Continued...
What Bugs Me
What bugs me is the way that advocates of these different positions often dump on each other:
Creationists often dump on the other three positions as lacking a sufficient appreciation of the Bible and as being either compromised by or completely sold-out to faithless, atheistic evolutionism.
Atheistic evolutionists often dump on the other three positions as lacking a sufficient appreciation of modern science and as being either compromised by or completely sold-out to anti-intellectual creationism.
Atheistic evolutionists and theistic evolutionists sometimes dump on intelligent design as being just a shill for creationism.
Advocates of intelligent design and theistic evolution, not wanting to be identified with creationism, sometimes dump on advocates of that view.
Creationists and advocates of intelligent design sometimes dump on theistic and atheistic evolution as ignoring scientific evidence that they believe undermines the idea that the world and life forms arose without outside intervention.
Of course, each of these schools of thought is different from the others, and people who hold different views inevitably have lapses in charity when discussing each other.
But it seems that there is a huge amount of heat that is brought to this discussion, and at times the origins debate seems to degenerate into a mutual snarkfest.
Can’t We All Just Get Along?
Of course, people coming from different viewpoints will not agree with each other. That’s why their viewpoints are different.
It’s also natural and healthy for advocates of the different views to make their case and to cross-examine the positions of others.
That’s how we get at the truth.
But we can treat each other with respect and charity as we do so.
What would that mean in practice?
Recognizing the Differences
A first step is recognizing that there are, in fact, more than just two views here.
Talking as if there are only two views—creationism and evolutionism—and then using the name of the position that isn’t yours as a swear-word does not help the discussion.
It also does not respect the people you’re talking about.
It fails to recognize differences in their positions and it lumps them under a single, pejorative label.
That’s true whether it’s a creationist calling everyone else evolutionists or an atheistic evolutionist calling everyone else creationists.
No Shoehorning
A related step is not shoehorning everybody into one of these four categories.
If an old-earth creationist were to say, “Please don’t lump me in with the young earth creationists,” I would say, “No problem! The categories I have proposed here are purely for purposes of convenience. We can easily add new categories, based on who is participating in the discussion. Tell me what you believe and why and let’s talk about it.”
Similarly, if someone came from an entirely different religious perspective and said, “I don’t believe in any of the four views articulated here. I think that the universe was produced in a giant conflict between Apsu and Tiamat and Marduk,” my response would be the same.
The questions of how, when, why, and by whom (if anyone) the world came to be are all separate questions and can be answered different ways.
There are, in fact, a vast number of possible views, and I want to treat everyone with respect, regardless of their position.
The four positions articulated above are just four positions that happen to be common in modern American culture. They are by no means the only possible positions.
Good Will
Another step in treating each other with respect is presupposing each other’s good will.
It’s easy for people of different perspectives to suspect each other of having bad motives.
That’s a tendency that we have to check—and check sharply.
It is inconsistent with the Golden Rule, because if we want others to presume our good will, in spite of our disagreements, then we should presume their good will as well.
We’re All Human Beings
Something that may help us treat others with respect as we discuss the question of origins is recognizing the fact that we are all human beings.
None of us are members of a master race because of our view of the origins question.
There have been both geniuses and simpletons who have held each of the positions we’ve looked at in this piece. Holding a particular position does not make us innately superior or inferior to others.
Keeping that fact in mind can help us counter the tendency to look down on others because their views are different.
We’re All Fallible
Of course, we also all make mistakes, and that’s going to happen in the origins discussion as well.
We will, at times, use bad arguments, accept bad data, and have lapses of charity toward one another.
That’s par for the course.
But if we want others to treat us with respect and charity in spite of our lapses then we should strive to do the same for them.
What do you think?