Religious Enlightenment

[juliod]

I had a moment of insight. It may not be the most profound thing in history, but I'll share it nonetheless.

A lot of the debate recently has been between YECs and Theo-Evos. As an atheist I always say that if I was a theist I would be a YEC. But I've had a different thought.

A lot of mainstream christians (and at least several major denominatons) seem to reason this way:

"We believe that god created the universe. We do not claim to know how, when, or why he did that. We do not claim to know how, when or why he has chosen to reveal himself to us. We do not claim to know why or how accurately he has chosen to reveal himself in our holy documents."

When these people discover something new about the universe that conflicts with their previous beliefs they say:

"We believe god created the universe, so if this fact is true, then he created the earth that way. If it conflicts with our doctrine, then our doctrine must have been wrong."

OTOH, there are creationists. They reason this way:

"I have a little box. In it I keep my god. My god says what I want him to say, and does what I want him to do. He is not allowed outside his little box. See how he jumps when I shake the box. Isn't he a cute little god?"

When confronted with some fact that conflicts with their doctrine they say this:

"No. That is wrong. God is inside my box. I did not tell him to create the universe that way, so he did not. My god does only what I tell him to. See how he jumps?"

DanZ

[Jose]

Yes, there is that kind of 'disconnect' among a lot of Christians. I remember once reading, it might have been in Lappe's 'Diet for a Small Planet,' about a farmer and his wife who saw nothing wrong with pumping water out of an aquifier at an unsustainable rate. The wife's comment was "God never meant us to do without water."

I often see a disconnect with the evo-minded when they try to streo-type and present the extreme as the norm.....perhaps it makes them feel better? Bigger? More important? Smarter? ....Who knows.

Sorry, YEC, I don't get it. You've been too cryptic. You'll have to give me some examples of what you are talking about.

Now if this lady actually was pumping water and blatantly wasting it....she was wrong... considering that God has given us stewardship over the earth with the responsibiliity of taking care of it.

Frankly, using it faster than it can be replenished is wasting it. It's the basic rule that applies to any limited resource. You can use it all for yourself, until you suddenly run out and have a crisis, or you can figure out how much you can use and still have more tomorrow. Rapacious use, even if for "normal" activities, is a form of waste, IMHO.

On the other hand, I am glad to see your statement that God has given us the responsibility of taking care of the earth. The trick is to convince everyone else to feel that way, and then figure out how to do it so that it works. I dunno, though...it might require listening to tree huggers.

In reality I bet this was another anti-christian jab inserted into one of those inaccurate bigoted tree hugger books.

I suppose it could be an anti-christian jab, inasmuch as it does make an unflattering jab at a Christian. It is not, however, unique. I've heard many such comments. ...but what's the complaint about those inaccurate bigoted tree hugger books? I thought tree hugger books told us stuff about "stewardship over the earth with the responsibiliity of taking care of it," which you just said you favor.