The right Right and the wrong Wrong
I came across another bit of depressing news to close out the year: apparently the acceptance of the Theory of Evolution has stalled in America:
http://www.pewforum.org/2013/12/30/publics-views-on-human-evolution/
Fully one out of three Americans reject it. Not just have questions, but outright go with Divine creation at the beginning of time. Why? Informed clergy and religious scientists have both stated that it is perfectly possible to believe in both Evolution and God.
It would appear that the problem is you can't be a fundamentalist Christian or Jew and believe in Evolution. If the Bible is a collection of tales, some of which are true and some of which are not, pointing towards a creed, then you can believe in a universe between thirteen and fourteen billion years old, a planet about four and a half billion years old, and life appearing over the course of over a billion years. But if the Bible is the Inerrant Word of God, then the planet and its contents were created over the course of just six days, about six thousand years ago. In other words, the struggle between "Natural Law" and Scriptural Revelation is still ongoing.
And this goes to the very heart of how we know what is right and what is wrong. A serious argument can be made that we should follow Scripture. Human beings are imperfect, and when we have to balance good principles against each other like choosing between justice and mercy, it is pretty much inevitable that we will get it wrong from time to time. But if we are to follow Scripture, then the question immediately arises: whose Scripture? You will find Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and others insisting in complete honesty that theirs is authentic and the others are wrong.
But this question has been answered for more than a century. Slavery is wrong, always has been -- and there is no major scripture that declares so. The universe is too big to fit between the covers of any one book. We are going to have to figure out some of the big questions, like exactly when an embryo becomes a human being, or whether homosexuality is a natural phenomenon, on our own. And to do it we are going to need to look at the evidence. When the evidence is insufficient, we will need to gather more.
There are people who argue that Science and Religion should get along by keeping to their separate areas. Science should deal with facts, and Religion with principles. But that is not going to work. If you do not know the truth, you cannot be sure of the right.
http://www.pewforum.org/2013/12/30/publics-views-on-human-evolution/
Fully one out of three Americans reject it. Not just have questions, but outright go with Divine creation at the beginning of time. Why? Informed clergy and religious scientists have both stated that it is perfectly possible to believe in both Evolution and God.
It would appear that the problem is you can't be a fundamentalist Christian or Jew and believe in Evolution. If the Bible is a collection of tales, some of which are true and some of which are not, pointing towards a creed, then you can believe in a universe between thirteen and fourteen billion years old, a planet about four and a half billion years old, and life appearing over the course of over a billion years. But if the Bible is the Inerrant Word of God, then the planet and its contents were created over the course of just six days, about six thousand years ago. In other words, the struggle between "Natural Law" and Scriptural Revelation is still ongoing.
And this goes to the very heart of how we know what is right and what is wrong. A serious argument can be made that we should follow Scripture. Human beings are imperfect, and when we have to balance good principles against each other like choosing between justice and mercy, it is pretty much inevitable that we will get it wrong from time to time. But if we are to follow Scripture, then the question immediately arises: whose Scripture? You will find Jews, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, and others insisting in complete honesty that theirs is authentic and the others are wrong.
But this question has been answered for more than a century. Slavery is wrong, always has been -- and there is no major scripture that declares so. The universe is too big to fit between the covers of any one book. We are going to have to figure out some of the big questions, like exactly when an embryo becomes a human being, or whether homosexuality is a natural phenomenon, on our own. And to do it we are going to need to look at the evidence. When the evidence is insufficient, we will need to gather more.
There are people who argue that Science and Religion should get along by keeping to their separate areas. Science should deal with facts, and Religion with principles. But that is not going to work. If you do not know the truth, you cannot be sure of the right.