Creationism and Darwinism Aren't Mutually Exclusive

Science has taught us the Earth is billions of years old and we’ve learned that over the course of this time many changes happened to the planet’s surface, atmosphere, oceans and land.  The slow but constant change is what we know to be evolution.  Earth saw mass extinctions, collisions with space debris, changes in climate, formations of continents and bodies of water, and a balance of the right gasses, all of which give us a habitable planet.  

I am a religious girl – Roman Catholic, but I also cannot refute science so they have been balanced in my life.  I accept the truths of science and I accept the truth of my religion, without bias, without conflict.  So the debate between Darwinism and Creationism has always perplexed me.  If God created everything then it stands to reason that he created evolution, too.  Why did these two concepts have to be mutually exclusive?  

A few years ago I was reading the Book of Genesis.  These are the first pages of the Bible and I’m sure you recognize the opening line: “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and Earth”.  The passage then proceeds to list all of God’s other creations.  At this moment, I had an epiphany.  I realized the first chapter of the Bible actually describes the process of evolution.

Cool, huh? 

I know; there are discrepancies.  Firstly, the order of God’s creation isn’t completely in line with the actual order of evolution.  This has provoked the dinosaur argument among my acquaintances: “Why aren’t dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible?  The absence of them alone tells us the Bible is wrong.”  [*Sigh*]  The Bible is not an encyclopedia; it is a manual for spiritual living written for a specific culture in a manner that allowed that culture to understand the message. The people of Biblical times did not have the capacity to understand the world around them as we understand it today.  So dinosaurs (and amoebas and black holes for that matter) are absent from the Bible because knowledge of their existence was absent.

Also, the Bible, though inspired by God, is written by man.  Of course we’d fluff it up with those bits about having dominion over all creatures and being made in God’s image.  We are egotistical beings, and we have an awareness of our existence.  Making claims that we’re dominant and god-like serves to justify our greedy and selfish actions (which are very ungodly, indeed).  

In the Bible, creationism is cut and dry.  God created, it was good, on to the next action item.  Evolution, however, does not occur on a straight line but rather branches out and grows in tandem with other instances of evolution.  Nonetheless, the parallels between creationism and Darwinism exist. To illustrate my point, I condensed the first chapter of the Book of Genesis and explained how it supports the theory of evolution.

Have I still got your attention?  Good. 

The Book of Genesis [1:1 – 1:31] – Condensed and Paralleled with Darwinism

God created the heavens and the earth

This is the Big Bang. Easy.

God created light

This is actually intended to be different from sunlight as it has a more spiritual nature.  The Bible states the Earth was a formless void until God intervened so let’s look at this parallel little differently. Imagine God manipulated the Earth, as a potter manipulates the clay on his wheel.  He works it, reshapes it and at times, dissatisfied, recreates a new piece using the same mass of clay.  This is what’s happening with the Earth.  It heats to a fiery ball and cools to total ice.  It is being worked and reworked to perfection.

God created day and night

Our planet spins.  If it didn’t, one half would be desert and the other would be snow and ice.  Life would be difficult even impossible in such extremes.

God created the sky

Our atmosphere formed and all of the gasses in it balanced to the breathable air we have today.

God created the dry land of the earth and the seas

Water started condensing in liquid form, great continents and mountains formed.

God created the sun and moon

The moon is not as old as the sun and Earth.  It coalesced from fragments of Earth and other space debris when Earth and a planetoid collided.  So although not in accurate order, the Bible does state that the moon was created after Earth, which is accurate.

God created fish, amphibians, and birds

God created mammals and all other land species, such as insects and reptiles

The first life on Earth occurred in oceans and clearly this concept existed in Biblical times since the Bible states the first life as fish.  Science teaches us that animals evolved thusly: single-celled organisms, multi-celled organisms, invertebrates, fish, amphibian, reptile, bird then mammal. When we look at the order of life the Bible’s order is a little off, as both land and sea animals evolved simultaneously on Earth, but it’s pretty darn close considering the concept of evolution was several millenniums away.

God created humans

As with evolution, humans were the last creature to appear on Earth. 

God creates a cycle so the Earth and all its creatures are self-sustaining

Spore formation began and sexual reproduction was born!  Yea, sex!  This allows all living things to go forth and multiply.  Changes in environment and available food sources caused species to alter characteristics in order to adapt to the world around them.

I hope you can see the parallels.  In the Bible we see Earth’s creation developed from a careful, methodic strategy to not only establish but ensure the planet was well-balanced and teeming with life.  Kind of sounds like evolution, right?  It’s important to remember God is omnipotent.  He would know all life on Earth needed to happen gradually and so he allowed for a slow and methodical change - evolution.  The Bible even states this, it says so in scripture.  God said:

"Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear."

"Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it." 

"Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky." 

The keyword I want you to focus on is “let”, which is starkly different from “God created”.  “Let” is one simple word that tells us God didn’t wave a magic wand and - poof - things appeared. Rather, “let” tells us that God asked the world to create the remaining elements and biology on its own.  When God commands, nothing refuses.  Hence, God created evolution.

