Vince Deagler

hi out there. i want to let you know what i’ve been chewing on the past few days. i used a phrase this past sunday that prompted a pretty good response…polarized externalist. i am not sure that is actually a legit term…i made it up on the fly to describe what i see going on in too many families. we happened to be focused on parent child relationships and i used this term to descibe how easily we are divided/seperated/upset with each other (polarized) and how easily we blame the other for the problems that exist…a my problem is you approach (externalist). well little did i know that a 20 something philosopher was sitting out there in the congregation and he connected that concept to what is taking place in our culture between we christ followers and the secular culture we are surrounded by. and a wonderful conversation began to form. it started with an email, led to a lengthly chat, and hopefully the dialogue will continue. without going into all the details (and there were many) let me share the jist of the discussion. my philosopher friend (degree in philosophy from uc berkley) reacted to something i said back on easter sunday. i was comparing 2 available worldviews. the first i labeled secularism. i described it as based in evolutionary belief that results in the rejection of god and leaves the proponents of this worldview with a life that is nothing more than an accident/chance/some kind of cosmic coincidence. life is therefore random, we are nothing special, there is no purpose or meaning, there are no morals, etc. evolution applied to life. since i reject this worldview, and was trying to rally the congregation to embrace a christian worldview, i felt it necessary to point out what i believe the inadaquacies of this worldview are. i started by saying that although evolution is presented in our culture as a factual certainty that explains the origins of the universe and life…you do not need to be intimidated. how scientific is it to believe a system that says something (the universe) came from nothing (what preceeded the big bang). that is not scientific at all. now this is what sparked our conversation. let me be clear of a few things. i believe in evolutionary principles in science. within different species, and even within we humans, who are different than animals as we are created in god’s image, i see changes. i don’t think we came from monkeys, i don’t think turtles turned into hippos, but i do see gradual changes over time. i do not believe science can explain the origin of the universe or life. i believe in creation as does my philosopher friend. where we differed was he felt my statement was very unfair to science. he feels science does not believe something came from nothing. and if i were to make that kind of statement to a real scientist he would immediately respond with well where did your god come from. and then it started. you may want to weigh in on this. i feel very strongly that evolution is presented to our culture as a fact that explains origins. it is the overwhelming presupposition of the scientific community, it pervades our educational system, and is presumed to be true in the media as in the discovery channel, the history channel, nova, pbs, etc. i am sure there are scientists that will say evolution is still a theory, that the whole question is still up in the air, and there really isn’t any more evidence to support how everything got started in evolutionary science than in a creationist’s belief system. but they are a small minority in my humble opinion. as a creationist i openly confess i start with the presupposition that god exists, that he has revealed himself to us through special revelation (scripture), through the incarnation (christ), through natural revelation (nature). i do not try to prove these truth claims, they are issues of faith. my contention is, the so-called science of evolution is dishonest in presenting itself as a fact, it can not answer for instance where the stuff that went bang in the big bang came from. that is a presupposition they make without having observed, without being able to factually prove where it came from any more than i can prove god, and without being able to replicate this with experimentation. as a realistist, living in the real world, a physical world, i know something (the universe) had to come from something. my something is god. can’t prove it, won’t even try, it is a faith issue. i just want a level playing field, and i do not believe it exists at this time. science, evolution is presented as fact, as intellectually superior, and anyone who disagrees is seen as a dope. if you keep going back…the old where did that come from argument…sooner or later you will arrive at no answer, or nothing…hence my claim. so here we are having this discussion where we really see how evolution is presented to our culture differently. and that will probably continue…until my philosopher friend sees the error of his ways, comes to his senses, and agrees with me hahahahahahaha. just a joke…chill. so what can we do? well to me that was a jumping off point to get back to the idea of polarized externalism. he believes the image of christianity has been distorted and misunderstood in large part by our culture. he further believes the same has happened to the message of science, that it has been distorted and misunderstood by the church. finally something we both could agree on. as we discussed this i added another layer. some of the poarization that really does exist between the church and the secularist community, at least from a christian perspective, is a spiritual issue. does it not say in the bible that satan has blinded, darkened, deceived, holds in bondage those who do not believe in christ? does it not say they are incapable of understanding spiritual truth until they have the spirit operating in their lives? does it not say they are not seeking after god? so as we continued i said it is our responsibility to seek after them just as god sought after us through the christians that were around us. there is a polarization that exists. we dare not misrepresent each other in a straw man like way, and then destroy the straw man and think something good can come from it. we need to actually talk to each other, listen to each other, respect each other, and as christians god can use this to draw those outside of relationship with him to faith. is it complicated on this level…yes. in fact i’m glad god has raised up some scientific types who can have that conversation at that level. but the people most of us will speak with are not scientist types. they are just normal people, who may need christ. so, let the conversation begin. who knows, you just mind find a friend in the process. blessings. vince