A Few Thoughts from Dad

Credo Consolans

On October 27, 1996 Pope John Paul II declared his acceptance of evolution as a fact of nature in an address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences in Rome, Italy. His position was promptly and adamantly condemned by anti-evolutionists, radical creationists, intelligent designists and the religious right.

In a recent response Cal Thomas, a conservative right-wing author, stated his opinion that the Pope, in his declining years, had succumbed to the “tyranny" of evolutionary scientists who claim we are related to monkeys.

Judge Braswell Dean of the Georgia Court of Appeals claims to know the reason for permissiveness, promiscuity, drug abuse, prophylactics, perversions, teen pregnancy, abortions, pornography, pollution and crime proliferation of every kind. In a statement with regard to teaching creationism in public schools, he placed the cause explicitly onwhat he calls Darwin's “monkey mythology".

For some obscure reason I cannot see a connection. These are the very same evils that existed long before Christianity and Darwin emerged. His reasoning is ultra-simplistic. He further implies that since his omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscient God would not promote such evil behavior Charles must be held responsible. I guess God is not into prevention. Religion was conceived by and sustained by fear.

Evolutiophobia is a clear indication of the lack of confidence in one's faith, otherwise it would be of no consequence what scientists think. When a man dogmatically and unthinkingly condemns the position of another, it is usually from fear that it may reveal the weakness of his own position. God forbid. People who refuse to accept reality and those with limited thought processing abilities are attracted to colorful alliteration while ignoring sentiment, unable to separate grandiloquence from substance.

Ghosts, goblins, ghouls, spooks, gods, devils, angels, souls and many more irrational concepts and beliefs are creations of and sustained by primitive vestiges of the minds of man. There are no haunted places just haunted people.

Religion

When I was young my church taught me that belief was the greatest of virtues, doubt the mark of a heretic and denial the gravest of sins. Investigation was considered impudence and to question, a sacrilege.

We have been told about three worlds, two of which we can know nothing except what they say. We know about the third, our world. We live here, we have studied it, we have experienced it and we learn more about it each day. They tell us things about our world that does not match what we have discovered. Why then should we extend any credibility to their description of the other two? Why should I not deny that they even exist? I was even told that to gaze into the night sky thru that evil instrument called a telescope was questioning God. I was to see only that which my divine gift of sight allowed me to see in its created state. That attempting to gain knowledge beyond what the church preached was rebellious and irreverent.

It is in the interest of job security for priests to teach that all phenomena be accounted for by the wills of gods and devils. To credit their causes explicitly to the workings of nature is heretical. The more widely natural causation is realized the less important priesthood becomes. Religion and science have always been at odds and will continue to be until the superstitions of God-belief fade into oblivion and all priests find employment in more beneficial vocations.

A kind of insecurity, innate to humankind, begs consolement which is found through the thought (or wish) that some benevolent power exists in the form of a super being, appeasement of whom may satisfy that insecurity. Those attracted to religion are the type of people whose credulity makes religion attractive. Unfortunately there exists a great disparity in the ratio of scholars who teach reality and those who perpetuate myth within a huge community of credulous followers. Religionists who cavalierly reject the theory of evolution, for example, as not adequately supported by facts, ignore the fact that their own theory is supported by no facts at all. To reject something despite overwhelming evidence in support of its validity but dogmatically accept that for which there is not one iota of evidence is illogical.

Any application of logic within the realm of religion is sternly discouraged by the church. Clergy assert, without question, that God is real and any assertion to the contrary is condemned. Recent trends toward reduction of religion's presence in the public arena shed some light on the hope that perhaps we are slowly "wising up". Those who complain that God is being pushed out of civil life do so because they are "certain" that such an entity exists, a sentiment not shared by millions.

The Pain of Rejection is real and debilitating

The pain of rejection is just as uncomfortable as stubbing your toe. A broken appendage heals rapidly and is forgotten while the pain caused by social rejection never completely disappears. Key areas of the brain appear to respond to the pain of rejection in the same way they respond to physical pain. While everyone accepts that the pain of a broken finger is real, many people think that social pain is just in their heads. The result is that we don't always seek social support from our friends - support that would help us heal more quickly. Children in particular suffer when their social wounds go unacknowledged. Children sustain social injuries in the classroom and on the playground frequently. We offer our help and support to children who have suffered physical injuries at school and elsewhere, but we don't help them nearly as much with the very real trauma to their brains that result from social rejection.

A detailed study of the effects of rejection incorporating MRI techniques was conducted with the aid of an interactive computer game called Cyber ball. Two cartoon characters throw a ball to each other. The game's human player joins in via computer. This game is most boring by adult standards but at one point becomes significant, the two cyber people stop throwing the ball to the human player. The cartoon players essentially exclude the real player from the game. Rationally, we can tell ourselves that being excluded doesn't matter, but rejection in any form still appears to register automatically in the brain. The MRI data is similar to what we see when people experience physical pain. When the human players in this experiment became conscious of being snubbed, activity in the brain's cingulated directly corresponded to the amount of distress that they later reported feeling at being excluded. The pain of being rejected may have evolved because of the importance of social bonds for the survival of mammals long ago. Fifty thousand years ago, social distance from the group could lead to death as it still does in most infant mammals in the wild. Man seems to have evolved a keen sensitivity to anything that would indicate that we are being excluded.

A.D.D. (FACT OR FOLLY)

There is an old World War 1 song that says something about human nature, entitled HOW'YA GONNA KEEP 'EM DOWN ON THE FARM AFTER THEY'VE SEEN PAREE ?and seems to be an early, though inadvertent, diagnosis of the then recognized potential for the very behavior seen today among the younger members of our extravagant society. For some incomprehensible reason it has been labeled "Attention Deficit Disorder."

A much more appropriate label would be "Apparent Discipline Deficit." The medical profession has succeeded in complicating this concept out of proportion for calculated reasons. They confuse lay people into thinking it is a disease when it is in fact only an example of unchecked selfish behavior. The siren's songs of attractive toys on today's market, so alluring that obsessions are built around them, overpower discipline. Why should anyone opt for boring school work when there is so much fun to be had elsewhere?

Adverse reactions to being forced into undesirable activities lead many kids toward rebellion against authority and they seek revenge through non-cooperation or indifference. Medicine seldom changes attitudes but the medical community will try to convince us otherwise. Deception has developed into a fine art and is employed more and more because it is lucrative and the gullible, credulous public insures its effectiveness. Many people today either do not know how to discipline their children or elect not to. Teachers and school officials are afraid to. To cover for their inadequacies or to shun their personal responsibilities they place blame on an imaginary mental defect. In rare cases such a mental condition may exist but is not near as prevalent as we are lead to believe. It becomes more of an excuse than a reality but the pharmaceutical industry loves it, after all it generates considerable revenue.