A Creation Myth

I'll tell you about the magic,
and it'll free your soul
But it's like trying to tell a stranger
'bout rock and roll
--Do You Believe in Magic?
Lovin' Spoonful

And nobody knows what it's like
To live and die on the inside
When we die, do we feel alive?
--Safer to Hate Her, You Me at Six

[O]ne is, if one is a Christian,
as conditioned as the Communist or the atheist.
The believer and the non-believer
are both conditioned by the culture of their time,
by society, by the extraordinary process
of propaganda
--J. Krishnamurti

__________________

Sunday homily: The new earthers.

Ranger was recently reminded in a personal way that he is unlike many of his fellows.

He was speaking genially with a former contact when he lapsed into some snarkiness about how he had once challenged a mutual friend who had said he believed only what was in the bible. He (Ranger) said he had countered him by saying refrigerators were not in the bible, and asking did he not believe in them, when his present interlocutrix gave a beatific smile, and said that she, too was a "new earther". End of conversation.

Americans generally like to think of themselves as progressive and enlightened sorts, certainly part of a great social experiment -- a new thing. But as of today, 46% of us do not believe in evolution (In U.S., 46% Hold Creationist View of Human Origins). That is, almost half of us believe God dropped us onto this planet at a bus stop of his own making about 7,000 to 10,000 years, and that's all there is.

Geological science, evolutionary theory? So much malarkey. Only 15% of us believe in human evolution, without god's intervention. (The other 38% are presumably being inauthentic if they cobble together some belief system which allows for an omnipotent god, but also allows for evolution.) For the almost half of us who believe that man is something brand new, sui generis, and that he is under the watchful gaze of his creator, how does this affect our conduct?

Since this god has issued unassailable edicts in the form of a guide book for good behavior (for the believers), one would imagine life would be quite simple, and go swimmingly for those believers. Sadly, no.

Since life is full of complications of people's own making, one might ask: Why are things so effed up, given that a life guide book exists? Why wars and hatred, adultery, greed, murder and the whole grubby lot of human indiscretion and shabby behavior?

Part of it may be the later added-on mulligans, like Confessionals and born-again episodes, revivals, penance and so on. People give in to their appetitive desires because they can -- there's a way out, given enough money, remorse or whatever resource is needed. This stems from an idea of limitless resources, which stems from a childlike idea in an ever-providing, benevolent parent. As one friend explained it, envision a vending machine dispensing goodies from the sky just for you, and imagine that these goodies are always available (though they will be dispensed at a time of his choosing.)

Well, it is pretty seductive ... who wouldn't want Gob-smackers anytime of the day or night? But in order to have that, you must denounce things like Scientific American's April edition, "Humanity's Beginning: Two-million-year-old fossils offer a tantalizing connection to our forebears." Because the idea of the earliest representative of the Homo lineage appearing a couple of million years ago does not square with being deposited as-is on a planet by an entity which created you and the whole kit and kaboodle less than 10,000 years ago.

How does a Creationist see fossil remains and radioactive carbon dating? Is it all a plant by some nefarious beings seeking to undermine the credibility of the believers? Meanwhile, there are some who believe in god, yet still allow for evolution, and perhaps even function within the sciences. However, if one believes in god, believes in dogma and the bible, there is no way to accommodate both; one either believes, or one does not.

For the believers, what was pre-10,000 ago? Nothingness? Science tells us that before the biblical Garden of Eden, there was time for perhaps 200 other garden scenarios by members of the Homo lineage (if 10,000 years is the yardstick); if so, what might those have looked like?

Less than 100 years after the Scopes Monkey Trial, Tennessee has put creationism back in science class. For the true believers, religion is not a quaint notion -- it constitutes a personal relationship with a close-by deity. If one believes -- and is consistent in thought -- the last 7,000 years is all there are (to borrow the phrasing of one of Ranger's NCO's). There are no genomic changes, no mutations, because God made everything perfect, to fit his plan. "God don't make mistakes", as the bumper sticker says.

Is it any wonder that, when people people feel chosen and annointed by a Supreme Being, they are willing to fight and die for him? For the believers, life would be devoid of meaning without that connection. Within that context, the idea of peaceful coexistence or tolerance of alterities becomes a challenge.

If you believe the bible is the word of god, there is a whole lot of science that is rubbish for you, or should be, if you cleave to your beliefs. If that makes sense to you, and you believe on faith alone (as there is no way to prove your beliefs), do you then see how the other guy feels the same way about his prophet (on faith alone), and thinks you are the infidel, too?

For the believers, is there any way out of this predicament of a strife-ridden earthly existence, other than believing in salvation in an afterlife? Is there a way to believe, yet accommodate, too (sans proselytizing?)

This is not a happy homily, but it addresses the core of so much strife we experience which really should be non-extant if we believed, as we say we do.