Yes, the third annual Question Evolution Day is coming up on Wednesday 12 February and I encourage everyone to get the news of it out there and start celebrating. You don't need to be a creationist to celebrate; as any who believe in academic, intellectual and professional free speech can support this.
Yes, I realise to some in the church 'intellectualism' is a dirty word, reminiscent of snooty Ivy League scholars who are unable to reach the lost as they're not obeying the commands of Jesus to 'be ye like children'. But the contrary anti-intellectualism brings upon scorn from the Atheist community, who would like to stereotype all Christians as simpletons who gullibly swallow whatever Christian leaders say no matter how irrational it is.
Question Evolution Day does not mean that we are celebrating being too ignorant to understand the General Theory of Evolution (from common decent) like those brilliant Atheist types do. Nor is it about being anti-science, like some have accused.
Rather it's about weighing the evidence, and asking if this molecules-to-man Evolution really is the pinnacle of science – especially as almost all of those who started the scientific movement did not hold to it.
Old "Jack" Saw the Truth
Recently I was reading C.S. Lewis to write about the Argument from Myths (you can read about it at 101 Arguments, click the address below) I came across his strong feelings on the General Theory of Evolution also in his book The Weight of Glory.
He goes in from talking about myths to discussing what he calls 'that grand myth' told beautifully in his rendition of the evolutionary story. Then he went on to say: "The picture so often painted of Christians huddling together on an ever narrower strip of beach while the incoming tide of "Science" mounts higher and higher corresponds to nothing in my experience." Nor mine either, I might add.
In The Weight of Glory, Lewis claims to have rejected the General Theory of Evolution before he became a Christian. And he's not the only one to do that. There are many non-Christian scientists and non-scientists who do not think that this theory of origins holds up to scrutiny. I myself rejected evolutionism before accepting Jesus as my Saviour. Like C.S. Lewis explained it, I too found the entire theory to be inconsistent and contradictory.
Biases and Ignorance
Being raised on The Simpsons and high school Biology classes, I thought that anybody who did not accept the General Theory of Evolution was an idiot and clearly didn't know what they were talking about. It was proven, wasn't it? Yet, I wasn't aware of how many legitimate scientists out there are creationists and how many of the great heroes of science (like Newton for instance) were also theologians and Jesus followers.
The problem is, the term 'Jesus follower' has come to be associated with the ignorant masses who are scoffed at for following the mega-church pastors on TV (and throw money at them like foolish sheep, feeding the 'pastors' greed). It's come to be associated with inbred, Southern rednecks who don't know any better and the anti-science, delusional housewives who never got a real education. But what is kept a secret is that intellectuals can be Jesus followers too.
It's not about 'science' any more, it's about bias and prejudice. "Does the whole structure of modern naturalism depend not on positive evidence but simply on an a priori metaphysical prejudice?" Lewis asks the question. And prejudice is the right word to use, as some have admitted the only reason to accept evolution is because "We have a prior commitment to...materialism...Moreover that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine foot in the door." (Richard Lewontin).
Questioning the 'Great Myth'
This is what Question Evolution Day is all about, it is about asking the questions that rarely people dare to ask. And it's for all of you people out there. If you have never considered the questions yourself, then there is a list of questions at the Creation.com website.
If you have found out for yourself that the General Theory of Evolution isn't all it's cracked up to be, it's time to get public about it and Question Evolution Day provides the perfect opportunity to do so.
Share "I'm supporting Question Evolution Day" as your Facebook status, or better yet, link to the Question Evolution Project on Facebook. Share information about it in your church bulletins and additionally there are pamphlets you can order to share around the 15 Questions from Creation.com. Speak to or write a letter to a stranger about how they should try questioning the General Theory of Evolution themselves or blog and share a testimony yourself about how it's affected you.
And maybe you'll come to the same conclusion as C.S Lewis, myself and Biologist Ludwig von Bertalanffy when he said: "The fact that a theory so vague, so insufficiently verifiable, and so far from the criteria otherwise applied in 'hard' science has become a dogma can only be explained on sociological grounds."
Dogma or science? Start asking the question.
Bridget Brenton has been researching apologetics, philosophy and the paranormal for years. You can check her apologetic effort out at 101arguments.com
Bridget Brenton's previous articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/bridget-brenton.html