Yes… Would that that response to this question were so simple. Thinking about this problem between religion and science, I’m reminded of a 20-page paper that I wrote for and possibly with my high-school girlfriend titled: Creation vs. Evolution: The Truth. I used the pseudonym “Dusty,” which tells you the high quality of the writing and research. Sadly the surviving PDF of the paper was not a high quality copy and a lot of the typewritten text is faded, making large portions of the paper illegible. Interestingly, artwork done by a friend for the paper came out great. 

I bring up this paper, mostly illegible in it’s present state, because illegible or not, I know that it was written by a 17-year-old who thought he knew the truth and was going to present where science cannot support evolution, leaving the only truth to be special creation by the God of the Bible. I actually end the paper with a verse by verse commentary on the (first) Creation Story in Genesis and ending with the following sentence and quote:

Now maybe Creation isn’t the answer, but it is is than your decision means more than what the outcome of the birds and bees will be. 

And it if seems evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. Joshua 24:15 (KJV)

I was seventeen, anything that looked like it contradicted the Bible was wrong and I knew that it was wrong. It makes me laugh when I think about that poor biology teacher, who had advanced degrees in biology, when he read this 20-page religious screed that assumed that it was going to explain the history behind Darwin’s discovery and journey and all of the scientific shortcomings (as of 1975), problems with evolution that hadn’t been answered and ending with a Bible study on the first chapter of Genesis. I guess I should be thankful that I don’t have the copy of the paper that was submitted that would have the teacher response notes. Yikes. I had some pretty strong opinions given my complete lack of experience or expertise in any of the sciences or even theology at that point. Teenagers, I really thought I knew stuff. I’m sure the teacher must have wondered where did he go wrong in life that he’s having to read this crap. Sorry. 

It’s just that when my world view was completely influenced by my understanding of the Bible, anything outside of that framework just didn’t make sense. It’s like thinking that the seven-day week and the 12-month year is the just the way the universe works and there’s no reality where it should be otherwise1, except that there are other equally valid ways of understanding time and calendars. 

I’m glad that this Crash Course video begins with an Indigenous peoples myth that has been confirmed by modern science (as opposed my high school paper… ack!). It’s an interesting observation that there doesn’t have to be a conflict between religion and science and often if there is one, upon closer examination, there are usually other factors at work that might be using either religion or science for reasons that have nothing to do with either. The case of Galileo’s fight with the church over whether the sun is the center of of the solar system or the earth is a great example where the need for the prior earth-centered view was, in fact, not something that necessarily threatened Christianity or the Church and thus, the official view changed. And it turns out that the same is even true with Christians and evolution (my old nemesis!). As Crash Course is apt to point out, if there is a conflict, check to see if those promoting the conflict aren’t motivated by other factors… Maybe there isn’t the conflict that they are promoting. Now that I’m retired it doesn’t matter nearly as much but imagine a 13-month calendar with exactly 28 days in each month, where the first of every month is always Sunday and the 28th day is always Saturday. Wouldn’t that be amazing. It’s just an example of how there’s more than one way to understand out solar calendar. Enjoy. 

Sources:

Tags: Crash Course Religions, high school Jesus freak, in bad faith, science vs faith, video Mondays

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FOOTNOTES:
  1. Even though it’s been pointed out to me that if we had 13-months with 28 days in each month and one leap day each year, it would be a much more simple system called the International Fixed Calendar. See Sources[↩]