Foolish Me

Every morning I go down to breakfast and sit with three charming old ladies.   On Sunday one of my companions urged me to come with them to Sunday School in our living room.  The other two joined in praising the man from the New Life Methodist Church who gave “such wonderful messages.”  

Four years ago I sat across the table from that man.  Something was said about evolution, and this Christian minister said, “You mean the theory of evolution.”

Remembering, I said, “Anyone who does not believe in evolution is a fool.”

All three of my friends were shocked.  One said, “Perhaps you are the fool.”

A second said, “You are entitled to your opinion.”

These are good people.  They are devote Christians who have been taught that the Bible is “The Word of God.”  Every word in the Bible was dictated by the Holy Spirit.  It is all factual.  They believe the World was created by God in six days in 6,000 B.C.  And God created the animals one by one. 
 
And Jesus is floating around some place up in the sky, waiting for the Rapture when He will fly in on a rocket ship to carry all the “good” people off to Paradise right away. .

Jean says, “Ilene, you will be surprised when Jesus comes.”

“Yes, Jean,” I say.  “I will be surprised.”

Meanwhile, these old ladies do not worry about dying.  Their faith assures them that they will go to Heaven. They can not accept the possibility that the Bible might be a compilation of myths and legends written by a primitive people over many centuries.  For them Galileo never looked through his telescope and saw moons orbiting Jupiter. 

Foolish me, I should not say anything to upset them.  They are kind and indulge my rants.  Yet sometimes one of them will say something so ridiculous that I can not help myself.  I say things that they refuse to believe. 

Like how the discovery of DNA has affirmed all the ideas that Darwin developed over many years simply by observation.  No, he did not say we are descended from monkeys, but scientists have discovered that our DNA is 95% the same as that of a chimpanzee.  That is not my opinion.  That is fact.

With people refusing to believe scientific evidence, but accept as fact that the Earth was once covered by a single great flood, it is not surprising that they also believe all the nonsense put out by the Far Right.

An editorial from the New York Times titled “The GOP’s war on evolution” said:

“The debate over evolution was settled a century ago – but not for Republicans. . . . with 48 percent now insisting that God created humans just as they are today.  This isn’t only sad, it’s embarrassing.  Why, with most Americans now accepting the overwhelming evidence of evolution, would more Republicans be retreating into a 19th Century world view?  It’s a result of a prolonged ploy by Republican leaders . . . to play on the most base convictions of conservative voters. . . . So climate change, the Big Bang, and evolution must be categorically rejected as threats to religious faith (which they are not) . . . . at a cost of keeping them, and our nation, trapped in deliberate ignorance.”