"Truth, Reality, Facts"
THEISTIC EVOLUTION"Truth, Reality, Facts"
By Harry T. Cook
Majority of Americans Reject Theory of Evolution
Most Americans do not accept the theory of evolution. Instead, 51 percent of Americans say God created humans in their present form, and another three in 10 say that while humans evolved, God guided the process. Just 15 percent say humans evolved, and that a god was not involved.
Oh, well then. Charles Darwin and about a million scientists since Darwin must be mistaken.
Who would want to be marked down as saying that he or she did not want to know the truth, experience reality or to be given the facts? To be sure, people in certain circumstances, while they may wish to have the facts, would just as soon they be kept from others. As to truth, it is the pearl of great price for the seeker. As for reality, someone has said it "is that which, when you refuse to accept it, refuses to go away."
I quote here my friend and colleague, Rabbi Sherwin T. Wine:
The truth is problematic. Some people do not like the truth. It forces them to face unpleasant facts. It destabilizes their fixed beliefs. It often compels them to change their minds. Even when the truth confirms what they already believe, the process of testing gives them anxiety . . . Only an open mind can pursue the truth with success. People with privileged premises, with opinions they are unwilling to change, are not interested in the truth . . . An open mind listens to new ideas even when they are outrageous. It cultivates new ways of thinking even when they are threatening . . . It is willing to alter its convictions even when the change is painful. An open mind is a servant only to evidence.
Those words were prefatory to a recent three-day colloquium featuring two of the world’s most acclaimed contemporary biblical archaeologists: Israel Finkelstein and Amihai Mazar. At issue was the real – as opposed to the imagined – history of the Jews.
Question: Did the much-celebrated Exodus as chronicled by the biblical book of the same name and that is the entire rationale for the tradition celebration of Pesach – or Passover – actually occur? Answer: No archaeological evidence supports such a thing, and, in fact, puts up a firm argument against it.
Question: Was the Land of Canaan (today’s Palestine) entered and occupied in triumphant conquest by Israelites under the sponsorship of Yahweh as described in the Book of Joshua and so often used geo-politically to support the claims of the modern State of Israel? Answer: No archaeological evidence supports that assertion, and, in fact, all evidence points to other origins of the people called Israel. As for Yahweh, who could know?
Question: Was the Jerusalem of David and his celebrated reign as real as the Bible says, or was it largely imagined? Answer: Imagined. Little evidence supports the idea of a glorious Davidic kingdom, and lots of evidence undercuts it.
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For traditional Jews, all this is disturbing news because it is incontrovertible evidence that what the Bible says turns out not to be true – at least in a literal sense. Without going into detail here,
similar problems arise for traditional Christians and some of their beliefs, viz., in the virgin birth and resurrection of Jesus – though it’s pretty hard to see how the validity of either could be settled by archaeology. Obstetrics and mortuary science, perhaps, but not archaeology. See my book Christianity Beyond Creeds./2
The Exodus, the resurrection and now evolution. – As Rabbi Wine wrote: An open mind is a servant only to evidence.
The news item that appears atop this essay was surprising to me. I know that some significant number of people refuse to accept the evidence modern science has turned up where evolution is concerned. I just didn’t know how many. That’s a lot of closed minds.
The evidence – archaeological, geological and biological – to support the refinements over a century and a half in the Theory of Natural Selection is overwhelming. No serious scientist in any relevant field of endeavor doubts it. Tries to falsify it? Absolutely. Attempts to disprove Darwin’s conclusions have been under way ever since 1859 when The Origin of Species was published. That’s how it works. That’s how a set of hypotheses is elevated to the rarified level of "theory." Therewith: reality.A not irrelevant footnote: Not long ago my pastoral counsel was sought by a family, one of whose loved ones had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. The family, as it turned out, wanted my help in keeping that truth from the person in question. "It’ll scare him," they said. They meant that it scared them. "We shouldn’t just tell him the truth, should we?" I insisted and eventually prevailed.
The person, now deceased, was actually comforted in learning the truth about himself. It gave him what he called "room to maneuver," to say what needed to be said to those to who needed to hear it. He told me in one of our last conversations that, and I quote, "There is no substitute for reality." No, indeed.
Reality is that which,
when you refuse to believe,
it refuses to go away.
While similar, and not directly on point, he once famously observed in class that an Agnostic is the best kind of Jew; always questioning, searching for the truth and the evidence making up the same.
I had taken Ancient History some 2.5 years earlier. The Judaism class reminded me of this class, only from a Jewish perspective.
therefore I will be unreal.
At least until 6 a.m.,
when I will not only be real,
but will not be happy about being real,
for at least two cups of coffee, anyway.
As someone with a scientific education, I cannot understand this statistic. My first reaction is what are kids getting taught as science in American schools?
My main point this this though: There is science behind the technology we all use every day, discoveries that were found by accident and the scientific method. That science, is the same science that describes the expansion of the universe from a singularity, special relativity, quantum tunnelling, nuclear fission, magnetism, plasma fusion, and from the biological sciences; evolution. All this science, is currently provable with evidence or experimental data, and theories that predict. Theories do change, but that is part of the scientific method.
Is there any evidence for creation (apart from a book of stories?), and does creation tell us anything more than a story can? I don't think so.
I understand from an Earth Science teacher of my acquaintance that teaching tectonic plate shifts, etc., has become a bit more controversial lately but still less treacherous than presenting Evolution as a scientific theory in Biology.
When a former employee of my office, a college graduate, admitted to me some years ago that she had not understood what a scientific theory was until my laborious explanation (confirmed by her engineer husband after she went home that evening), I began to understand the basic scientific illiteracy of the populace in general. I don't know how we overcome this, although I'm always trying.
I need your help tonight. My daughter just called me to tell me that some friends of our have had their children taken from them. I will tell you without reservation that if I thought that they were abusing their children, I would not be writing this tonight.
I know, with every fiber of my being, that these folks would never hurt their children.
Dana and Will are great people. Will is a former Marine and Dana is a good person. Their seven year old daughter was taken from them because she was given a spanking for misbehaving at school. Their toddler, Katie, was also taken from them as a result of the complaint concerning Sarah.
SRS has found no evidence of abuse, but still their children have not been returned to them. Dana works as a day care provider, outside the home, and she has been allowed to go back to work at her profession.
They have a hearing a week from tomorrow. I am asking your your prayers and any advice that you can give.
These are good people. I know that and believe that with all my heart.
Whatever you can do will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much,
Will
How did the world get soooo messed up!??
I have no advice, but all my most positive thoughts will be concentrated on the best possible outcome. Be the good supportive friend you are. Those people need friends like you!
Someday I may get brave enough to tell you my personal experience with how unjust our justice system can be.
What I suspect happened is that Sarah, upon arrival at school Wednesday, told someone of her punishment. The teacher/administrator felt compelled to report to SRS, under the statute requiring them to so do. Without more, I can only speculate as to why SRS took its action. I suspect there might have been a bruise or two left from the spanking, but cannot know, of course.
My best wishes and positive thoughts go out to your friends.
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