Origin of the Species

I listened to an interesting program on NPR Tuesday afternoon about the controversy over teaching of evolution in Kansas. What bothers me about this debate-- and frankly, about political discourse in this country in general-- is the insistence by both sides that it's either black or white, that no shades of grey are possible. If you believe in evolution, you cannot admit to the possibility of a supreme being as the creator of the world. If you believe in the Creator, you cannot admit to the possibility of changing, evolving species.

Personally, I believe in God and I also believe that God created the universe. However, I also believe that the world (and the universe) is a living, dynamic place where the environment changes, species change, things evolve. In fact, to my way of thinking, to suggest that belief in evolution is immoral or "unchristian" is not only erroneous, it's insulting. If you believe that God is omnipotent, why would you believe that his creation would be simplistic and static? Why wouldn't it be an immensely complex system of action and reaction?

I also hate the argument that if the theory of evolution is true that there would be half-man, half-monkey creatures running around. That's like saying that because my cousin and I share common ancestors and some of the same genetic material, there should be little half-me, half-cousin creatures running around.

Of course, all of this begs the question of what should be taught in the public schools. Proponents of teaching evolution want to exclude discussion of where life began, relegating it to philosophy or religion class. Proponents of Creationism (or Intelligent Design, as they are now calling it) want to exclude all discussion of Darwinian evolution. I think both positions are disingenous. While it would be inappropriate for the schools to teach that the christian God is absolutely the creator of all life, it is equally disingenous to suggest, as the speaker on the program did, that you can simply tell your students that the question of why or how that first spark of life came to be can't be talked about.

I seem to recall in my biology class that we talked about some purely scientific possibilities and then spent a short time talking about creation myths in various cultures. It is telling, I think, that every culture has a creation myth and that many of them are very similar. I had no appreciation for that before we talked about it in class. I don't recall being asked to renounce my christian belief in a Creator, but I do recall being asked to learn what the current scientific thought on the subject was and why it was thought to be that way. That seems like a pretty solid plan for learning to me. I didn't just learn some facts and names of time periods, I learned critical thought and how to weigh my own beliefs.