Saturniidae mundi part II

I've always maintained that there is nothing wrong with faith. People need it and should rejoice. You have it or you don't - right? Look at the Pope - I think most of us would agree that he's got it. John Paul said (in reference to Pope Pius XII): Today, almost half a century after publication of the encyclical, new knowledge has led to the recognition of the theory of evolution as more than a hypothesis. It is indeed remarkable that this theory has been progressively accepted by researchers, following a series of discoveries in various fields of knowledge. The convergence, neither sought nor fabricated, of the results of work that was conducted independently is in itself a significant argument in favor of the theory. . If you dive into cosmic theory, the Pope has even embraced the initial expansion (aka big bang) as the creation event.

But it gets weird when people start making stuff up because their faith has been tested and they can't accept it. The otherwise constant rates of radioactive decay get altered to adjust to the time frame of young creation. The speed of light was faster during the first years of creation to make it look like the universe is 14 billion years old. And untestable alternant theories of biological change are developed.

I believe that Spirituality is important and should be embraced. Spirituality has shaped humanity from the deep reaches of time. If you accept burial as evidence of spirituality, then between 226,000 and 335,000 years ago Homo naledi may have been spiritual - they were consistently moving their dead deep into caves for some emotional reason (you have to accept standard models of physics for the these dates to work for you...). Certainly, Neanderthals were formally burying their dead in ritualistic settings around 100,000 years ago in Israel and southern Europe. I would love to know what emotions underpinned these behaviors - wouldn't you? What did these beasts believe?

I urge everyone to fully embrace their personal spirituality. Be a strong beast. Be immersed. Be true to your beliefs. That is the sign of spiritual strength. Growing up in the Methodist tradition, I was immersed in teachings that faith is to be tested. True faith emerges unscathed.

It seems like the converse to this is, "I need to make my faith to look like science, otherwise I might loose it". (Wasn't that a song by R.E.M.?) I don't recall ever hearing a sermon about that! The reality is that plenty of people have managed to find a path that is both spiritual and accepting of real science. If you go to www.testoffaith.com/ there is a great film that examines the lives or real scientists relative to their faith. Developed specifically for UK and US-based Christian churches that are struggling with the issue. It is actually pretty watchable and informative! And most importantly, for me it defines what real faith probably looks like.

John