that belief also run a wide range of systems. Evolution in the macro sense has never been observed. People still accept it as truth because they believe they see evidence of it having occurred. Evidence of God has not been observed in my life time, but I accept His existence because I accept the evidence that He has interacted with His creation in the past.
I liken it to the dark matter issue. The physicist believes dark matter exists because it needs to be there for the universe to work. He has never seen it nor measured it's presence, but he looks because he has faith in his calculations. I accept the possibility of God so I look for evidence of His presence. Guess what?
