Response to Kelsey's Question

Kelsey asked, "Do you think that there parts of us that never change or is who we are constantly in flux?"

I think that it all depends on certain aspects of your life. There are small personality traits that seem to never change, but that is probably because they are so small that those traits aren't effected by most of the things in life. There are a lot of aspects that make up who we are that do change depending on what happens to us in life, if we realize it or not. We never notice those changes until we look back and can't believe how different we were a few years ago. When we're young there are so many things that change who we are, simply because we are young. That's not saying that older people aren't changed by the things that happen to them, but they are usually more confident in who they are and where they want their life to go. I think it's important to allow elements of our personality to change. The truth is, you're probably going to change in some way whether you like it or not. Fighting every single change to who we are would be a waste of energy. There are some things, however, that I think are important to fight for such as your moral standards. Being human and therefore imperfect, it's often difficult to hold to what we think is right. I don't think that who we are is constantly in flux but I also don't think that we never change. Everything changes because it has to.

My question is: What do you think Darwin would say on this issue?

Expelled

I also recommend that everyone watch this, especially if you aren't religious. It's a good representation of the other side, not just bigots spouting unintelligent theology.

Tangibility

In class someone said that God makes people feel insignificant because God is not tangible. It has been my experience that most people who believe in God feel the exact opposite way. Believers do not feel alienated by the idea of an intangible God, they feel comforted that there is someone out there that cares about them. God is only intangible in the sense that one can never become God (but honestly, who would want that job?) One of the basic idea of Christianity is that there is a small spark of God inside of us all. For this reason, I think, people will continue to believe in God even when science can answer all--or at least most--of our questions. Science can never make people feel safe or looked after when things go badly in their lives. By definition, science is void of emotion. Also, there will always be people who refuse to believe scientific fact because it goes against their theological theories. It seems like most of the people that the class have encountered accept the theory of evolution as fact. This is a strange and welcome thing for me. In the south, most people (I'd say at least 85%) do not accept the theory of evolution as fact at all. Many people still hold to the idea of some form of intelligent design. Convincing people that their God "lied" (in a way) is extremely difficult if not impossible. There will always be the God of the gaps because if need be, people will create those gaps. Hopefully, as people progress, religion will become less about seemingly mythical ideals and more about fact and faith. I think that this can only happen if people on both sides of the argument keep an open mind and respect the idea of a each other. We have to remember that people are the ones that come up with theories, both religious and scientific, and people are fallible.

My question is: Do you think that religious people will ever come to completely accept all scientific fact.