My own personal brand of insanity


I get this question all the time.  It is utterly baffling to me, and I think it's sadly symptomatic of the times in which we live.  I have long (and infamously) maintained that there's a reasonable case to be made for evolution.  It's absolutely not fantasy or fallacy or illogical or completely without evidence or any of the other myriad cavils lobbed at it by its many enemies.  I also think there are substantial errors in the evolutionary perspective, places where things have gone wrong.  I believe this for scientific reasons, because of evidence that I have myself examined, and for religious reasons related to my understanding of the Bible and Christian theology, and for personal reasons based on my encounters with almighty God in my own life.  Just because I disagree with many of my evolutionary colleagues about evolution doesn't make them morons or fools or whatever other insult you want to accuse them of.

I don't think that's a difficult position to understand.  It's completely rational and legitimate and sane.  But in our tribalistic world, particularly in 2020 USA, there seems to be no room for rational, civil discussion any more.  You either fanatically support one side 100% and trashtalk your enemies, or you're a traitor or a lunatic.  The world of thoughtful discourse has been reduced to a social media flame war.

It's nonsense, of course.  That tribalistic attitude really is the enemy of rationality and decency and humanity in the world.  I utterly reject it, and I think you should too.

It's OK to think that your intellectual opponent makes a good argument.

It's OK to say that someone you really, really disagree with has good reasons for thinking what they think.

It's even OK to be friends with people that see things very differently than you do.

That is the only rational and decent and sane path.  Because the dehumanization that comes with extreme tribalism is a big step on the path to genocide.  If we keep looking at our "enemies" as completely irrational, thoroughly brainwashed, and totally evil, then the only solution will be to wipe them out.  We need to call out this lie, and we need to do it now.

That said, here's my Ask a Creationist "Are you crazy?"



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