I recently had a conversation with a friend of mine who is a devout Christian. Years ago, this man (A Republican) and I (A Democrat at the time) had a conversation about politics, in which I was embarrassingly whipped. Because of this conversation, I spent many, many hours reading and educating myself on anything and everything I could find on the subject of political theory with a particular emphasis on "left vs right" or "Conservative Vs Liberal" theories, only to find that I was actually standing on the wrong side of the issues. My ignorance was causing me to take positions I didn't fully understand, and my friend knew it. Not once did he beat me up about it or even try to teach me, but if I ever had a question, or an argument I wanted to try out, he was always ready to smack me down and direct me to the places where I could learn what I was talking about before I opened my mouth again.
Nearly ten years later, this man felt it was time to talk to me of God, and my lifelong Atheist/Agnostic position on the subject. We spoke for several hours about what he believed, and how it was different from the common Christianity that I so openly mocked. He spoke to me of words that translated poorly into the English language, and how to find proper translations. He explained that my resentment of the Christian masses was misplaced, and that it was the teachers of that faith who were to blame for the overwhelming amount of misunderstanding within Christendom. Then he proceeded to blow my mind.
When I asked about Evolution and the age of the planet, he refrained from answering. Instead he asked me a question.
"Do you believe in man made Global warming?"
"No" I replied, and listed off the reasons why I considered it to be a scam.
"So, you think that scientists across the globe are either lying or flat out wrong?" he asked
"Yes" I answered.
"SO why is it so implausible that the very same people and institutions are wrong or lying about another subject? Doesn't it stand to reason that once their credibility is compromised, that all things from the scientific community must be questioned?"
I found myself stumped. I could hardly argue with the logic my friend presented, yet wasn't evolution obvious??
It was at this time that he presented me with "Haeckel's embryos", a chart showing various embryos of various animals, used in the 60's and 70's in science books to demonstrate how evolution was not only possible, but PROVABLE by watching the development of different forms of life "evolve" from nearly identical organisms into distinctly unique creatures.
"This was taught as fact to me in High school. Now it is a hidden, dirty secret of our education system because it was proven to be not only wrong, but intentionally fraudulent." He told me, as I sat staring, jaw agape.
After stewing on this information for several weeks now, I have come to one conclusion and that is this;
The steadfast belief in science is based on faith as much as belief in God is based on faith. Those of us who claim science as our basis for our beliefs must realise that in the course of human history, science has repeatedly proven itself wrong on many issues. Perhaps someday, it will prove itself wrong on the biggest issues of life, death, or even God.
