Growing up, I reached a point, as most of us do, that I was struggling with the concept of god and to a certain extent religion. As I gained more knowledge about the world, through personal experiences, observations and of course through my schooling, I came to accept the theory of evolution as something that just made sense. Since evolution is taught in a purely scientific context, I hadn’t given any thought as to any influence it may have on the discussion of religion and the god hypothesis. To me the two were completely compatible.
Now, one thing you must understand is that, while I did believe in god, I wasn’t particularly religious. What I mean is that I under stood god to be the creator, but somehow managed to escape the dogma and indoctrination of religion to the point that I was blissfully unaware that my particular belief wouldn’t be supported by the religion that I was born into. This left my mind free to fill in the gaps with reason and evidence that is present in the physical world.
So, how did my view that god and evolution were compatible work? Well, I saw god to be an observationalist deity, one that simply set the universe in motion and sat back to enjoy the show. Think of god as the ultimate curious mind, watching in amazement as life and the universe evolves in unexpected ways, not daring to interfere so as not to influence the process. This sort of laissez-faire approach would allow for evolution and all the other wonders of the universe to occur.
Of course this wouldn’t be a god of Christianity, or Islam or any of the other faiths of this world. Such a being wouldn’t dare impose its will. Of course this being wouldn’t be omniscient either. That would ruin the majesty and excitement of watching events unfold. Would you really read a book or watch a movie if you already knew the outcome?
I’d imagine this being isn’t very bashful. It doesn’t have to hide. Perhaps this god simply awaits discovery, which of course can only happen through the scientific process. Scientific advances just haven’t reached that point yet.
How does this being exist? Well, because its omnipotence demands it! Ah, now that’s a kink in the hose, because, as of now, that requires faith to believe. But, perhaps that’s a question we won’t be able to tackle until science advances to the point of being able to discover the being we’ve labeled god. Who’s to say there’s only one for that matter?
Of course this is all fantasy, the creation of a mind that was seeking answers and willing to ponder the possibilities. It was a wonderfully optimistic view, one that was sadly crushed by my 7th grade English teacher. Somehow evolution was brought up during discussion in class and she stated that you can either believe in god OR evolution. When I asked why one couldn’t believe in both, she yelled at me in anger “Because you can’t!”
As crushing as this was at the time, it was by no means a deciding factor in my views of religion and the god hypothesis. Unlike overnight religious converts, I don’t think non-belief is such an immediate process. It’s one that seems to develop over time through the process of natural discovery and galvanized by free thought.
Ah, that was fun. Well, enough with the personal stuff… back to the task at hand!
