Ever think that maybe God made the dinosaurs and everything else in our fascinating prehistoric eras knowing that we would need oil/coal to get us to where we are now? And that we would never discover new resources to advance as a species if we didn't face a limited supply of fossil fuels? And that perhaps He knew that millions of little boys, toy manufacturers, universities, paleontologists, and museums would need something to fill their time and pocketbooks?
Of course I believe the earth has billions of years on its clock and not just the 10,000 years the Bible discusses. If you were a person back in the ancient bible days, would you be able to fathom 4.5 billion years? Would knowing the exact details help you satisfy your human need to believe in faith, hope, right & wrong, or justice? Would you be able to understand it if God told you how he "did it" and why? No, of course you wouldn't. I don't think modern man (or his ego) can fully comprehend it all even now.
I don't disagree with the Theory of Evolution - I think we're still evolving as a species ourselves. However, I know that just like religion, it's still a theory even though it's based on a string of facts and the conclusions drawn from them. No actual seamless time line with the exact genetic outline of how one species has evolved over the millenia of course but the conclusions drawn from what time tables scientists have pieced together do provide enough proof for those who choose to believe it. You can wave a textbook around just as hard as a pastor waves his Bible.
Perhaps I still have faith in a higher power because that answers the "why" whereas science answers the "how." Understanding the how helps me appreciate God even more. I have evidence and facts in my own life to prove the Theory of God to myself. Hey, it doesn't work for everyone but it works for me and that's all that I need.
Although I am a Christian, I don't agree 100% with most major religions including my own on the basis that anything man-made tends to be flawed. It took me a while to realize that I'm allowed to bring my brain into the church with me and that I don't have to agree with every single thing I hear. God gave us free will and the power of rational thought for a good reason. That's the best part - you can believe what you want to believe! It's not up to me or your neighbor to condemn you to hell. It's not even up to God if you want to get down to the nitty gritty. It's all on you.
I find that we as human beings have a very real need to believe. It's like a sixth sense that we try to discredit just because our eyes and textbooks tell us something different. Even atheists and hardcore scientists believe in the absolute non-existence of something. They can't prove it to a 100% certainty, but they believe in it just as fervently as someone who believes in the existence of a Creator. Evangelizing the existence or non-existence of your beliefs while bashing the other schools of thought is like the pot calling the kettle black. It's like we all have the same chips on our shoulders, just with different bandages covering them.
Another observation I have made is the sad irony of how religion (especially Catholicism) tortured and shut out scientists (and anyone who might be perceived as having a different viewpoint) in centuries past... and once people were fed up with the oppression and society began accepting science as valid, the scientific community (otherwise known as the Bearded White Man's Club) turned the tables by shutting out and dispelling religion with their own brand of vehement hatred. Granted fewer people were tortured and killed by scientists... although the medical and scientific testing done on Holocaust victims that modern medicine benefits from today kind of hits both sides of this statement. Basically no matter how much we move forward, humans are still going to be human. And figuring out what we believe in and judging others against our measuring stick based on our viewpoint is part of being human.
I love to learn new things and draw my own conclusions. It's my right and I exercise it daily. I figure that I will never know the absolute truth of the how/why/when/where/and who of everything. I only have what resources I have - my brain, heart, soul, and gut, so to speak. So I will pick out the bits and pieces that make the most sense to me and draw my conclusions in the hopes that it fits the me I am right now. Then later on, I can trade out some of the other bits or layer on new bits of info as they arrive to suit my ever-evolving, ever-growing, child-of-God self. The foundation stays the same but my reality never does. It just keeps getting better and more interesting as time goes on.
For instance... I plan on seeing Expelled, a documentary by Ben Stein on how the scientific community has been shutting out their fellow scientists who are studying the Theory of Intelligent Design.
I don't know whether or not I'll agree with everything in this documentary... but isn't that the point of seeing movies or doing anything in life for that matter? To learn something new about the world and yourself?
Who knows how my reality will be further shaped or what new opportunities will open up just by trying something different.
No matter how mature and cynical I get, this movie will remind me that I still have a silly little girl trapped in the la-la-land section of my brain. And that little girl wants a wall-sized poster of this photo in her room to kiss goodnight. Perhaps some gaudy t-shirts and a Trapper Keeper emblazoned with his beautiful likeness...
