Back in a previous post, I mentioned an article by Dick Fischer titled Young-earth creationism: a literal mistake. In it, he noted,
Why have so many conservative Christians adopted young-earth creationism? The answer lies in this: while YECs can be criticized for using flawed logic in this particular area, in other areas of Christian doctrine, in general, their theology is quite sound.
That particular perspective was brought home to me today when I received an advert for a new Ann Coulter book titled Godless: the Church of Liberalism," in which she reportedly tackles "Darwinism." Now, I have a tendency to enjoy Ann Coulter's columns, if nothing else because they are thought-provoking, even if I might find some of her conclusions suspect. However, as good a political analyst as she may be, I am reasonably sure that she is not an evolutionary biologist, nor does she work in the field. I probably ought to read the book before I make a snap judgment, but every blinkin' time I encounter a non-scientist tackling evolutionary biology, it goes badly. This is why I don't write about politics.
Although in the past few years, I have found the conservative theology I embraced to be wanting -- specifically, in how it emphasizes "right belief" over "right action" (although our actions show what we really believe) and reasoning your way to "truth" (a thing) over personal interaction with "truth" (a person).
ReplyDeleteWell, this seems to be what some people would call a cognitively dissonant perspective that I have taken. I largely subscribe to a "conservative" theology and then people look askance at me when I tell them I subscribe to evolutionary theory.
ReplyDeleteWe're - not - a - mon - ster - we're - beat - niks. :-)
ReplyDeleteYeah!
ReplyDelete