The Rant
Yesterday I read a blog by a friend who said she was shocked to meet someone who did not believe in evolution, and had trouble wrapping her head around their disbelief. The post annoyed me, even offended me- but it took me some time to really stop and think about why. The general statement of shock and the inability to get over someone else�s disbelief was one thing: should we really expect that everyone believes exactly as ourselves, do we truly believe that we have all of the answers? Beyond that there was a deeper note, touched off by that word, �evolution.�

I have had an ongoing casual debate with a friend for years: What is the difference between science and religion? We both engage in the debate largely for fun, and often play the most extreme devil�s advocate for our sides. On the side of religion, I hinge my argument on the idea that faith is faith, whether it�s invested in a scientific theory or a religious theory. Belief results, but in both cases it is built on observation and evidence presented. You can argue about the quality and quantity of the evidence, but that�s not the point. The point is that there is a common ground of faith between the two. In the end you �believe in evolution� or you do not, you �believe in God� or you do not (and you can certainly do both or neither). Why then is it so hard for people to fathom that others do not believe the same as them? If we were to expose 100 people to the same evidence on an issue, would they come out with the same belief? Of course not, for reasons to many to go into here, we all bring issues with us to the evidence we see. The point is that we should be able to understand why others have reached their own beliefs, having done the same ourselves. I am a religious person, but it is something very personal to me that I don�t talk about much. I am also so a scientist (of sorts anyhow), publicly recognized with my MA in anthropology, partly a badge of having sate through many a class on human origins. In the end I believe in both God and evolution, I have been presented sufficient evidence for them both- but in the end that�s all I have, evidence and the faith I�ve built on it.

That said, it frustrates me that my �educated� friends come down on people who do not believe in the same things as they do (i.e. evolution) and in turn laugh at those same people for believing in something they do not (i.e. God)- it�s a double standard that I see all the time and it drives me nuts. In the end I think �education� is often to fault for this, because word passed down in a classroom gains an aura of truth, while word passed down by family/ religion/ culture/ etc. is relegated to �opinion� or �custom� at best. The best fix for this is a true education- an exposure to many ideas and open debate. The fact that my friend�s shock over meeting someone who didn�t believe in evolution led her to explore the belief of those around her is wonderful. People should be allowed to talk about belief, even though it may offend and annoy. If we don�t, we run the risk of stagnating and warping our own beliefs. By constantly exposing ourselves to new ideas we are continually forced to re-evaluate our beliefs. They may change, shift slightly or be reaffirmed, but in the end it�s a choice we�ve made.