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I Do Not Believe in Evolution

A pretty strong title, huh? Likely confusing for those of you out there who know my (lack of) religious belief. However, before you jump to the obvious conclusion that I am a creationist of any sort, let me stop you.

I don’t believe in god - any god. Thus, it is a pretty big leap for me to have faith that something or someone I don’t believe exists created the earth.

So why do I not believe in evolution?

My lack of belief in evolution is not like my lack of belief in any deity. I don’t believe in evolution because I know next to nothing about it. I don’t believe in evolution the same way that I don’t believe one way or the other that the answer to x 3 + a x 2 + bx + c is 5. I just don’t have enough experience, education and workable knowledge to say one way or another. I know there is probably an answer, I just don’t know it yet. :)

I’ve been trying to educate myself on the subject as much as possible, because unlike the average school child, I did not get even basic education concerning evolutionary theory. I was home-schooled for the majority of my childhood, by very religious parents. Thus, my science education consisted of textbooks such as "Understanding God’s World". We also were big fans of Kent Hovind (aka Dr. Dino) and embraced young earth creationism fully. Simply put, I learned nothing about evolution except from the opposing side of the fence.

I know that life and everything around us came from some point of origin, but until I educate myself (I would love to take a class, actually) about it, I do not feel comfortable preaching it as fact.

Don’t get me wrong, I in no way think that creationism should be taught in school, for two reasons. One, religion, if taught at all, should be the job of the parents, not the teachers. Two, I am a strong supporter of absolute separation of church and state, thus feel that a religious subject has no place in state-funded education.

I am, as I said, trying to educate myself on evolution, but educational books are a tough read for me. I’ve been trying to muddle my way through the Origin of the Species, but again, it’s a tough read. If anyone has any suggestions about slightly more reader-friendly books on the subject, or other theories on the origin of the universe, please send them my way.

One final thought:
The origin of life, “why we are here”, etc., honestly has no bearing on my day to day activities or the way I live my life. If I find out tomorrow that we were crapped out by a giant octopus, it wouldn’t make a whole heck of a lot of difference. I live my life based on a specific set of evolving guidelines and morals, which are only subject to beneficial change - giant octopus or not. :)

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Comment by Keith Brian Johnson on January 25, 2010 at 8:28pm: I recommend Richard Dawkins's The Blind Watchmaker, for a very readable (and gradualist) account; Stephen Jay Gould's Hen's Teeth and Horse's Toes, or his The Panda's Thumb, for various evolutionary stories that sometimes illustrate why we should accept evolutionary theory; or, for a less readable (and older) but more rigorous account, John Maynard Smith's book Evolution.

Comment by deletedsoul on May 13, 2009 at 10:11am: Mel - I'm glad it's not just me; I was feeling like a complete idiot when I was struggling through Origin a paragraph at a time. :)

Comment by deletedsoul on May 13, 2009 at 10:07am: Thanks everyone for the tips - the "Dummies" book sounds right on the money for me! :) That's why I love posting here - I always get input that is actually helpful and non-judgmental.

Comment by Chrys Stevenson on May 12, 2009 at 11:36pm: I'd recommend reading "The Top Ten Myths About Evolution" by
Cameron McPherson Smith and Charles Sullivan. It's a small, inexpensive book, incredibly easy to read, and gets right to the point. It explicitly deals with and intelligently but politiely refutes those things you will have been told about evolution as a Christian. You can even contact the author directly. He posts as Charles Evolution on myspace.

Comment by Mel on May 12, 2009 at 10:22pm: Oh yeah, don't go strait to Origin. I'm reading Darwin's stuff atm, and it's often severly edited to make it even readable, (Type faces have changed a lot and spelling) And his writing is very dense and difficult to read.

Comment by Tony Mendez on May 12, 2009 at 10:13pm: I would recommend the book Evolution for Dummies. I'm not trying to be ignorant; I actually have a copy of the book myself. It really breaks things down. Also, I would not start off with Darwin's On the Origin of Species. While he laid the foundation of evolutionary theory, quite a bit has changed since then, especially with the discovery of DNA. However, if you truly want to go through his book now, I would recommend getting the audio book version narrated by Richard Dawkins. Dawkins actually leaves out parts that are now known to be inaccurate and provides the correct information. A second book I would recommend is The Science of Evolution and the Myth of Creationism. It is a really good book written by Ardea Skybreak. I especially recommend it to former creationists such as myself. This book provides a great breakdown of evolution and also critiques creationism. This may be helpful in displaying the true nature of creationism and its falsity. Also, don’t be discouraged about your lack of education on the subject. I am certain the majority of students in the public school system learn little, if anything, about evolution. I am basically self taught on this topic. I hope this information was helpful.