Religion By Another Name

I just finished reading an article and accompanying comments on Slashdot about some new discovery purported to shed light on evolution. (here)

I've rarely observed anyone as zealous as many believers in evolution. It's almost comical to hear them rant and rave about the delusioned creationists. They accuse them of wanting to have a monopoly on what is taught in schools and accuse them of being closed minded bigots. I find it comical because their accusations reflect the desire to have an exclusivity in schools and the outright dismissal of anything that doesn't coincide with their orthodoxy.

Regardless of whether you're a believer in creationism, evolution, or anything else, red flags go up in my mind whenever I hear:

• Belief in XXXXX is going to lead to anarchy, dogs and cats sleeping together, mass hysteria! It just isn't true. There is no new idea under the sun and just because an idea exists or becomes more popular doesn't mean it will destroy the world as we know it.
  
• Those who believe in XXXXX are just idiots. You can find very intelligent, well-reasoned people who espouse nearly every theory. To summarily dismiss the proponents or any single idea as idiots is just too easy and merely conveys an attitude of intellectual arrogance.
  
• The open exchange of ideas is dangerous. Those who believe in evolution seem threatened by any consideration of creationism. Of course, this is the exact opposite of how it used to be - when creationism felt threatened by any mention of evolution. It's much better to allow for a free market of ideas and let human beings decide for themselves.
  
• Those who posit some great division between science and religion. As if scientists can't be religious or vice versa. It's an artificial distinction that serves only to cloud the waters.
  
• Those who insist that faith is confined to religion. Faith exists in science also; most often cloaked as an assumption.
  
• Those who deride the bible on the basis that it claims something as a scientific fact when it doesn't. The bible isn't meant to be a science textbook and there are clearly parts of it meant to be metaphor and/or allegory and parts of it that are meant to be literal.
  
• When discussions revert to name calling and straw man type arguments that only serve to stir things up on an emotional level.

In case anyone cares, my belief on the whole creationism/evolution thing is:
Organisms change over time due to their ability to be flexible to the changing environment. Many times these changes are "permanent" resulting in a new species or subspecies. I don't see how anyone can argue otherwise. However, this is still a long way from accepting evolution in full. To my mind there are some parts of the human body which don't seem to have any current use and seem to be remnants of some evolutionary past. Whether that is due to so-called macro-evolution or micro-evolution, I just don't know. I find it just too unbelievable to attribute the existence of all organized organisms to be only a result of zillions of years of luck. Also, I believe the bible is the literal word of God and I believe that God created the universe in six days. Possibly these aren't meant to be literal days but it seems to me that what Genesis says should be taken at it's face to be what it intends to convey, six literal days.
So, do my ideas about the origin of man contradict each other? Possibly. I haven't reconciled the so-called religious belief with the so-called scientific observations. I think there's a sense in which both are true. Ultimately though, you come back to the idea that something sprang from nothing. I find it easier to believe that God created everything than to believe that something just appeared and mutated into a very organized universe. I'm open to believing in evolution and I don't see it as a threat to my belief in God. But so far, I haven't heard anything compelling enough to believe in evolution as it's espoused by the scientific establishment.

Well, this whole post was just hacked together in only a few moments with the family busy making all sorts of random noises in the background as they prepare for Christmas. It probably shows in the writing. It doesn't matter.

Have a Merry Christmas.