The Curious Yam » Evolution http://curiousyam.com the funny thing about curiosity. Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:47:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 I believe in humanity http://curiousyam.com/2011/07/28/i-believe-in-humanity/ http://curiousyam.com/2011/07/28/i-believe-in-humanity/#comments Thu, 28 Jul 2011 21:31:55 +0000 D http://curiousyam.com/?p=200 Humanity. There is an attraction to condemn it, to convince oneself it is unfixable, unredeemable, and purely failed – an evil force set in motion long ago.

I reject this idea.

I believe in humanity. I believe we have the strength of mind, will and spirit to become better than what we are. To improve ourselves, individually – and collectively. To find methods of group governance that actively serve everyone, and aren’t willfully ignorant of subsets of our majorities.

Many of my peers are driven through fear. Fears long drilled into their heads, fears which I empathize, and sometimes sympathize from my own upbringing. These thorns in their mind convince them of various lies:

  • the enemy will consume us
  • time is short
  • ‘they’ are out to destroy us
  • many souls are lost and irrecoverable
  • the solution is simple and turn-key
  • embracing of our self-interest will bring freedom
  • that all Great Institution is a derivation of a Great Plot to control and subjugate us all

And while I acknowledge corruption is a hallmark of humanity, I believe that we can transcend this scar and become that which we were created to be – a community of humans who react to tragedy in love, who reject cynicism for ideas that better the future,  who work together to see those ideas to fruition, and who acknowledge that we don’t have all the pieces in this mystery of existence.

I believe this transformation will take generations, has been in process for much longer than my brief existence, will see many casualties sent to the next life, and will hopefully outlast me far into the future.

]]> http://curiousyam.com/2011/07/28/i-believe-in-humanity/feed/ 1 Happy birthday, Darwin! http://curiousyam.com/2009/02/09/happy-birthday-darwin/ http://curiousyam.com/2009/02/09/happy-birthday-darwin/#comments Tue, 10 Feb 2009 01:21:01 +0000 Em http://curiousyam.com/?p=87 I would like to state, for once and for all, that is it entirely conceivable to believe that Darwin’s theory of evolution explains how the world came to be, while at the same time it reveals the hand of a higher being. While it would be convenient for all of us, science can not and does not disprove the existence of God. I should think that this would have been well established by now, but STILL people come up with this ludicrous, narrow-minded, two-sided sham of an argument that leads to hair-pulling statements such as this one:

Next Thursday, Feb. 12, marks the 200th birthday of Charles Darwin, probably the most influential scientist in intellectual history. Darwin’s theory of evolution has been making trouble for a century and a half, and shows no sign of stopping any time soon.

Darwin’s dangerous idea dethroned mankind as the pinnacle of all creation, and knocked God the Creator right out of the sky.

Apart from the folks who cling to Intelligent Design, most of us now accept the fact that the human race evolved through eons of natural selection.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20090207.COWENT07/TPStory/National#

I would like to also point out that throughout his entire life, Darwin struggled with the idea of God. This was not a rational, studied approach to His existence but a troubled, emotional search for meaning in a cruel world.

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