Monday, November 14, 2005

Evolution: Part Deux

I'm only going to do one more Twain post because I think it bores people. I find them humorous and interesting to think about. So let me pick out a good one.

"Man is the Religious Animal. He is the only Religious Animal. He is the only animal that has the True Religion--several of them. He is the only animal that loves his neighbor as himself, and cuts his throat if his theology isn't straight. He has made a graveyard of the globe in trying his honest best to smooth his brother's path to happiness and heaven. He was in at it in the time of the Caesars, he was at it in Mahomet's time, he was at it in the time of the Inquisition, he was at it in France a couple of centuries, he was at it in England in Mary's day, he has been at it ever since he first saw light, he will be at it somewhere else tomorrow....In truth, man is incurably foolish. Simple things which the other animals easily learn, he is incapable of learning. Among my experiments was this. In an hour I taught a cat and a dog to be friends. I put them in a cage. In another hour I taught them to be friends with a rabbit. In the course of two days I was able to add a fox, a goose, a squirrel and some doves. Finally a monkey. They lived together in peace; even affectionately.
Next, in another cage I confined an Irish Catholic from Tipperary, and as soon as he seemed tame I added a Scotch Presbyterian from Aberdeen. Next a Turk from Constantinople; a Greek Christian from Crete; an Armenian; a Methodist from the wilds of Arkansas; a Buddhist from China; a Brahman from Benares. Finally, a Salvation Army Colonel from Wapping. Then I stayed away for two whole days. When I came back to note results, the cage of Higher Animals was all right, but in the other, there was but a chaos of gory odds and ends of turbans and fezzes and plaids and bones and flesh--not a specimen left alive. These Reasoning Animals had disagreed on a theological detail and carried the matter to a Higher Court."

10 Comments:

Blogger aca said...

i hope i didn't offend you with my dad comment...

blog away about mark twain.

i think it's awesome.

2:47 PM  
Blogger Brittany said...

I think it's funny, I'm not bored really!

2:49 PM  
Blogger Heddah said...

You know I had a discussion with some people about evolution and I actually believe in evolution to be honest. I believe God created us absolutly but I believe that some things evolve. Anyways just wanted to throw that out there :)

3:16 PM  
Blogger stacey said...

Oh, I fully believe in evolution. Who's to say that God couldn't do evolution? There's no limit to his possibilities. Evolution occurs all around us on a micro scale everyday. It wasn't a bag on evolution. It was more of a mockery of humans and how stupid we are in our nature.

8:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Dearest Lukedogg,

Anyone who still reads every single verse in the Bible literally is ignorant and needs a swift kick in the pants.

By the way, last time I checked, there was no such thing as an"evolutionist"... do you mean "scientist" or "biologist", perhaps?

And besides, did God reveal to you personally that he "did not use evolution"? Or do you actually read Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic fluently and are able to discern God's exact semantic meaning in the Holy Bible?

It is just such an impoverished approach to limit God to revealing Himself to you through a badly translated Bible text. And besides, isn't it incredibly arrogant to assume to "know" everything based upon your personal interpretation of scripture?
In the Gospels, the disciples and people that listened to Jesus speak during his lifetime regularly misunderstood or misinterpreted his words, intent, and parables. Human understanding is minuscule compared with the infinite grandeur and wisdom of God.

Then again, you're probably absolutely sure that you'll be Raptured up along with Kirk Cameron, LaHaye and crew directly to heaven!

Last time I checked Genesis was also a part of the Torah and even the most Orthodox Jewish scholars/leaders have absolutely no intellectual or spiritual problem with evolution as a possible theory.

It's said that you're so worried that liberal academians might brainwash everyone about evolution that you completely miss the delightfully wry sense of humor Mr. Twain exhibits.

Sincerely,
A "Creationist" that doesn't lose sleep over my kids learning a scientific theory about Apes and hairy men

8:28 PM  
Blogger debbie said...

stacey
i didn't read your post because, well..i was intimidated by the implied subject matter and the comments, but anyways, i love you and i miss you.

9:40 PM  
Blogger Jeffrey said...

Gonna have to go with Hairy on this Luke. You sound pretty damn sure of knowing Gods every move. I mean, it's your opinion and you are entitled, but to say without doubt, God didn't do it, that's just bogus. I personally believe he didn't. But I'm still working through that. I mean, why would he leave evidence of it? And if Science is true, it is God's truth, whether it coincides with your exact formula for God or not. I mean, you think it's literal, text seems to say otherwise.

By the way, how many thousands of years after creation was the account of said creation written?

A whole hell of a lot.

1:48 AM  
Blogger stacey said...

Luke,
I understand what you were trying to express in your comment. First off, I know the difference between macro and micro. When your sister is a biology major and I myself have taken countless biology classes, you learn a lot about evolution. What I don't understand is why you find it so "appalling." Why? Is it bad to ask questions? Is it so bad to weigh out ideas and actually think about them? I would turn the table around and find your response appalling. The simple fact that, for one second, you can't think outside the box. You're my friend, Luke, but hairy aped man/person rocks or whoever had a point, you don't stretch your mind enough about God. Instead, you have actualy put Him in a box. The knowledge we have of God is so little. We like to think we have a pool full of knowledge about Him, when in reality, we only have a pinch. Open up your mind, Luke. It's not a sin to ask questions. It's not a sin to explore option. It will draw more understanding and more appreciation for our Creator. I still remain a "Creationist," but there's so much to be learned in exploring. Debbie, I pose the same challenge to you. The fact that you wouldn't even read the post speaks volumes. As a christian in the real world, you are going to run across these ideas constantly from people that aren't even christians. They are going to hit you with so many theories and so many questions. You CANNOT just shun them and ignore them and walk away because it doesn't "line up" with what you believe. You have to know what you believe and why. And along with that, you have to be able to listen to other people and tolerate what they're saying. A good listener explores the other person's opinion before completely shutting it down. You never know...maybe they're right, maybe you're wrong. I encourage you to read new things that will challenge you, whether its my post or books or other's people's opinion. Otherwise, you are only going to hinder God's will because either you won't listen to anybody or nobody will listen to you. Good luck. God Bless.

11:51 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

i know this has nothing to do with this post...


... but i wanted to thank you for talking with me the other night. i needed it.

also, i would love to go and get some coffee with you or something maybe tuesday midafternoon/early evening... let me know.

-karen

6:19 AM  
Blogger Brittany said...

Um, this might get lost among the 11 other comments, but you should update, I love reading your blog;)

9:51 AM  

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