The Triumph of Intelligent Judgement
Canadians have watched the comedy unfolding from our little pond, to the far stretches of the big lake on the other side with no little amount of bemusement and much incredulity. Canadians are not, proportion-wise, as religious as our cousins in North America, where a much greater percentage of the United States' population adheres passionately to their version of the one true religion. There are, to be sure, many churches in Canada, old ones particularly, in little towns throughout the land. But religious observation has fallen off quite dramatically in Canada, whereas it has not in the United States, and the ubiquitous church of any denomination standing on each and every corner of small-town and big-city America is amazing to behold, to an outsider.I've nothing personally against anyone's belief in an almighty god. People appear to need such beliefs for whatever personal reason, whether by familial habit or a sincere requirement to believe that a higher power looks down benevolently over believers, gently leading them to the paths of righteous living and in the process guaranteeing them a comfortable place in the great hereafter. So if that's what someone wants or needs to adhere to, that's fine with me. Doing so likely makes life more liveable for these people and also makes them perforce better human beings if they truly believe in the dictums of their religion and take steps to practise them.
But the observance of a literal belief in the bible, old and new testaments? That's stretching things a bit. Oh sure, it's all right, those who wish to believe, to cherish their faith should do so, but for heaven's sake, do not, please do not anticipate that others around you wish to do likewise. Do believe that other people who choose not to believe in an all-seeing, all-knowing, all-powerful spirit are resolved to believe in themselves and the basic goodness (often dreadfully lacking) in those with whom they share this planet. It is possible to draw inspiration from sources other than the traditional belief in a god. That should by now be a recognized fact, that a different kind of belief can still render human beings capable of believing in the possibilities and potentials inherent in living a decent, a practical and a useful life. People can also believe that they are responsible for what happens to them, not some higher power. These are choices we all make, whether to be a realist or to remain in perpetual spiritual bondage to a higher order of myth.
We have come far since frightened humans observed the elements and the darkness of the sky above and attributed natural phenomena to powers beyond their understanding, embodied in fabled creatures from on high. Technology has gradually advanced our standard of living, a greater understanding of medical science has given us a longer life span, and scientific enquiry has given us reason to believe a good many theories which uber-intelligent humans have gifted to human enquiry. We understand now, as an educated group that phenomena which so puzzled our predecessors have a scientifically observable and reproducible reason in nature.
That is what science is all about: curiosity, introspection, theory, investigation and an ongoing search for answers sometimes reached by results which prove beyond all doubt that a correct theory does beget a reproducible response. The mysteries of and within nature abound. The most basic questions about humankind itself elude researchers, but they forge on determined to break all barriers to full understanding of ourselves, our world. Will we ever know the answers to all the problems which puzzle us? Perhaps not, but human curiosity and creatively talented scientists will continue searching.
Wouldn't we be surprised if scientific enquiry knocked at god's door and asked him to explain himself? Not too likely, is it? But scientific enquiry in all manner of disciplines is breaking down all manner of barriers to a fuller understanding of the world around us. These are mysteries only until they are solved. The world and its inhabitants are not mysterious creatures of a powerful overseer, a being beyond our normal ken who in idle hours works clay into creatures of amusement which he can then send out to war against one another to relieve his boredom in a vast universe which he dominates.
How, one wonders, can intelligent human beings possibly believe in the Creation of the bible? Call it Intelligent Design, call it Creationism, it is lifted directly from a written source compiled by human beings through a tradition of oral story- and myth-making. These fantastic myths cannot be proven, there is no observable, believable history, nor is there a traceable archeological source which could prove or disprove events other than to agree that certain critical points in biblical evolution echo myths common to a great many disparate peoples throughout the world.
Advanced scientific enquiry, on the other hand, can prove itself, and does regularly to the extent that results which one group of scientists claim can be reproduced by other observers lending full credibility to the original claim of discovery. The 'theory' of Intelligent Design is a backward and childish attempt to return to the comforting history of a great and loving spirit who dotes on and looks after those who believe in his existence. The scientific understanding of man's evolution and the evolution of all other creatures in a world we share can be frightening to such people because of its very randomness. We could be very lonely accidents in a huge chemical pudding we call the universe.
posted by Pieface @ Friday, December 23, 2005
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