Thought of the Day 05.07.09

Just yesterday, I happened to hear a Christian broadcaster say that a person’s origins beliefs matter because people who believe they evolved by chance from primordial soup will live morally worse lives than people who believe they were created by a loving God. Though I agree with his line of reasoning, in reality his claim just isn’t true.

The problem is he overlooked a simple fact: people are often irrational. This means they might well believe in evolution but practice a morality which would better fit and flow from a creation perspective. Such irrationality is why many people who believe in evolution still live morally virtuous lives.

And we must acknowledge such facts even as we explain the importance of origins views if for no other reason than that our hearers will readily think them if we don’t say them. Such nuance in how we express ourselves is both a matter of being accurate and also a matter of enhancing the chances that our accuracies actually get a fair hearing.

1 comment:

Coffee Snob said...

"people are often irrational. This means they might well believe in evolution but practice a morality which would better fit and flow from a creation perspective."

The question was raised in The Truth Project (not your favorite, I know!): "Do you believe that what you believe is really real?" In other words, you SAY you believe in evolution, but don't really LIVE like you believe it.

You called it "irrational"; I'd call it "living inconsistently with your worldview."