A Theory Of Why Some People Dislike The Theory Of Evolution
I was participating in a discussion group with some Christians some weeks ago. It was a group comprising a husband and wife, a dating couple, an elderly gentleman and a Chinese national. We discussed various topics related to Christianity and life in general.
The subject under discussion turned to the theory of evolution. It seemed that everyone was in agreement that evolution was a theory and not a proven scientific fact. I ventured that although evolution has never been observed directly, the time that we have been actively observing is just too short to come to any sort of conclusion.
I continued by saying that evolution does not in any way prove that there is no God, nor does it reduce the omnipotence of God in the overall scheme of things. And that those who are passionate about the creation vs evolution debate and would defend creation to the death might be completely missing the point.
In fact, I believe that a God that simply creates the universe and everything else simply by literally snapping his fingers is actually less "powerful" than a God that creates a universe with the proper physical laws so that when the conditions are right, life such as us will evolve.
I mean, any Tom, Dick and Harry can design a computer, but to design a computer that is intelligent enough to design another computer, that would be quite a feat.
But I digress.
The elderly gentleman took issue with what I said. He said that there is no way that we could have evolved from the monkeys. While he did not say it, his voice conveyed extreme disdain for our primate cousins. He stated that we could not have come from the monkeys as we are so much better than them.
If monkeys were human, I could probably have accused him of racial discrimination. But since monkeys are of another species, perhaps he is guilty of "species" discrimination? I get that he doesn't like monkeys. But what is more unpalatable to him is that, if the theory of evolution is right, his distant ancestors were monkeys. And hence his strong reaction to monkeys and the theory of evolution.
What if evolution states that we came from a more "attractive" creature? It would have been nice if we had descended from the friendly dolphins or the powerful dinosaurs. The speedy cheetah would also have made a nice ancestor. I, personally, would like the mighty lion as my great-great-great...grandfather.
Take a look at the debates on creation and evolution in some of the online forums. While some evolutionists do get a little passionate, it is the creationists that comes across as being very resolute in defending their cause. So resolute that they will resort to insults, personal attacks and generally being very onerous, giving a very bad impression of the God that they are apparently defending.
If you really take a step back and consider, maybe those creationists just don't like monkeys.
