Evolution, Creationism and Intelligent Design

This is a difficult topic to write about, as religion is something which is very sensitive to many people. Nevertheless, I still feel an urge to speak out on the subject, having attended lectures and read some books on these subjects. I consider myself as a Buddhist/Taoist although practically, it can be said that I'm an atheist. I do not believe in the presence of God. Although I pray sometimes, it's more of tradition and for peace of mind rather than really believing that someone up there is dictating my life.

Having received many years of science education, I can say that it is impossible for me to believe everything that is written in the Bible. God created the world in 7 days? A virgin gave birth to Jesus? Jesus was resurrected after his death? From a purely scientific point of view, these are some really unbelievable events. Science has shown that the world is a few billion years old, a sperm and an egg has to meet to produce a baby, and it's not possible to live again after dying.

I do not have a big issue with religion. I believe that at the core of religions are teachings that guide people in proper behaviour. However, there is an issue when people are so devoted to their religion that they become too narrow minded. They take the holy book so literally that they reject outright any other possible explanations about the world. Take for example, creation. It was written in the Bible that God created every living thing in the world. The theory of evolution has been pretty well established in the scientific community as a more plausible explanation of the origin of species. It had undergone rigorous scientific inquiries. Creationism by God had been rejected by the scientific community as it does not stand up to scientific scrutiny. There is no evidence of God creating all the animals on Earth. Yet, in spite of this, many hardcore Christians still firmly believe that God is the Creator of everything. There is even a movement in the United States to introduce Intelligent Design, a euphemism for Creationism, into their school syllabus. What will the world become if we allow our children to learn things based on religious beliefs rather than hard science? I'm afraid that we will still believe that the sun revolves around the Earth and the world is flat.

I feel that the United States is becoming too religious for its own good. There are people in the government proclaiming that they are a Christian nation. Even their dollar notes have the phrase "In God We Trust". No one can become president unless they proclaim to be Christian. Bush invaded Iraq because he believed God told him to do so. Tele-evangelists there can earn millions by asking people to donate money to them in the name of God. I believe that if they continue to be overly religious and reject science and reason, they are going to be in big trouble.

Luckily in Singapore, we are still a pretty secular country. However, the presence of churches like City Harvest still makes me very uncomfortable. I can't believe that exorcism is still going on in our time and age. It makes me mad when I see pamphlets espousing the virtues of prayers as a way to treat various diseases, complete with real life examples. So and so goes to the church, receives prayers and lo and behold, he or she can see again. It's a miracle of God! These pamphlets only encourage people to reject conventional medicine in pursuit of the miracle cure. Diabetic patients, for example, upon seeing these pamphlets, will wonder why on earth do they need to take painful insulin jabs when all that they need are some prayers to get well. These pamphlets are going to get people killed.

It makes me angry also when I hear people saying that you are going to hell if you do not believe in Christianity. Is Christianity the only way to heaven? Is believing in Christianity the only passport to heaven? Doesn't God value other qualities like kindness, hard work or compassion? I've lived my life honestly and in good conscience and I'm going to hell just because I'm a non-believer? People should not believe in something just because they are afraid of the consequences of not believing in something.

Religion is all right as a form of tradition, as a guidance, as a form of inspiration or hope when things are not going right. However, it should not be taken literally. The scriptures, after all, were written hundreds of years ago, and are still unchanged whereas the world has changed dramatically in that period. Our understanding of the world has changed and religon should also move with the times. The Dalai Lama once said that if science were to prove any of Buddhism's scriptures wrong, then we should embrace science and reject or modify accordingly those scriptures. That is the right kind of mentality.