The Abstract+Expressionist Art Journal

Religion has fought against science for generations, and that is sad. Mainstream Christianity has, in the past, opposed antibiotics and anesthetic on the principle that such things amount to “playing God.” They haven’t won those fights, but they tried. The current one involves understanding how the world actually works; the mechanism by which life evolves and the universe operates.

Related to my many discussions on the meaning of knowledge in the realm of science, versus its meaning in religion, read: Atheist ‘Metaphysics’ and Religious Equivocation.

It is only mildly amusing that the last defense of the deluded extremist, cornered by facts, is to resort to a kind of self-abusing name-calling by saying that, “well, evolution is just a religion.” Having insisted that his religion is the only truth, the cornered religionist now argues, in effect, that your beliefs are stupid… because they are a religion. And for some reason, religionists fail to recognize how they slam themselves by saying this. “You believe in a religion, and religion is stupid.” Yeah, that’s a wonderful argument.

Science and religion cover different territories…

Let’s be very clear: No matter how strong your faith, Creationism (aka “Intelligent Design”) is not a science in any sense of the word: You will find no creationist experiments being done; science requires testable hypotheses, and experiments require something you can test to prove your hypothesis false if it is wrong. Creationism involves throwing mud on real science, and offers no testable, falsifiable hypothesis to work on. Therefore, of course, there are no real creation laboratories…what would they do there, spend their time trying to come up with new self-referencing pieces of circular logic with which to try to dupe the public???

Religion is about faith in meaning and purpose; science is about investigation of evidence and the testing of hypotheses regarding natural processes. But some branches of religion, driven by fear, refuse to leave science alone. Not all, of course; in fact, the POPE recently admitted that evolution is the real deal. He’s a religionist, but not a stupid man. Some radical leaders of the American evangelical community, however, are a different story.

People of faith COULD simply understand that evolution is part of the mechanism of creation, along with a very old universe. And many do - but the radical religionist leaders of American evangelical fundamentalism are deathly afraid of science and are determined to kill it at any cost.

That being the case, I once again offer my anti-hypocrisy proposal, and I hope that all readers will print it out and take it to their medical professionals: People who don’t “believe in” evolution, shouldn’t use the benefits of scientific advancements brought to us through evolutionary biology. That’s hypocrisy, and Doctors shouldn’t force people to act contrary to their faith.

Therefore, it would NOT be unreasonable for a doctor to say, “All of the treatments that would actually work for your disease are grounded in a thorough understanding of evolutionary biology. Without an understanding of evolutionary biology, we just wouldn’t have these medicines. But your faith tells you that evolution is a lie of the Devil, so it would be unconscionable for me to force evolutionary biology on you by offering you this treatment. Therefore, I cannot help you.”

All kinds of medical treatments are based on evolutionary research and an understanding of evolutionary biology - and millions of hours of research by thousands of biologists; from flu shots to cancer treatments. If you are going to stomp your feet and insist that evolution is just a philosophy, then you shouldn’t take advantage of the decades of medical scientific advancement provided by evolutionary biology.

Creationists who go get a flu shot are hypocrites.

Hypocrisy is a sin, and I am here to save you from your sins. And yes, I know that when the chips are down, many believers will suddenly have a personal revelation about the truth of science. That’s fine. And those who decide that they will prove their faith with their suffering and/or deaths, that’s fine too. All I have ever been saying is, stop being a bunch of forked-tongued hypocrites: PICK A SIDE, and stick to it.