I asked 22 self-identifying creationists at the Bill Nye/Ken Ham debate to write a message/question/note to the other side. Here’s what they wrote.
I didn’t watch the debate between Bill Nye and Ken Ham at the Creation Museum, so I’m not going to be discussing what transpired. Frankly, I have better things to waste “my beautiful mind” (apologies to Barabara Bush) on than a debate pitting religious faith against science. What I did find fascinating, though, was something that Matt Stopera of BuzzFeed did while covering the debate. He asked 22 self-identified creationists to pen a note, message, or question for those who believe in evolution. The results (and the photos) were…disturbing.
I realize that there’s no changing the mind of True Believers; it’s been said that fundamentalism is the sign of a mind slamming shut…and so it seems when it comes to belief in creationism. Faith- particularly of the religious variety- can be a powerful, unshakable thing, capable of withstanding all manner of reason and fact. So it is in this case, where it’s clear most (if not all) of the 22 equate science with faith, where evolution is as much a “theory” as creationism. The fact that there’s evidence supporting evolution…and none to support creationism…seems not to matter.
God said it. They believe it. That settles it. At least in their minds.
To honestly believe that “Science is by definition a ‘theory’- not testable, observable nor repeatable” is prima facie bsured. Science is BASED on the provable, the observable, and the repeatable. Science is not about belief; it’s about what is, what’s real, what’s empirical and demonstrable. I’m stunned that otherwise lucid, intelligent individuals willingly traffic in the willing suspension of disbelief when it comes to science and creationism.
Sure, you might convince yourself that evolution and creationism are equivalent “theories” and therefore deserve to be taught side by side…but merely believing that to be true doesn’t make it so. Believing the Bible to be the authoritative, immutable word of God is to ignore the truth that it was written and translated by many hands over an extended period of time. The “Literal Word of God?” Not hardly. You might believe that Scripture went directly from the mouth of God to the pages of the Bible, but that’s simply not the case. So it is with creationism. You may believe with all your heart that the whole of humanity was created from Adam’s rib, but there’s no empirical evidence to support that belief. That doesn’t mean you get to credibly claim evolution is just a theory and that science isn’t testable, observable, or repeatable. Ignoring fact- testable, observable, repeatable, empirical fact- doesn’t make it less valid, nor does it reduce it to being equivalent to your religious beliefs.
I respect one’s right to their religious beliefs. What I refuse to respect is the willing and willful ignorance of empirical reality. Truth is not a fungible concept; it can’t be massaged to support a specific belief system. It is what it is. If you don’t like that, or if it doesn’t mesh with your tightly-held faith, that means your beliefs are based on willful ignorance of truth. You can believe that truth is just Satan testing your faith, but that doesn’t make your ignorance less disturbing or egregious.
Religious faith doesn’t have to be exclusive of science. There’s still much that science can’t yet explain, and perhaps there’s a role for at least some of that explanation in the spiritual. To hold up that faith as the ultimate authority and insist that science is just a theory is to place that faith on the same level as ignorance.
What disturbs me most is that here we are in the 21st century, and a large segment of the American Sheeple still elevate faith over science. It’s hard to hold out hope for a society which clings to its ignorance as if it was a lifeline.