Lastly, let’s remember that God blessed everything.  Religious or not, we are blessed, lucky, fortunate (what have you) to be given such a beautiful world.  Let’s not squabble so much as to how it got here because regardless of our origin, we are an intricate design of this planet, and we need to foster harmony within it.

Neil deGradde Tyson, American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator, beautifully articulates the same point with a scientific language.  I leave you with it.

4 Reasons Commuting by Train Trumps Flying

I'm heading home from an 11-day vacation.  First I flew to San Diego, then after a week I flew to Philadelphia. My final travel venture finds me on a train heading to Boston where I'll catch a bus back to New Hampshire before driving home to Maine.  I must confess, traveling by train is by far my preferred method of travel.  Compared to flying, it is heavenly.  As I sit comfortably in my seat I recall the abject situations I have endured lately when I fly.

1 - The Exorbitant Cost Includes Just My Seat

This is perhaps my biggest gripe.  My flight to California cost around $400.  If I wanted food, beverage, even checked luggage, I needed to pay extra.  Seriously?  When someone boards a plane, it is because he or she is traveling a great distance and thus will need to bring luggage.  Charging for this need is price gauging, plain and simple, and expecting travelers to drag heavy suitcases with them throughout the airport, and then try to cram it in the overhead compartment once on the plane just to save $25 is asinine.  Bury it in the cost of the ticket, charge only if there is a second bag, otherwise load it on the plane with a thank you and a smile. 

2 - The Exorbitant Cost Includes No Food or Drink

Let me first clarify that I am offered complimentary water or a non-alcoholic drink.  However, this free beverage is on the airline’s terms.  If I’m asleep or in the bathroom when the beverage cart wheels its way down the aisle I’m out of luck.  Plus, I’m not given a bottle, so I can’t take a sip at my leisure; I have to consume my complimentary 5 ounces of drink before the flight attendants make their way back down the aisle to collect the empty cup, otherwise I’m stuck balancing it between my knees for the rest of the flight.  It’s a similar experience with the food.  I remember a meal used to be offered on longer flights.  Now high-protein snacks and packaged produce are offered in its place, which would be OK if I didn’t have to spend an additional $9 on them.  Can airlines really no longer afford a package of peanuts anymore?  And where on Earth does almonds, cheese and a small bunch of grapes cost $9?  

3- Nothing but Bitching

I feel airlines try to make the flight as uncomfortable as possible.  I don’t think it was intentional, I think it was born from a combination of TSA regulations, client complaints, ever-changing technology and a ridiculously insane desire to drive down expenditures without passing the savings to passengers.  Inflight movies, radio stations and complimentary headphones are all long gone, so unless you bring these devices on the plane you’re out of luck in the entertainment department.  Also, there is no room for a person to sit (this kills me, since the seat is really what we’re paying for).  Two people must share one arm rest (which is awkward if you’re strangers) the recline option kinda gets you to lean back - maybe a bit - and there is no footrest to be found beneath the seat in front of you.  Basically we’re left sitting upright like private school children for the duration of the flight, and this seems to be what the airline wants because anytime someone stands the pilot or flight attendant comes on the loud speaker reminding people to remain seated and buckled in even if the seat belt light is off.

4 - Where’s My Hot Towel?

The air on an airplane is gross.  Its recycled composition is made up of morning breath, smoggy runway pollution, and subdued farts.  What lingers in the cabin is a heavy, dirty air that feels, smells, and tastes stale.  Airlines used to provide a hot towel that revitalized your face - even your energy - when you disembarked from the plane because they knew the air was gross.  Now they don’t care if you look and feel ragged when you exit the craft; you’re just cattle.  Cattle with a wallet.

Thank God in Heaven for Trains

Now I am on a train and the travel is delightful.  Truthfully, train travel holds nostalgia for me.  I was a young adult on a foreign continent and felt incredibly refined and grown up as I navigated the train system independently.  I traveled most of western Europe via train and let the sights roll past me like photographs on a Victorian viewfinder.  I saw small towns nestled in the slopes of the Alps, houses sleeping on the banks of the Rhine at night, and even big European cities bustling through the day.  When I sit in the seats of a train I am reminded of these travels and almost feel transported back to Germany, Italy, France, Prague and Switzerland.

But let's move from nostalgia back to comfort and convenience.  The windows on a train are huge – I can see everything. I have plenty of room to sit but I can get up and walk around if I want to without being given the stink eye.  The travel takes about as long as driving but I don’t need to contend with traffic and I can use the restroom without pulling off an exit.  For that matter, the bathroom is not cramped and there is an ample number of toilets.  The cost of a train ticket is substantially less than airline tickets and it includes complimentary beverages (I got two cans of soda and a bottle of water).  But, if I choose to pack food and drink I can bring them onboard without having them examined for explosives.  I’m not charged for luggage and I have plenty of room to store it.  I’m not told what devices I can and cannot use and I don’t need to take off my shoes or undergo an invasive examination to ensure I’m not a dangerous commuter.  Unless I’m going overseas or have limited time to travel, I think the train will be the way I travel from now on.   

If you haven't traveled by train, I highly recommend you give it a try.