Faith in all things; Including science

I wrote this for an elective course in college. It is a philosophy course, disguised as a history course. Hahaha. However, the first few weeks of the class we talked about evolution incessantly. Our professor asked us what stuck out about the course, so I let him know.

This was the result of that assignment.

Small disclaimer: This is merely my own speculation and should be reflected upon as such. 

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There was a time that I felt extremely conflicted when presented with the idea of evolution. It seemed from a young age, that I feared facing this internal conflict for my entire life. It was logical to me that evolution could be the explanation of how the earth came to be. However, the conflict came from my own heart and my faith, which told me that God created the earth in His plan for us. Science and history classes taught me that the globe itself formed from some miraculous coincidence. Jared Diamond (1997) is one of the many that propose that we, as humans, emerged from apes and chimps. How could God and those around me expect me to hold true to the feelings of my heart while still listening to the logic in my head? It seemed that the two ideas were incessantly at war with one another.

I once had a discussion with an individual about my confusion on the topic. He suggested that perhaps evolution was simply the explanation of how the earth was created, but that God was why it happened. Perhaps the 7 days that are portrayed in our scriptures were only creative periods, as the measurement of time was not invented by God, but by humans. Perhaps, what was written in many religious texts were tailor made for the people of that time. Could it be that the writers of these creation myths were inspired in this way, for the purpose of the people who would hear it first, so that they could receive it in their hearts and understand it in their minds?

The suggestion was shocking and was an idea that I found to be perplexing. I had never thought that maybe, faith and science could peacefully coexist. I then read in a religious text, “[God] will tell you in your mind and in your heart.” (Doctrine & Covenants 8:2) This passage brought peace to the war that I found myself in on a regular basis.

With this thought of congruity in mind, it would be absolutely illogical to me that God created human beings in the blink of an eye. It would also be illogical to me to think that the world generated itself and all of its inhabitants by opportune happenstance.

Something that I have struggled with since adopting this perspective is how other people of faith do not share this idea of balance between reason and faith. It is confounding to me that individuals can rely solely on faith or solely on reason. While I see the appeal to a strictly science diet, there are still things that have yet to be explained. There are still miracles today, because they are inexplicable to us, even after our vast scientific discoveries that have transpired over the past thousand years.

Nonetheless, I see the appeal in a strictly faith diet, but some of the once inexplicable happenstances have been explained through experimentation and scientific evidence. This evidence does not make your faith or beliefs in a deity any less real. Faith’s purpose is to bridge the gap between these occurrences that we cannot explain and that our limited, human minds cannot comprehend. Faith can be used to help us come to appreciate the sophistication of the evolution theory. The evolution theory can help us appreciate the complexity of the workings of God.

I have realized through my participation in this class, that while I do identify as a devout Christian, I have begun to consider that the theory of evolution may be a possible explanation as to how the earth came to fruition.



What are your thoughts?

Thanks to The Help

I identify as a minority in many ways. I am a woman. I am a French Canadian. I am a Mormon. But there is one prejudice that being myself, I will never truly or fully understand; being a woman of colour.

I just finished reading The Help by Kathryn Stockett. I must express how deeply moving this novel was. I know from reading the acknowledgements that this book, the characters and the stories it holds are wholly fictitious. However, the lives that are depicted in this novel was at one time reality. There were many women whose lives were very similar to those portrayed in this novel and I cannot stop myself from marvelling at their tolerance, strength and patience.

When reading the novel, I couldn't help but feel ashamed of the colour of my skin. Knowing that people can associate me to this shallow, unintelligent group left me grieving. Knowing that people could take one look at me and assume that I would treat them harshly. I realized at that moment that I would only ever understand a fraction of what it was like to be a coloured woman in the 1960s. I would only understand a smaller fraction of what it is like to be a coloured woman today. I know that there are still people out there who truly believe that white people are above all others. This is not the case. We are all created equal.

I know that this all seems extremely insincere coming from someone who has never been sneered at or had a slur thrown in my direction... But I will never be the one to smirk or give the disapproving look.

While we cannot change what people think of us, we can change what people see in us. We can be better, kinder, compassionate and loving. One of my favourite parts of the book, Aibileen is trying to teach the little white girl she looks after a lesson on being a good person. She wraps two candies. One in a white wrapper, one in a brown wrapper. She explains to the little girl that regardless of what is on the outside, the inside can still be good.

How simple life is when seen through the eyes of a child.

While I cannot change the past, there is so much I want to change about our future. Please read this book and when you go to speak ill or judge another person, stop it. Just stop.

Finding our humanity

I have been taking the bus for the past week and a half after getting into a bit of an accident with my mom's car. (I'm posting more details on this later this week or next week... Even though I hate talking about it...) I get really anxious when my stop comes up and get in a bit of a rush every time it's approaching. Missing my stop would mean not catching my transfer and subsequently, not making it to work on time. Which according to my boss can lead to termination. UH OH! Don't want any of that.

So in my rush yesterday to get to work on time and not to miss my transfer, I left my gloves on the bus in the chair next to me. I had placed them under my backpack when I sat down originally and hadn't noticed them there when I stood up to get off. 

Now for the past couple of days, it has been FREEZING. The thought of going without my gloves makes me cringe. But luckily for me, there was a very kind heart on my bus yesterday. She was getting off at my stop and came up behind me and handed me my gloves. She just said, "You left these on the bus." And walked away. I was completely awestruck. "Oh my gosh! Thank you!" I had nothing else I could say before she ran off to catch her bus.

To the woman who returned my gloves and made my day, thank you! For restoring my faith in humanity. That there are still good people out there and that I'm not alone in my efforts to be a good person. 

To everyone else, I saw a video yesterday that has been resonating within me since I saw it. Anyone who has any kind of social networking account knows the name Kony. That everyone is trying to make him famous. But why? To find out, please watch the video I'm posting below. Whether you feel that these efforts are a day late and a dollar short or that they are exactly what this world needs. It is never too late to educate yourself.

I've seen many people concerned that the issue is no longer prevalent... Well, guess what? This is history repeating itself. We took too long to act in Poland, too long to act in Rwanda, too long in Russia, too long to act too many times. Too often citizens of this planet were too late to offer their resources to aid another. There is even the Black War which has been considered by many to be the most effectively executed genocide. Because it happened and to this day, few people know about it. 

This time there are people active and willing to help those affected by this group. There are people who will listen. There are ways to get the news out there. While we can't all devote our lives to this cause, we can make change by supporting those who are working to make the difference. 

The thing that I loved most about this video was that through the eyes of Gavin, the young boy, there is absolutely no reason that we shouldn't stop this man. I could not agree with him more. We need to be anxiously engaged in a good cause. And if you didn't have one before, why not take on this one?

I've bought my action kit and I'm waiting for it in the mail. I hope that you'll all do the same. Buy it here.