Worrying About The Wrong Thing

I wrote:

“What are those 2 (dads) arguing about?”

“Guess”

“Evolution?”

“Yup.”

Overheard conversations at church-based little league games are weird.

Another True Tale.

Two women (the wives of the husbands, I suspect). The guys were talking (so “arguing” was really more “friendly conversation”.)

Neither of the wives seemed to think too highly of this “debate” and one had the sense that no one (husbands or wives) was really taking it all that seriously.

One of the wives added “Again?” and the other said “Don’t get me started.” If you could verbalize an eyeroll, she had nailed it. But it sounded as if she meant to say “Don’t get me started on how stupid those two are for arguing over this” not “Don’t get me started on HOW COULD ANYONE THINK THAT THE EARTH IS NOT 5,000 YEARS OLD?”

At least that’s what I choose to infer.

We walked by the two guys as we were leaving and I heard one of them saying to the other (who is from Massachusetts and sports a heavy Boston accent) in a playful, teasing manner: “Oh, you Massachusetts liberals….”

There is no other little league around. This church—which we do not belong to—offers the only one in the area, and they have some very strict behavioral rules for parents: No arguing with the umps, no keeping score on the sidelines (these are 4-8 year olds), and no smoking on church property, which is where all the games are played.

Honestly, it’s a great system. In a day when it’s all too common to hear about some parent who is Taking It All Too Seriously, the whole “league” is centered around having the kids have fun (all players get to bat every inning) and they do learn/improve year to year.

So while I suspect that a lot of the other parents in the stands are Very Baptisty Baptists, and we probably wouldn’t agree on much either in the realm of religion or politics, our kids have a place to come together and play. I’d like to think that even an atheist’s or agnostic’s kid would be welcome and would feel welcome.

A Story

Several years ago a friend of mine went to church with a girl that he liked. They had been on a few dates and she had invited him to go with her.

The sermon was all about evolution vs creationism.

Afterwards they went to lunch and she was very excited to hear what he had to say about the sermon. He said, “It didn’t really answer any of the questions that I’m asking.”

I think he nailed it. I’ve never met anyone who just wishes that s/he could get a clear answer on how life on the planet began and then s/he would feel oh so much better about life.

Do you know anyone that would help? Would it help you?

Worrying About The Wrong Thing

Proponents of creationism will tell you that if you start questioning Genesis 1 and 2, you undercut the rest of the Bible.

I think that’s pretty much nonsense, especially given that most of the Old and New Testaments ignore Genesis 1 and 2 completely, and when they do mention it at all, it’s referenced almost like you would reference “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” — which is not to say “That’s not a true story!” so much as it is to say “That story may not have literally happened, but it still teaches us a lot about human nature.”

Sound outlandish? The Boy Who Cried Wolf says that if we lie people will eventually not believe us. The story of Adam and Eve says us that we have a tendency to do what we want to do even when we know we shouldn’t. It also says that when we’re caught, we tend to want to shift the blame to other people.

Now I ask you: is there any sane person on the planet who would question that lesson?

I present as evidence anyone who eats anything that’s bad for them, anyone who smokes, anyone with any sort of addiction, and — if we’re honest — all of us at one time or another.

That’s why the whole Creationism thing strikes me as “worrying about the wrong thing” by trying to convince people “This Happened Exactly This Way” rather than “This Tells Use Something About Human Nature That Hasn’t Changed Since The Beginning of Time”.

Gaining a better understanding of human nature? Now that’s something that might actually help someone deal with some current struggle in work/family/friends/dating/marriage/etc. Wouldn’t solve the problem, but might help.