Beauty & Purpose
Evolution is beautiful. This amazing process spanning over billions of years coagulated into one awesome theory. No matter how many times I post about evolution, I can never say it enough.
I’m not really here to debate creationism, though it may seem so. My main goal is to shed light on why evolution rocks all socks.
Creationism directly implies you must accept an entire religious doctrine in addition to a simple theory on the origin of life. Science makes no claims on what your beliefs may or may not be outside the realm of what is proven in a particular instance.
(I stated that in this post.)
Creationism is not a pleasant thought
It does not make me feel good or happy in the slightest. I find no passion, no honesty, no purpose is such drivel. It assumes that things are as they are and never have changed. How boring! It removes all responsibility from our actions, our free will, as well as nature’s will. It devalues human life and the scientific method (which is everything). If I’m here solely as God placed me and he watches and knows all, what’s the point? Creationism seriously depresses me. It gives no hope for the future, nor a reason to aspire. What creationists refer to as their “free will” is the illusion of free will, much like living in a gated community gives you the illusion of safety. Although it may work at times, a comforting notion will never turn into a truthful one.
First Lesson
I recall my father sitting me down to tell me all about evolution; sadly my teachers never mentioned it (or either “theory”) much. He oversimplified the man-came-from-monkeys spiel a bit, but he was just trying to get his point across. One of his all-time favorite movies is Inherit the Wind, which he believes is a very important movie to see, as do I. Unfortunately, history repeats itself (in that sense).
A Collection of Facts
I didn’t think about evolution much throughout high school and college; I just knew it to be a scientific theory that had been tested and retested. (A scientific theory, by the way, holds more weight than a fact alone – like germ theory – and is not to be confused with the casual use of the term “theory”.)
That is until Bush. I can’t recall the specific moment, but sometime around the address stating creationism should be taught alongside evolution, I began a lengthy cringe. Being somewhat aware of creationism, I had not actually known anyone who claimed to believe in it. I grew up in a reform Jewish community and attended secular public schools. (College – University of Miami – is “private”, but only due to exorbitant costs!) I honestly never heard anyone speaking seriously about creationism until about the Bush era (in my early-mid 20’s). And all of a sudden, as it seemed to me, it was everywhere. I though we already shot this non-theory down in 1926. Oh yeah, they rebranded (to Intelligent Design).
Purpose-Driven Life
Perhaps you can call me the un-creationist. I don’t think I’m quite anti-, for I’m not anti-creationists all together. It’s just the very notion of it that saddens me. Evolution gives human life true purpose. We have come from somewhere and are going somewhere. We have an innate connection with all plant and animal life that envelops us. Inhales and exhales us. We are all connected in a almost a spiritual sort of way, for lack of a better term. It’s the bigger picture that we are all a part, the spectacular journey that guides us.
Our livelihood is aided by the evolution of human traits such as morals. Being a good person solely because of where you think you’ll go when you die, is not morality. That’s just sucking up, like a God’s Pet. Remember how being a teacher’s pet does not (or at least should not) get you all A’s through school, but actually studying, doing well on tests, and positively contributing to discussions will? A true set of morals comes from being faced with a decision, weighing out the possible consequences, and potentially researching for more resources on the topic/situation. Whether one makes a “good” or “bad” decision will help him/her learn, evolve, and grow as to not make the bad decisions again, while continuing with the good ones.
The world is beautiful, but there is also much pain. If a creator created conjoined twins, babies with no limbs, various other mutations, wars, etc is s/he worth praising? It feels wrong to me. If one’s parents did to them what God does to the world, then those parents would be swept up by Child Services immediately.
My life is full of purpose; I have true freedom and true free will. I can aspire to great heights without worrying if its in god’s plans. Or if s/he’ll approve. The beauty of nature and the universe flows through us, a current that never ceases, never spoils. I look out for myself (with the help of my hubby and other close loved ones). I take care of my own body and my own circumstances everyday. The notion of a “purpose-driven life” is currently an Evangelical Christian meme, but should it be?
Related posts:
beautiful post! I like your statements about evolution leading to a sort of spirituality, especially. I don’t like the word spirituality, either, but I haven’t been able to come up with a better word. Like the Little Book of Atheist Spirituality talks about, I think we can be spiritual without gods, an afterlife or any non-natural phenomena. I’m currently reading The End of Faith by Sam Harris, and he makes a good case for rational spirituality as well.
In a way, creationism is just like flat Earth theory: one usually does not think much about the theory of a round Earth, but can be taken aback when a Flat Earther is encountered, and positively feels like they’re in the twilight zone when a significant portion of society seriously believes that the Earth is flat.
(At least it’s a relief that the last part isn’t true for flatearthism …)
“Evolution gives human life true purpose. We have come from somewhere and are going somewhere. We have an innate connection with all plant and animal life that envelops us. Inhales and exhales us. We are all connected in a almost a spiritual sort of way, for lack of a better term. It’s the bigger picture that we are all a part, the spectacular journey that guides us.”
Oh yes yes yes yes! I came here through the Carnival of the Godless site on Blogcarnival.com because I was trying to figure out if my recent post on Life Purpose would fit. If it doesn’t fit with the carnival, it certainly agrees with what you have written here.
This is the first time I’ve written a post that I thought would fit with one of the atheist blog carnivals. I normally blog about environmental issues, specifically plastic — reducing our consumption and waste — but last night I was moved to write about life purpose in just the way you are describing it here.
http://www.fakeplasticfish.com/2009/04/do-you-know-your-lifes-purpose.html
You ask, “The notion of a “purpose-driven life” is currently an Evangelical Christian meme, but should it be?” My answer: Absolutely not! Thank you for stating so clearly what I’ve been struggling to explain myself.
Thanks a lot guys. Its taken me a while to really understand and enunciate how I feel. And I’m sure I’ll find even better ways to express it as time goes by..
Thanks again. And thx Beth for the link to your similar post.
I’ll check it out.
[...] last but not least, Rose of the Jewmanist wraps up the carnival with a wonderful post on beauty and purpose. The knowledge that we are all products of evolution gives us good reason to respect the grandeur [...]