Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (2008) (My Own Experiences with the Evolution v. Creation Debate)

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed is a film that purports to expose the hypocrisy and persecution of non-Darwinists in the science academy. When I first popped the film into the DVD player, I have to admit that I thought this was going to be a film with a rather paranoid, over-the-top perspective. But I try to have an open-mind and listen to different perspectives. So, I must admit that (somewhat to my surprise) I found parts of this film to be rather compelling.

To avoid misunderstandings, let me first make a few things clear about my own perspective on this debate between Creationists and Darwinists. I am no scientist. I took a couple years of biology in high school, along with a fair amount of geology and a bit of chemistry in college. But I was not particularly interested in (or adept at) science. I was a liberal arts major after all. I have studied the Theory of Evolution at a basic level, but that was many (many!) years ago and I cannot say that I ever studied it in depth or pondered its implications deeply.

In the past and the present, I have known plenty of Christians who embrace Creationism and think “Darwin” is a four letter word. Some such folks are people I love and admire very much. I must say though that I’ve never understood the Creationist perspective. When I accepted Christ and decided to be baptized, I did so in the Catholic Church, which is a denomination that does not teach a literal interpretation of the Bible and has no opposition to Darwin. (Maybe the church learned its lesson after persecuting Galileo over the flat v. spherical earth debate?)

In speaking with Christians who embrace Creationism, they have often expressed to me that their belief is rooted in the notion that the Bible is sort of a touchstone for all human knowledge—even scientific knowledge. That perspective does not jive with the faith traditions of the two churches to which I have belonged (i.e., Catholic and Episcopal). Instead, in those traditions, the Bible is viewed as the central text containing God’s spiritual truth as revealed over many hundreds of years to multiple people. Though incredibly important to discern spiritual truths, the Bible does not necessarily purport to have scientific truths to teach. As a result, I have never viewed the Bible and Darwinism as being in conflict, and I’m not alone. I remember vividly that when I was still an atheist, my first high school biology teacher (at a public school) began the school year explaining briefly that he was a Christian who accepted that the Theory of Evolution was well-proven scientifically. And as a conservative Christian homeschooling mom our family knows recently stated, “I keep my son’s Bible study and science curriculum separate!”

I’m cognizant that the Holy Bible came into being in a very different manner than the Book of Mormon or the Qur’an, for example. Those books are considered to be holy scripture by the LDS church and by Muslims, respectively. As I understand, it is believed that the Book of Mormon was given by God (through an angel) to the first LDS prophet as an intact text; Joseph Smith just had to translate and transcribe God’s word. It is my understanding that the Qur’an is believed to have been the memorialization of words spoken by God directly to Mohammed. Per my understanding, in both faith traditions, the belief is that God provided direct revelation to human beings, who wrote down those revelations for others to read and understand God’s words.

But the Christian scripture came into being in a very different way. The Old Testament was in oral form for hundreds of years before it was ever written down. While in oral form, it changed (one might say evolved!) over time and was not a static text. The New Testament had a very different “genesis.” It consists largely of correspondence from the early church fathers to fledgling church communities around the Mediterranean. St. Paul wrote the lion’s share of the text. As I’ve often heard mentioned from the pulpit, Paul didn’t know he was writing a sacred text, he was dealing with real life problems with a far flung set of believers during the infancy of the church. Other portions of the New Testament are memorialized summaries of the life and ministry of Jesus to explain to readers why he is recognized as Messiah. Those summaries—the four Gospel books—were written later in time than Paul’s letters, so they are not written by witnesses with first hand accounts of Jesus’s life. Instead, the early church believed Jesus’s second coming was imminent, so they did not initially feel the need for written accounts of his teachings. The Gospel books are memorializations by four different individuals of stories of Jesus's earthly life that were initially shared orally in the early Christian communities after Christ's resurrection and ascension. As a result of this history, many Christians would never think to rely upon the Holy Bible as a touchstone for all questions, and specifically would never look to it for scientific insights. I have tried but just do not understand the perspective of Christians who look to the Bible for scientific insights.

It is interesting because this issue of the scope of insight provided by the Bible causes a good deal of tension. I have known non-religious people who are very turned off to Christianity—though they often know very little about Jesus and his teachings—because they understand incorrectly that all Christians believe the Bible to contain literal truths such that they deny all modern scientific insights. I have also known wonderful Christ-followers, who initially had a hard time embracing Christianity and finding a church home, because they could not stomach belonging to a faith community that rejected Darwinism. It is interesting to me because the folks I have known in both groups were not scientists. Just as I don’t understand the perspective of non-scientist Christians who embrace Creationism with incredible zeal, I also don’t understand others who lack scientific training who embrace Evolution with unwavering dedication.

So, the upshot of all this is that I have never been aligned with the side of “Creationism.” I certainly believe God created the physical world we know, but I don’t believe the two creation stories from Genesis are literally true. As I have been taught in churches to which I belonged, the two creation stories reflect metaphorically truths about our omnipotent and loving Creator, but they aren't to be understood as insisting that God created the world in six 24-hour days. Personally, I don’t know the details of how God created the world, I'm not a scientist. But on some level, I also have a certain skepticism that any of us can ever know all the details, no matter how much science we use. Maybe I'm wrong.

