Davison's Doodle

Evolution and Creation

Like many, my companion and I watched, well as much as we could ingest, the Nye and Ham “debate” on the topic, “Is creationism a viable model of origins in today’s modern scientific era?”  I wonder what Nye thought he would accomplish?  Debating Ham only elevates his worldview that is founded in Christian Dominionism though I doubt that is a term Ham would use.  It was frustrating and hard to watch the “debate” as it set Christianity, including my practice of it, against science.  Rather than Nye it would have been better for a mainline biblical scholar or some other respected scholar of Christianity to listen to and then talk with Ham and an audience that was clearly in his pocket.  One person I follow on Twitter suggested that Walter Brueggemann “debate” Ham next time so that Ham’s version of Christianity is not the only “kind” broadcast as the way people who claim Christian faith think, believe, or interact with the world.  Though, Ham’s orthodox soteriology, that he presented so well in a graph near the end of his 30 minute opening, is sung, prayed, preached, celebrated at eucharist, and taught in one form or another across the Christian theological spectrum weekly, from the fundamentalist to the liberal alike.

In the end, Nye allowed Ham to broadly define science as atheism and Christians, at least his brand of Christianity, the only true possessors of truth.  For me, science and religious faith answer different questions that don’t compete.  I don’t interact with the world, observe the world, or understand how nature works through the mythology of Genesis nor the Christianity that reads Jesus back into the Old Testament. That is not the hermeneutic I bring to the bible.  Mortal beings don’t suffer death because of sin.  If you want another word or two on that statement connect with my companion, the First Testament biblical scholar, who can help you translate the texts for what they say rather than the orthodox Christian meaning assigned to them to round out a narrative about Christ Jesus.  No, that is not what the bibllical stories are meant to be or meant to do.  Maybe at one time they were meant for this, but humanity is orbiting the earth, exploring depths of the seas, curing disease, and awakening to our destructive footprint on this planet that, like others in our solar system, is going through a lifecycle.  Ham left no room for how other religions might account for creation because the bible is his history book, though he could not account for the two stories of creation, and his dominionism cannot allow for other truth or Truths.  Thinking of the bible as accurate history is like calling Jesus, “Christ.”

In the end I am much more interested how Ham’s worldview or Nye’s worldview interact with “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  Me, I don’t have kids of my own, but I advocate for kids and I want them to have the very best science, math, literature, and social science education that is based on discovery and questions rather than on religious belief so they can cultivate a balanced neighborhood that spans the globe.

Here is a snippet of an interesting reflection from Tyler Francke posted at God’s Politics at Sojourners.

When “Creationists” Aren’t Really Creationists

Intentionally or not, the haphazard misuse of such a loaded word foments anti-religious sentiment and further entrenches the faith vs. science paradigm. I offer a simple alternative, one that is already used frequently by such organizations as the National Center for Science Education: “anti-evolutionist.”  Click here to read the entire post.

Marriage

When October arrives I will have been married 25 years and I will have been in relationship with my companion (my partner, my spouse, my wife), longer than I have been alive.  I’ve been thinking about this lately.  My parents celebrated 50 years of marriage last year.  They still love to dance.  There are photos when their hair was a different color, when my sister and I were young and through our growing up, when mom and pop became empty nesters in their early 40’s and started living with themselves again.  Maybe it was easier for them.  They didn’t mini-van us to multiple venues for sports, dance, art, whatever.  Our choices were limited and we were allowed to fail at growing up.  They’ve learned the balance that fits them.  Men joke about “learning the rules” when in a relationship.  Maybe boundaries is a better word.  I can hear my father say, “Look, when your mother is not happy it makes my world unhappy.  That is no fun for anyone.”

So, this year as Lisa and I approach 25 years of marriage I’ll be blogging about our time together and posting article links on the topic of marriage.  Here is an article from Huffington Post’s Carrie Cariello that does a good job setting the stage, I think, for a conversation about the married relationship.  Everyday, I choose Lisa and trust she chooses me to walk through life together.

This is Marriage
Carrie Cariello | Huffington Post | Jan 25, 2014

Dressed in light blue scrubs, the surgeon popped into the room just as Joe settled into the hospital bed. The two of them started to go over the procedure, to talk about how Joe would not breathe on his own during the two-hour surgery. I focused my gaze on the toe of his brown shoe sticking out of the shiny bag.

And I thought; this is marriage. One day you’re shopping for shoes at the outlets and just a few weeks later, the new shoes your husband reluctantly bought for himself will sit, discarded, in a room down the hall while someone else breathes for him.  Click here to read more.