Intelligent Design Ranting

Okay, Christmas Eve is just a few minutes away and (as usual) quite a few hysterical politicians and right-wing nutjobs want to defile the name of God by using it for some bizzare purpose.

Yep, the "Intelligent Design" drama continues to play itself out this holiday season. With all the problems in the world today, some people still have time to worry about whether we (ie those objects in the known universe) were created by a gigantic explosion or the voice of God. This ranks right up there with whether we came from dust or monkeys on the "oh yeah, that's so important" scale, in my opinion.

Hard science vs. religious faith is an ongoing battle. Like Coke vs. Pepsi, Ginger vs. Mary Ann, or "Tastes Great" vs. "Less Filling." As with these great questions, there are very few clear answers, but the burning question in my mind is why the two can not be reconciled. I am a Christian, I go to church, and (to quote The Book Of Common Prayer,) " I believe in God, the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth, and in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord... " I also believe in physics, logic, and Earth Science. I believe that while Divinely Inspired, The Bible has been written and translated ad infinitum by human beings. Maybe what God originally called a "day" was actually ten million years by today's standards, who knows? And does it really matter? As I understand it, faith comes from belief in that for which there may not be an immediate proof.

If a Bible story is so threatening to this scientific theory, then perhaps the theory itself isn't so solid. On the other hand, if teaching a scientific theory is going to rattle your faith to the core, then that faith must not be very strong. There is no possible way for anyone who is determined NOT to see the opposing opinion to ever understand it, so why bother fighting?

Here's my take on the whole thing: Scientific facts define that which we call "reality." These facts are essential in the creation of our life-experience. God, however, operates above and beyond that which we call "reality." Yes, God can do anything...including providing us with a set of logical explanations for the world around us. Faith and science can peacefully coexist. I am happy to celebrate the birth of Jesus without having to carbon-date the fragments of the wooden manger or test the chemical possibility of turning wine into water. I am perfectly comfortable in making the leap of faith and saying my prayers when I go to bed, even if Darwin's Origin of the Species is on my bedside table (which it isn't, actually, but you get the point.)

That's today's sermon...Merry Christmas Eve.

FLT3