March 6, 2007

Darwin's God

I want you to read something for me today. It's going to take a little while, and you're going roll your eyes, probably. But don't. Sometimes you read things and they stick with you and you carry them around with you for a long time, inserting bits and pieces of them into your conversations, incorporating some of the thinking into how you view other things, and sometimes they even open a door into your own understanding of yourself.

This piece from the NYT on the weekend is one of those pieces. It's called Darwin's God, and is a really amazing look at the cross up between religion and science. Unless you've been off the planet the past few years, you must know that the religious right in the U.S. has been exploding into the political scene and exerting considerable (scary) power in the schools and senate halls. I prefer my church and state to be separate, thankyouverymuch.

To be blunt, I'm a whatever-gets-you-through-the-day kind of person when it comes to religion. Do what you want, don't ram it down anyone else's throat, and we can be friends. The article I linked is a fascinating look at how science bumps up with belief, and above all, where the evolution of belief fits into human development. Why do we believe what we can't see, how do we come to adhere to things that make no organic sense sometimes, and who are we as a result?

Maybe I spend too much time noodling around in my own head, but discussions like this provide endless fodder for me. As I watch communities, and indeed families, continually fracture into smaller and smaller pieces, I wonder when we decided we didn't need each other anymore. It's not just about why Wayne Gretzky always tucked his hockey jersey into the left side of his pants - it's about exploring reasons why some societies started to believe there would be another day, and to save some food for tomorrow.

You're not supposed to talk about money, sex or religion in polite company. Apparently, it rapidly becomes not so polite. Well, I talk about all three of those things, because they're usually pretty interesting. This article opens up avenues of thought into one of the most heated areas of conversations in the world today, and I think it's worth the read.


Anonymous Anonymous said...

That is alot of reading. I honestly can only say, my religious beliefs as they are offer me comfort and sound piece of mind, peace and sanity. I don't want to know anything else. Or need to. :)

March 06, 2007 5:58 PM  

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