I guess I tend to favor some form of Darwinism because I understand it to be the overwhelming majority consensus among scientists. I tend to have a lot of respect for those who have studied a subject in great depth. I recognize that until one delves deeply into a subject, one’s understanding and insights might be limited and even incorrect. In my opinion (based on my own life experiences), the opinions people form based on lengthy study of and experience with a particular topic tend to be better informed and more accurate.

Nonetheless, I never feel comfortable fully endorsing positions when I am not terribly knowledgeable about the subject matter. That is my M.O. in the area of science and pretty much every other discipline. Any other approach would require blind faith in the conclusions of other human beings, which just does not suit me.

Genesis 1:1-2:3 (English Standard Version)

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.
And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth." And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And God said, "Let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the heavens." So God created the great sea creatures and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds." And it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth." And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so. And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

Celebrating Easter

Some non-religious readers may wonder how Christians celebrate this most important of holidays. Of course, the secular celebration of Easter involves baskets of pastel packaged candy including chocolate bunnies, and hiding dyed eggs. As far as I know, that has nothing to do with Easter. Indeed, some Christians forego those activities altogether due to their pagan, non-Christian roots.

For many folks who believe in Christ but are not active in a faith community, Easter is one of the only times all year that they go to church. Some congregations have special services on Easter Sunday. Some have services on Good Friday too. Still others have special celebrations through out Holy Week, i.e., the week between Palm Sunday and Easter.

In some churches, the Thursday before Easter is a particularly important day. It is called Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday. It is the day we remember the Last Supper, when Jesus celebrated the Passover with his disciples. In the Gospel of John, after the meal, Jesus displays an act of great humility and love by washing the feet of his disciples, and instructing them to the same for one another. Afterwards Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot and arrested. At Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday services, these events are remembered and often reenacted.

Members of the congregation may wash the feet of others in the congregation. It is often a little awkward and can frankly be embarrassing for people to be in their bare feet in church and to have others come into physical contact with such a vulnerable, unattractive part of our anatomy. But oddly enough, it can also be a very moving ritual. As our pastor explained her understanding of Jesus's washing of his disciples feet, he was not just giving an example of humble servitude. Instead, he was showing us to love one another deeply, to take care of one another, and to be open to the love and care from others who make up the Body of Christ. As our pastor explained, Jesus wanted us to love each other so tenderly to be an example to the rest of the world.

At Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday services, communion is often shared to remember Jesus's Last Supper with his disciples. Communion in many Christian traditions is a very meaningful ceremony.

Holy Thursday or Maundy Thursday services sometimes end with a stripping of the sanctuary to remove all adornments and to extinguish lights and candles. The congregation is left to imagine the emptiness and darkness that the disciples must have experienced when their beloved Jesus was arrested and taken from them. They must have been terrified, not knowing what would happen to Jesus or if the authorities would come for the rest of them as well. At our church this year, the service ended in silence--no music, no farewell greeting. We just filed out in semi-darkness, many of us moved to tears to think of the emptiness we would feel if Jesus were not in our lives.

On Good Friday, Christians remember with heavy hearts the crucifixion of Jesus. It is a heart-breaking day. Churches that have Good Friday services often read the passion story from the Gospels. We remember the physical agony Jesus suffered, as well as the humiliation and the abandonment. We mourn for his suffering, and we relate to the sorrow of his friends and family members who were powerless to help him.

After the emotionally draining experience of Thursday and Friday, Easter is a jubilant reward. We remember Mary Magdalene's confusion that Jesus's tomb was empty; she thinks someone has stolen his body. But then she encounters the risen Jesus, though she initially does not recognize him and mistakes him for a gardener. She runs to tell the disciples. Jesus lives among his friends for a period, not as a ghost but with a body. He walks and eats with his friends. He even makes them breakfast at one point. The suffering of several days ago is past and it is a time for rejoicing. Churches are often filled with decorations and flowers. Special, joyful songs are sung. It is the high point of the liturgical year.

John 21:12

Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

What's the Big Deal About Easter?

It is probably understandable that the editor of a blog on Christianity has not had time to post anything in the last week! It has been a busy time for Christ followers.

When I was a little kid, however, I did not grow up in a household where we went to church regularly, and for many years I did not even realize the religious significance of Easter. I just knew the bunnies and the eggs. Where I grew up on the East Coast, I was also not really aware of Good Friday because it always coincided with our spring break so everyone was already on vacation. When I went to college in Texas, I was stunned that Good Friday was celebrated by so many; people did not go to class and offices were closed or closed early. Even at that time in my early adulthood, I still did not understand why Easter was such a big deal to Christians. As a result, I recognize that some readers of this blog may have the same reaction--what is the big deal about Easter? I thought I would take some time to try to explain.

Christmas is a great holiday, don't get me wrong. But there is nothing like Easter. Indeed, as I understand, the early church did not even celebrate the birth of Christ for a few centuries. Easter was its main celebration.

