to me one of the most fascinating things about being a human is our ability to ponder the past... the museum of man was a wonderland of the latest research on topics like human migrations out of africa, evolution, dna study (mitochondrial dna research), anthropology, and procreation... for a long time these fields have really intrigued me and has led me to be interested in religion... i enjoy studying religions impartially (especially eastern religions).. As i walked thru the museum of man i thought about western religion's stance on the theory of evolution (in science a 'theory' means a conclusion supported by many many facts.. see: 'the theory of gravity').. and even though the pope gave a speech on charles darwin's birthday glorifying his findings and the 150 years of research that followed, many people claim that the bible is a 'literal' truth on all of earth's history.. they believe in a worldwide flood, a 6000 yr old earth (it's closer to 4.5 billion!!), and that the earth is the center of the universe... as someone who is very passionate about exploring the world around him, these claims intrigue me..
i've concluded that if these people decide to reject these scientific observations then they should reject all scientific findings, technologies and ways in which science makes our lives better.. cars, telephones, computers, etc.. but people of faith disputing science based on genesis is nothing new, scientists have been murdered by the church for suggesting things like a round earth, and that the earth might revolve around the sun and not the other way around.. this time period is appropriately remembered as the dark ages.. at the time that the bible was written the sun and stars were thought to revolve around a still, flat earth and there was no study of geology or findings of paleontology so the age of the earth was naturally thought to have been around the time writing was invented.. so all of genesis made perfect sense at the time, but the more we learn about the world we live in, and it's immense history, the less we will need to rely on mythological explanations.. i for one take pleasure in understanding how small we are in such a vast mysterious universe, and how closely connected we are to all life on earth.. please feel free to leave your opinions in the comment box.. thanks!
i've concluded that if these people decide to reject these scientific observations then they should reject all scientific findings, technologies and ways in which science makes our lives better.. cars, telephones, computers, etc.. but people of faith disputing science based on genesis is nothing new, scientists have been murdered by the church for suggesting things like a round earth, and that the earth might revolve around the sun and not the other way around.. this time period is appropriately remembered as the dark ages.. at the time that the bible was written the sun and stars were thought to revolve around a still, flat earth and there was no study of geology or findings of paleontology so the age of the earth was naturally thought to have been around the time writing was invented.. so all of genesis made perfect sense at the time, but the more we learn about the world we live in, and it's immense history, the less we will need to rely on mythological explanations.. i for one take pleasure in understanding how small we are in such a vast mysterious universe, and how closely connected we are to all life on earth.. please feel free to leave your opinions in the comment box.. thanks!
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