A Story of Awakening (Teen Boys)
In October 2008, a Catholic Church in southern Wisconsin invited me to present my "Thank God for Evolution" illustrated slide talk. Middle school teachers at the associated Catholic school invited students to attend with their parents. Soon after, I received an email from one of the parents that totally made my day, Here is how my talk helped two teenage boys:
"Dear Michael: Thank you for the absolutely great talk you gave last night. I am most happy about the relief you provided for both of my sons who attended. They have worried about what will happen to them when they die - perhaps too many fundamentalist views floating around landed on their heads and became fact. I have struggled with helping them. Last night you really helped them to see things differently and gave them a sense of relief about their own salvation.
"Prior to your talk, my 15 year old son couldn't let himself believe in evolution because he wanted to believe in the biblical teachings. He thought if he believed in evolution he couldn't really believe in God. But now he tells me that evolution makes sense where the biblical teachings were questionable. You helped him to connect the dots. Now he can believe in both. He now feels free to trust his instincts about God and not worry about it anymore.
"My 13 year old son picked up the Jesus loves Darwin fishes bumper sticker at your book table after your talk. He now has it hanging above his bed. He says he looks up at it at night and smiles because he is not afraid anymore."
Making Sense of it All
Hi Michael
Kind of reminds me of myself at age 12, entering a Lutheran High School and discovering a copy of "Scientific Creationism" on shelf... the sense of shock and betrayal that skimming through that book aroused in me was profound. I felt that I had to prove it wrong, and show why God and evolution could get along together. Took me about a 25 years to go from evolutionist to creationist to evolutionist again as my faith in God AND Science was developed, tested and reformulated, then lost and refound. I pray those boys have an easier time of it than I did, and with your book I think they just might.
evolution and religion
I HAVE LOOKED AT ALL THIS RELIGION AND EVOLUTION AND CANNOT FOR THE WORLD FATHOM WHY PEOPLE ARE AFRAID. I CAN SEE THAT WE WOULD BE AFRAID TO DIE, BUT WHY WORRY ABOUT AFTER? WE HAVE TO ACCEPT THAT WE ARE HERE TO DIE AND THAT IS THAT. WE CAN CONTEMPLATE THIS FACT. AT BEST WE ARE BETTER OFF WORRYING ABOUT THE PHYSICAL WORLD AND ALL ITS PROBLEMS AND DOING THINGS TO MAKE A BETTER WORLD THAN WORRYING ABOUT SOME IMAGINARY AFTERWORLD AND SOME MYTHICAL GOD STORIES. I AM SURPRISED THAT WE TRY SO HARD TO CONVINCE OURSELVES ABOUT FAIRYTALES AND ARE PREPARED TO KILL IF OTHERS DO NOT BELIEVE. WHY IS THIS BELIEF SO IMPORTANT. SHOULD IT REALLY MATTER TO YOU WHAT I BELIEVE OR DO NOT BELIEVE OR PRETEND TO BELIEVE. TO ME ALL THESE SO CALLED RELIGIONS ARE ALL MADE UP. THE NATURAL WORLD IS ALL THERE IS. IF THERE IS SOME SO CALLED GOD- HE IS IRRELEVENT AS HE OR IT IS BOUND BY THE LAWS OF NATURE. THE UNIVERSE IS RULED NOT BY WISHFUL THINKING BUT BY IMMUTABLE LAWS IT DOES NOT MEAN ANYTHING BY SAYING THAT ONE DOES NOT BELIEVE IN EVOLUTION- AS THAT IS THE SAME AS SAYING YOU DON'T BELIEVE IN LIFE. EVOLUTION IS NOT A THEORY BUT A LAW-IT JUST MEANS CHANGE THROUGH TIME, OR PURPOSE AND DIRECTIONALITY. EVOLUTION EXISTS EVERYWHERE - IT IS FOUND IN IMMUNE SYSTEMS,ECOSYSTEMS,LANGUAGE,THE LAW,THE INTERNET AND BIOLOGY. WE ARE MERE MICROMOMENTS OF CHEMICAL ACTIVITY, NOT FALLEN CREATURES WITH IMMORTAL SOULS.
RE: evolution and religion
Yes, at one level, we are "micromoments of chemical activity.." But that is not all we are. We are particular organizations of chemical activity that can feel and think, that can be self-aware, that can remember and plan. This is not the "_mere_ micromomements of chemical activity." The "mere" movements that we are are assembled into semi-stable structures that support higher-level activities--including our language. Language enables us to think abstractly, to express those thoughts both metaphorically and literally. With words we create worlds that exist only in our imaginations, and we point to worlds that may exist apart from our imagination. Yes, our doing so entails the micromovements of chemical (and physical and electrical) activity, but it also entails the forming of pathways in neural networks, which are at least as real as our chemical composition and processes. Our relationships with each other are real, and make a difference in our feelings, thoughts, and actions. Do chemicals feel pain? or is pain the experience of sentient beings?
There are many levels of organization of particles below that of chemicals, and many levels of organization of chemicals and of the structures (relationships) composed of chemicals. One can be quite reductionist, but when I am in pain, I find it hard to dismiss it as "mere" micromovements of chemical activity. What do _you_ do with pain? Or with joy, for that matter? When another's pain does not matter to you--if you were even quite happy to inflict it on another set of "mere" chemical micromovements, then I would have to say that such a frame of reference qualifies as metaphorically "fallen."
-pathfield