Knowing what you believe and why is at least as important as the believing itself. |
There is very good supporting evidence for evolution. Intelligent Design, a popular pseudo-creationist opponent to the Theory of Evolution, is a poorly proposed theory, if you can even call it science. "Irreducible Complexity", it's most used argument is pathetic science. Basically it is poking holes in a theory, evolution, and using that to prove itself. It's saying, "You haven't proved this yet, therefore you are not true!" It is finding areas where evolution has not discovered all the answers (as no scientific field has) and points at them to validate itself. When discoveries are made that fill in those holes Intelligent Design has to run to a different hole in the theory and poke at that until another discovery is made. Evolution is fact. The Evolutionary Theory is a theory. I am a microbiologist and see evolution daily, it happens. I do not believe in the Theory, I do not believe we evolved from other primates. As I have stated, I am a Catholic and believe that God put us here on earth in His image. This belief is absolutely faith-based and therefore completely out of the range of science. If one day a scientist discovers "the missing link" it will not change my belief. I will acknowledge it as a wonderful and exciting discovery and stick to my belief as strongly as I do now. I believe that God uses evolution in his design of our planet and that he will have made it possible for us to have evolved from pond scum; He made it and he will have made it perfectly. I don't believe this, but think it possible that God made all other life on this planet from one or a few spontaneous life forms via evolution. Even so, I still think that we were put here on earth separately and with purpose to live our lives after God's law, with conscience and freedom of will. With this in mind, a missing link discovery would only strengthen my faith because I know God as perfect and I think it likely that the Theory of Evolution is one way in which he may be testing our faith. Not much of a test if there is a missing link is it? An important distinction exists between evolution and the Theory of Evolution. I believe in evolution as I believe in gravity or oxygen, I can see it's effects on the world I live in every day. It isn't something physically visible at any one time but I've seen so many things that are explained so well by evolution that, like gravity and the air I breathe I must believe in it because I trust the eyes and mind that God blessed me with to interpret and understand his beautiful world. I do not believe in the Theory of evolution because God put us here, this I know by Faith and have no qualms about believing even as a man of science; there are some things that science just can't explain. Science isn't perfect and for any person of science to claim otherwise is for them to contradict the very nature of science itself. That is to say that science exists to explain and describe our physical world through testable hypothesis and as the spiritual world is not directly testable, science can't go there. Therefore, I don't believe that you can use science to prove or disprove the existence of God, nor should it be attempted, that is the realm of faith and faith alone. I digress a little because it seems that many hold these two topics, religion and science, at odds with eachother so much but one of my favorite quotes: "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." (Albert Einstein) ". |