Misc. Ramblings

Warning! Religion discussion. Come back tomorrow if you are offended.

First, let me say I am a Christian and belong to what some may describe as a conservative Protestant sect. Further, I believe there are some things about God you simply have to accept on faith because there isn't any way to otherwise make a rational decision. The problem, to me then, is determining which situations to accept on faith and which to use rational thought.

That said, I like to think that God gave people a brain to think things through. That He gave people the ability to critically examine questions and come to rational conclusions. Indeed, that one of the ways He reveals the wonders of His creation is through science.

Unfortunately, many people seem to have problems dealing with complexity. That is, if they can't wrap their minds around a problem they automatically fall back to faith. This isn't necessarily a GoodThing.

Mankind came out of the Dark Ages by, among other things, questioning things based solely on faith and examining them using the scientific method. By throughly comparing the evidence to what appears to be reality, we may come to a better understanding of what is truth.

Still, having come this far, we are always dangerously close to reversing course and heading towards our own Dark Age. What we come to think as being normal society is but a thin veneer covering a multitude of irrational fears and very angry people. Get within range of these people and we could see the worst of McCarthyism and the Scopes trial return.

Evidence of this is this recent Gallop pole that says 45 percent of Americans believe God created humans about 10,000 years ago.

While I fully understand that Darwin's theory of evolution is just that, a theory, and while I fully understand polls can be very misleading - the theory of evolution sure seems to explain a lot of what we observe to be reality. In fact, it seems to explain more things than just relying on what I believe to be misguided faith.

And here we come to the crux of the matter - when is it appropriate to use faith and when is it appropriate to use our minds and the scientific method to reveal God's truth?

I can't give you that answer but I fear for all us when people apparently so easily disregard what science has revealed.

Aloha!