How do you overcome untruth?
I've started to notice a lot of obvious untruths lately. For example, I was recently told that the theory of evolution had been proven to be true. You might think this is the case, too. I've herd this at least a half dozen times in the last 6 months. But, it hasn't been proven. The untruth here is not that it's not plausible and not that people believe it to be true but that we have proven it. This is where a great danger lies. I think the danger here is worse than blind beliefs. The danger is that people think something is known to be true when it hasn't been proven. I'd go so far to say they live a lie.
I don't think this always starts at the top. To continue this evolution example, I've read a number of scientists who have talked about the ideology, or belief, that surrounds this kind of work. Charles Darwin opened the Origin of Species, his famous book on the theory of evolution, by talking about his belief in naturalism and how he was working with other naturalists on this theory. He pointed out his world view and the belief that is attached to his work. He isn't the only one doing this.
In cases like this I think it's the middle men. The people who believe what these scientists or other leaders are saying very passionately and in response do a bad job representing what's going on. In this case they shorten names like the theory of evolution to just evolution. Removing the words 'the theory of' seems to give it more authority in our minds. They write and teach from the perspective that it's known to be true because they feel it is. They push this from a theory that people believe to a place where people are misled to believe that something is proven to be true.
This isn't always the case. There are times where someone with great charisma steps in and has people believing untruths. But, I think this case is rarer. It would be more like dropping a frog in boiling water. Many people would see what's going on and not sign up. In my evolution example it would be more like putting a frog in warm water and turning up the heat until it's boiling. The cold blooded frog wouldn't know what's going on.
In my mind this situation is separate from belief because the people following these things aren't thinking in terms of beliefs. They think something is as true as gravity which they can see everywhere. So, the question I'm left with is how to deal with this and talk to people about these blatant untruths. How do you deal with these situations when they come up?
Comments
#1 Some of the untruths are a
Some of the untruths are a result of the current culture. Many of us are guilty of reading RSS feed headlines and assuming the rest of the story. Headlines/blog titles can be misleading. If you don't read the content, you can't speak to content.. obviously :)
The above has been true for years in newspapers. The difference now is that we are consuming a lot more information (or trying to) and in our rush, we don't get it all sometimes.
Wouldn't surprise me if someone wrote an article about the theory of evolution being proven and many just believing it from the headline/title.
#2 Proven how?
I would like to ask a hypothetical question: what evidence would convince you that the theory of evolution was not an "untruth"? Would it even be possible to imagine such evidence, or would your faith require you to reject it out of hand? Does the evidence matter at all?
Let us imagine for a moment that in fact science produced a body of evidence that we would all agree is very persuasive in supporting Darwin's theory. (Most biologists would say that they already have that evidence, but let's ignore that for a moment.) What then? Would you toss the whole Bible into the trash and say, now I can't believe any of it?
I wouldn't do that. I would say, well, perhaps God chose to patiently create the universe gradually over 15 billion years instead of in a week. Perhaps God designed the universe to support life, and used evolution to form the creatures and ultimately, mankind. None of that would change my understanding of the importance of the life of Christ in the salvation of mankind.
I am asking all these questions because I don't like to see Christians lose their humility and close their minds to other possibilities that are still consistent with faith in Christ. Your post suggests that you have completely closed your mind on this subject, and that is unfortunate.
#3 A Level We Overlook
There is a level we overlook when it comes to the conversation/argument of evolution. So often we draw our line and start trying to argue the science. We ask questions about what we know scientifically. We debate the bodies of information and try to interpret them out. What we don't do is look at the world view or context we start with when we do the interpretive work.
If you go pick up the book The Origin of Species by Darwin and look at the introduction to the book you will see Darwin talking about Naturalism. That was his world view. That was his belief in how the world worked. It was his ideology. His lens and filter. His bias. Based on that belief he interpreted the information put before him.
Someone with a different world view would take same information and interpret something different. Depending on the differences in world view those differences could be small or large.
The difference between a creationist and an evolutionist is not the body of evidence or that someone is smarter than another person. It is all based in world view. Some people call this religion and others call it ideology. It's that lens we look at the information through.
The hard part about this discussion is that the only way we prove which world view is correct is if God comes to us and tells us, we die and go to heaven, we die and end up in hell, or we die and don't exist anymore (though in this last case we really don't know the answer because we are gone and not capable of knowing).
Since this whole issue is rooted in our world view it is one of the hardest things for us to talk about. Our world view is one of the most central and core things to us. When someone argues the other side of this conversation they are in essence challenging the thing we base our lives on. And, no one really likes it when that happens. So, it can quickly turn nasty.
I think Christians quickly loose humility because they don't take well to someone challenging their core belief. And, rather than handling it well they have a tenancy to lash out just like someone with a different world view would do if someone challenged their core belief.
#4 evolution
The non sense of evolution will go down in history as the greatest lie ever told. It is filled with dogmatic rhetoric when facts are missing to capture the ignorant mind. I haven't seem one debate where thermo dynamics was questioned without the evolutionist getting angry. Gould knew it was bunk! Punctuated Equilibrium was his final flight to never neverland!
#5 Missing A Big Point
I think we miss a big point.... we two actually.
First, debating doesn't open minds, get people to think, or changes mind. Debating causes people to draw lines in the sand and fight for their side. With this type of thing the losers are the people searching for the truth.
Second, what is commonly taught in public and thought of in average persons perception is often not what evolutionists are studying and saying. There is a gap between what people think it is and what the scientists are saying they think it is. It shows a sad state of science and makes it hard to discuss. People have herd enough they think they are dangerous and feel science has their back. How do you deal with that?
#6 Has evolution been proven?
Let me reply with a question: Has gravity been proven?
#7 You tell me
Well, gravity is the natural force of attraction between two bodies (objects, things, celestial bodies). Proven means established beyond doubt.
Is gravity proven? While scientists may not understand gravity we know it's there. We can observe it and measure it. Do you doubt that it's there? When you jump in there air are you concerned that you won't come back down? Are you concerned that the force of gravity that keeps the sun and earth connected is going to disappear and the earth will go flying off into space? Is it proven? Personally, I think so. If I didn't think so I'd have to strap myself down everyday to make sure I didn't fly away.
Or, were you looking for me to respond to the question in the title of your comment?