Evolution is logical, not faith. I have caught the attention of a few critics of my previous letter, ‘Evidence does not support intelligent design.’ As one of my critics pointed out, the definition of faith according to the Oxford Dictionary is “firm belief without logical proof.”
Therefore faith is illogical as it is not supported on evidence. It must be made clear that my letter was not targeted at religion as an institution, but rather intelligent design. And because the two seem to be synonymous with one another, I can see how one can conclude that I am indirectly targeting religion. However, if I were to target religion, I would ask why do we need religion? Freedom of religion is protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The charter also states everyone has a right to an education. Teaching creationism to future generations is a means of withholding that right. Therefore these freedoms may only go as far as to not restrict other rights and freedoms.
A second critic pointed out that “if a Christian doesn’t believe the whole Bible as God’s word, then why would they believe any of it?” I have come to the understanding that several Christians do not take the Bible literally. For example, the story of Noah’s Ark is difficult to wrap the mind around. Where did all the water come from? How could all living things manage to live on one boat without the predators eating the prey? How did Noah locate all the species of insects (over one million)?
What really defines a Christian then? There are so many interpretations of what it means to be a Christian that I’m not sure even Christians know what it means to be true to the religion. Finally, although defining creationism as an extremist belief may not have been the polite term, I still feel it is appropriate. Intelligent design requires a leap of faith. It is not founded upon evidence. It cannot be tested or demonstrated. Therefore, it would be either very difficult or impossible to accept, the latter of the two being the more typical reaction. Because evolution can be verified, it is logical to believe it.
Lee Pasternak, St. Albert