And even today, some Christian scholars debate the factual accuracy of the virgin birth. Of course, it is an essential tenet of the faith for many Christ followers. But it is not even mentioned in all of the Gospels. The Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of John (considered by many to be the first and last gospels to be written) begin their narratives with the ministry of John the Baptist when Jesus was already an adult. Apparently those Gospel writers did not think Jesus's birth to be of great theological importance.

I'm no theologian or biblical scholar, I don't know who is factually correct. But to me, it is actually not that important. I can appreciate Mark and John's greater emphasis on Jesus's teachings, the passion story, and the resurrection. After all, it is the resurrection that is the key to our faith as Christians. If we did not believe that Jesus rose from the grave, then his beautiful teachings would not have the authority they do. Instead, we would simply consider them to be the insightful teachings of a wise human being--like Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln or Oprah. But because we Christ followers do believe in the resurrection, we believe they are much more than just the teachings of a wise person. We put our faith in Jesus's teachings, we study them and we try our best to live them in our imperfect lives.

Some may ask why we Christians believe in the resurrection. That is a fair question. It is also a personal one that is bound to be answered differently by different people. An obvious answer is that the New Testament tells us that Jesus rose from the dead after three days in the tomb. But I can appreciate that that may not be enough for some folks.

To me, there are a couple of other things that really inspire my faith. First, something pretty impressive must have happened after Jesus's death because the disciples turned from utter despair (after the arrest and cruxifiction of their leader and friend) to an amazing, unshakeable faith. With that faith, the disciples (other than Judas) went on to organize the early church and to spread the good news of Christ to those who had not yet heard it. They sacrified mightily and suffered horribly to do that. Something very impressive happened to inspire that type of dedication in the face of all kinds of obstacles and dangers. In my mind, if they had not experienced the risen Christ, they would have taken a simpler path. I think Peter would have just gone back to a quiet life as a fisherman.

Another thing that convinces me of the factual accuracy of the resurrection is the life of Paul. Clearly, he was initially no friend of the Way, as the early church was called. Paul was a devout Jew, and was not keen on the followers of Jesus. Though he never met the pre-Easter Jesus, he did have a pretty impressive encounter with the post-Easter Jesus. It was so impressive that Paul did a 180, and devoted the rest of his life to learning about Jesus's teachings, trying to follow them, and bringing new people to the faith. Indeed, Paul wrote the vast majority of the books of the New Testament. None of us were on that road to Damascus with Paul, but clearly something pretty darned impressive must have happened to change his mind so drastically and convince him to sacrifice so much.

For those who believe in the resurrection of Christ, Easter is an amazing celebration. Like the disciples during Jesus's earthly ministry, we can be impressed by the wisdom and beauty of Jesus's pre-Easter teachings. But the resurrection shows us they were more than pretty words, they had divine authority to back them up.

And the resurrection is the ultimate victory. Jesus was betrayed, humiliated, tortured and abandoned, then he suffered an agonizing death. But despite all that suffering, he prevailed. No power on Earth could keep him down permanently. Even death, which seemed horrible and final, was not "the end of the story" as my pastor expresses it. The real end of the story is that like Christ we have eternal life with our Heavenly Father. If we no longer have reason to fear death, we are really liberated during our time here on Earth. That is the big deal that Christians celebrate at Easter.


1 Corinthians 15:55

O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

www.biblegateway.com

The internet offers an overwhelming number of resources on many topics. It can be difficult to discern the most helpful from those of marginal value or those that contain only outdated material. I’m certainly not an expert on websites pertinent to the themes of law and progressive Christianity, however, I would like to occasionally share sites that I have found particularly useful or interesting. One such site is http://www.biblegateway.com/.

I admit freely that I am horrible at rote memorization. My mind recalls concepts, but often fails to retain precise quotes of text no matter how hard I try. In my profession, being able to do legal research on-line is a godsend! I cannot imagine how lawyers did research before they could search documents electronically by keywords. However, I used to have a sense of how difficult such manual searches must have been whenever I was trying to find a particular passage from Scripture. I have several Bibles that I keep in different places. They contain different translations, and at various times I have underlined and tagged different passages in each Bible. As a result, searching for a particular passage through these various hardcopy texts was a slow, frustrating and rarely fruitful endeavor. Thank goodness for the internet—such searches are no longer necessary!

There are several on-line resources that allow you to search the bible electronically, but my favorite to date is http://www.biblegateway.com/. The site offers the option of immediately pulling up a particular passage if you already know the book, chapter and verse where it appears. This is helpful if you see a verse in the Bible quoted but you don’t have a hardcopy handy. But if (like me) you often recall a concept from the Bible, but don’t remember where to find it, the site also offers the options of searching for verses by keyword and by topic. That is the aspect of this site that I particularly like.

Because there are so many different translations of the Bible, I also really appreciate the site’s ability to provide the same verse in a number of different translations (in English, as well as other languages). This can be very helpful because some of us are more familiar with one phrasing than another. Also, some translations are more eloquent than others. It can also be insightful to compare the various translations to get a better sense of what the literal meaning of the original text was, as well as the conceptual gist.

Matthew 7:7 (New International Version)
"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”