Why I Don't Believe in Evolution

First, let me say that I know the theory of evolution applies to understanding the microscopic life that likes to inhabit my body, specifically my bladder.  The e-coli there have kept changing - evolving, we say - in order to survive.  That means the infections kept getting harder to treat once I was on immunosuppressants, until only an IV antibiotic would do last time.  I respect those smart bacteria, and work hard to make my bladder an inhospitable environment.

I said "the theory of evolution applies," though - not "I believe in evolution."  Science is not something you believe, as in have faith in.  I do have faith in constant change, because that's what I've seen happen in my life; that's different.  Change is not evolution.  Consider the climate change we're experiencing now [see image above].

I swim in the same water with many religious liberals; in fact, I have been a pledge-paying churchgoing Unitarian Universalist for three decades.  And what I hear there and elsewhere is that many religious liberals have pitched battle against the creationists who have fought to have their creation story taught side by side with evolution.

Now, I do think this:  the science classroom is for science.  Not religion.  Not creation stories or myths.

I taught in universities for years.  There I observed that even religious colleges tended to be highly secular in orientation.  So do our public schools.  I'm all for that.  Now, much more than when I grew up in the fifties, we are a diverse population with many faiths and lack-of-faiths.  That can be dealt with in specific classes at higher levels; the first time I encountered education that dealt with critical thinking around religion was in college, where it popped up in several required courses.  Personally, I'd like to see critical thinking taught much more at earlier levels.  But let's leave matters of faith out of it.

There's where I believe many religious liberals fall into a trap; they engage with creationists as if the opposite of creationism is evolution.  It's not.  Creationism is a matter of religious faith.  Evolution is a scientific theory that explains a lot of data in a way we find deeply satisfying right now.  I, for example, take those evolving bacteria in my bladder very seriously.  The data supports the idea that they have evolved.  But history tells us that the most glowing scientific theory eventually gives way to something better - more useful.

When people want their creation stories taught in the public schools, we should leap to adjust curricula to add courses that teach a variety of creation stories.  From what I've seen, we don't do that.  Instead, we try to convince people of that faith that they are thinking wrongly, that it's evolution that makes sense. So you have a battle.

You know I have to say something Buddhist, and here it is:  "Hatred is never solved by hatred, but by love alone."  We need to be listening compassionately to people who feel threatened by what is taught in the science classroom.  We need to respect them and give them their say.  Why not begin making comparative religious studies available in high schools as electives? If somebody doesn't want their kid in that, let them fight with their kid, not the school board.

I realize that creationists - as in the Texas textbook problems - have sometimes been political and aggressive.  That doesn't mean that a disrespectful or aggressive response is useful.  In general I'm against battles.  I've lived through one war after another, and I've seen that the characteristic of wars is that everyone loses. 

As for the Darwin wars, and bumper stickers that draw battle lines, the image with this post is meant to remind us that we have bigger fish to fry - and, sadly, that more fish are frying on the beaches in the new climate that is affecting us all, regardless of religious affiliation.

Not dead yet

Update on personal body and soul -

Yesterday went to my PCP (primary care provider, as we now call family doctors) because a sharp recurring pain in my stomach was frightening me.  This doctor actually knows me, (despite every effort of the medical and insurance professions to make medicine impersonal), so he ordered a urine sample before he even talked to me.  And there it was again, a hidden bladder/kidney infection.  This one was not signalling itself with incontinence.  So I started on Macrobid again last night, and this morning on omeprazel for the stomach.  The shingles are acting like they should, crusting over, and they itch something terrible now, and if I sweat it makes them sting.  We discussed my pain medication.  I haven't been taking enough. 

As for my soul, I immediately felt relieved - the deep depression of this last week is not necessarily bipolar rising up again.  And in fact, the terrible depression in early September was simultaneous with a UTI.  Regular people who don't have mood disorders get depressed with these hidden infections, but a lot of them think they're just old and ready to die; and younger people can keep bulling their way through what they think they have to do, ignoring or drowning their bleakness or blaming it on their spouse.  But if you need any proof that we are one unit, and there is not one part of us separate from the others (like mind separate from bladder, say), this is it, living proof.

I've been so tired this week that I had to miss things that brighten my life - going to choir, coffee with a friend, having Otto over for the afternoon.  So tired that twice I forgot to take off the elastic sleeve I wear for lymphedema, and slept in it - dangerous for the skin.  In my usual I'll Conquer This attitude, I wrote a checklist and posted it in my bathroom,  so I remember to do the things I have to do at bedtime.  That's how tired I was, and waking up still tired.  But this morning I woke up to find I'd slept 11 hours, and my first real thought/sensation was that I didn't feel as bad, and my second was gratitude.

You know, you are not even in charge of your own will to live.  Today the sun is out here in southern Ohio, and every time I look out the window at the blue sky and take a breath, it feels healing.  I had a cupcake for breakfast and played Words with my grandson, whom I love more than my own life by far.  Now that I'm pulling out of that depression I can feel love again.  Even love is a matter of your health and the mix and flow of chemicals in your brain.

Now, that's all for now.  As for what I do in this blog, I just try to share my life, the reality. As for the image above, is God behind the clouds?  In the clouds?  Is God the sun and clouds, and the photographer?