I grew up as a member of the Wisconsin Synod Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS). I was taught many things about how this synod felt the universe was created. I was taught that God (who I only later learned was named Yahweh or Elohim) quite literally created the universe out of absolutely nothing in seven (7) days. Everything you or I can see, hear, touch, smell, or taste was brought into existence by this omnipotent being.
When I was in elementary school, I remember being fascinated with dinosaurs--many middle school children are, I suppose. I recall having to write a paper on these ancient earth-dwellers. When it came time to explain the existence of fossilized dinosaur bones, I asked my father for help. His response was interesting. It was certainly not a unique opinion among Young-Earth Creationist Christians. He told me to write that God put the bones in the Earth to test us. God had created the Earth with a trap, more or less.
This brings me to my difficulty with accepting creation stories including, and especially, the Christian account. To accept this creation story I think one would have to accept the Christian God as an immoral character who not only will send people to his prison of eternal torture, but who wants to send people there.
There is so much in the universe that this god would have to have created to intentionally trap people after having given them the tool needed to be caught by his traps--a mind. According to this belief, God created us with inquisitive minds. He made it possible (probable?) for us to explore the world around us. He gave us reasoning skills which we could use to understand the world around us. Then, he placed artifacts throughout the universe that would suggest that there are purely natural explanations for the origins of the universe and life. Afterward, we learn that this god requires us to believe in him and worship him and if we do not he will torture us for eternity. For eternity. If that god didn't want people to go to this place of torture then why did he create these traps? Why wouldn't he make his existence as creator completely unquestionable? These traps are immoral. If I created something and I didn't want it to be tortured I wouldn't also create traps for it, make up rules about what would cause it to be tortured, or even created a torture chamber in the first place.
I do understand that these points do not show that this god doesn't exist and, therefore, didn't create the universe. They only say that if these claims are true then that god is an ass. (If that offends you please understand that I think that anybody who threatens torture, who tortures anybody else for any amount of time, and especially anybody who would do it for eternity is an ass). I do reject creationist claims, though.
Now, if I do not accept creationist claims about the origins of the universe, what do I accept? I think that the best explanation that humans have developed is the "Big Bang". I am not a scientist. I am not an expert in physics. However, this explanation has something that no creation story has: observable evidence. To be clear, when I say "observable" I do not only mean things that we can see with our eyes but rather anything that we can measure using our senses. I am willing to hear about evidence for creation. Sadly, to date the only "evidence" I have seen isn't evidence in reality. What science does is looks at phenomenon--the existence of the universe--and tries to make explanations based on those observations. Pseudoscience (how most/all creationist theories I have seen, including Intelligent Design, would be classified) offers the explanation first and then looks for evidence to support that claim. That is not the path to truth.
Basically, I believe what the evidence points to: universal expansion from a singularity (Big Bang). I reject creationist claims because there is no evidence that I have been presented with that would suggest them.
Do you have evidence for creation? Please share it with me!
have you seen "religulous" by bill maher? some really interesting takes on why some people need to have religion in their lives (more about strength and faith than creationism), i'm thinking specifically about the truck driver scene.
ReplyDeletelooking forward to your posts here. i used to feel out of place in the whole religion context (dad's family is catholic, mom's family is non-committal). i've come to see that a significant number of people, myself included, don't need it to be good, moral people. and thats the important stuff, right?? :)
as someone trained in the physical sciences, i have no qualms about the big bang. i guess the creation side of religion holds absolutely no weight for me.