Opinion

The science of devolution

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

I spent a lot of time in the Gospels this week. Which is unusual only because in my own study time, I'm in Ezekiel.

But, I worked with the advertising staff on a project which required Gospel narratives and in preparing the Holy Week round-up story, there I was again, traversing the route from the triumphal entry to the empty tomb, four times over.

What an astounding last week that was. The crowd sang praises one day, then curses filled the air. The children, upon whose heads the Lord had laid blessings, no doubt danced around the worshippers, but hopefully were shuttered inside when the crowds turned ugly, when the chants went from honor to horror with little warning.

Jesus knew -- of course he knew -- that his time was short, for in the perusal of the four Gospels I discovered some of the deepest truths about him, his kingdom, his purpose and our Father than can be found in all the rest of Scripture.

The parables, the prayers, the preparation of his disciples for what was soon to come, were all condensed into that final week.

Sometimes, I feel the same sense of urgency. When I look at the continuing disintegration of societal mores and the seemingly total lack of restraint demonstrated in the recent violence in our nation, I wonder how much longer can mankind last? How much more is God willing to allow?

A lot has been said in recent decades about the evolution of mankind, whether from the apes or from the Neanderthal man, who, according to popular comic strips through the years, simply clubbed his dinner, and his mate, to satiate natural desires.

From the look of things, not only do they have the science wrong, they may have it backwards.

In looking at the Great Pyramids, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, the Sphinx, the Taj Mahal or any of the other architectural wonders of the world, one can only wonder at the intellect behind such engineering wonders.

Many of the world religions also have stood the test of time, with the insights offered by their holy men still finding adherents today. Of course, Christianity is among those great religions, and Jesus is still changing the world, one heart at a time. But I can't help but wonder at the deep intellect that formulated so many gods in the absence of their knowledge of the one true God.

Some 233 years or more ago, this continent birthed some of the most brilliant statesmen, men of integrity, men who spoke of freedoms granted to all by the Creator who then stood in the battle lines to defend each man's right to those freedoms.

But where are we now? Civilization seems to have taken a serious U-turn. Oh, we still have great minds, aided no doubt by microchips, and there are some who could attain to statemenship, if only we could get them to pay their income tax. But, by and large, we seem to be losing ground, both intellectually and at baser levels. In the absence of absolutes, in this day and age of "anything goes" and "if it feels good, do it," we discover to our utter dismay that for some, anything goes means "everyone goes." Case in point, the father who, distraught at his wife's departure, decided to take all five of the couple's children to the grave with him. Or the worker in New York, who upon losing his job, decided to take former co-workers to the grave with him. Another domestic dispute overflowed into a nursing home setting where only the heroic actions of the town cop stopped more bloodshed. The shooter in this case seemed completely unconcerned about who he took with him, killing the aged and infirm, but only after instilling great fear and terror.

Devolution. It has even happened to the church. Once the bastion of marriage, family values and a sanctuary for the world-weary among us, in America it is now nearly indistinguishable from society at-large. Divorce, adultery, co-habitation and premarital sex are as rampant inside the doors as out. Believers do not want to offend anyone, so that which was once evil is now, if not good, is at least tolerable.

Don't speak of sin or death or hell, for heaven's sake, people might not want to come back. Numbers matter more. Why then, do you suppose, that for the first time in our nation's history, Christianity is no longer the "default" faith?

For 33 years, Jesus walked among us. He suffered the same indignities of infancy and childhood that every child endures, all while carrying deep inside of himself the knowledge of that final week. For three years, he surrounded himself with close friends, contemporaries who saw in him and through him the awesome power of God, to heal, to provide, to rescue.

Then came that final week. Time was up. Read through the narratives again. See again the urgency in Jesus' actions. Understand again the why of the cross and the urgency of our response, or lack of response, to it.

"I tell you, now is the time of God's favor, now is the day of salvation." 2 Corinthians 6:2 (NIV)

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  • Setting aside all of the religeous talk, I completely agree with your devolution theory. I dont mean to offend by setting aside religeous beleifs, however, not everyone practices the same religeon, and they believe in thier religeon just as much as you and I. But the devolution theory involves everyone from all religeous backgrounds.

    One of the biggest reasons for divorce has always been money. Lets face it, having a home and raising a family is not easy. At one time, everything was set up so that a single income, if managed correctly, could support a family. One parent could be the bread winner, and the other could take care of the home and nurture the children. That is very rarely the case anymore, the cost of a home,car,insurance,healthcare,utilities,educational expenses,food,and all of the other expenses associated with raising a family can rarely be paid on 1 income. I think this causes a lot of trouble in a marriage and in a family.

    I have also noticed that the more often the lines of taboo are crossed, the more accepted the taboo becomes. Heck, it doesnt take much time for somebody to find a way to make money from it, support it, and then exploit it. Teenage pregnancy, drug/alcohol abuse, divorce, all if these things used to carry harsh cosequences that would at least provoke a little thought before it happened. Now it seems like teenage pregnancy is commonplace, drug/alcohol abuse is the norm, and marriage is disposable. I have actually seen this type of behavior rewarded in many ways.

    It sounds to me like we need to get a little bit "old school", and get very harsh on all of this crap that is poisoning our communities.

    -- Posted by seentoomuch on Wed, Apr 8, 2009, at 1:43 PM
  • Devolution is formed in the heart of selfishness, to the base point of autonomous, animal, instinct.

    Without Faith based guidelines, however, there may well have been no social system high enough to devolve from; soon, to be rectified by the 'in'volvment of the God we have devolved from.

    In Messiah, His Shalom, and overhaul. Arley

    -- Posted by Navyblue on Wed, Apr 8, 2009, at 4:31 PM
  • Very, very well-written, Dawn. Thanks so much for this column.

    Have a joyous Resurrection Sunday!

    -- Posted by kris5h on Wed, Apr 8, 2009, at 10:15 PM
  • "for the first time in our nation's history, Christianity is no longer the "default" faith"

    Thank goodness! Maybe it will fade even more into oblivion and we won't have to be subjected to tired rants about heaven, hell and 'morality' in the local newspaper. Another thing, should you even be preaching, even in text?

    Another fine Corinthians verse:

    1 Corinthians 14:34 - 35*

    34. Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but [they are commanded] to be under obedience, as also saith the law.

    35 And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their husbands at home: for it is a shame for women to speak in the church.

    -- Posted by CastleInTheAir on Sat, Apr 11, 2009, at 4:44 PM
  • *

    I appreciate your thoughts Dawn. Thanks

    -- Posted by sameldridge on Sun, Apr 12, 2009, at 4:39 PM
  • @CastleInTheAir

    You'll forgive me for not being skilled in debate or with enough time to do more than link you to this: http://www.bibletruths.net/Archives/BTAR256.htm

    I might add more input later, though I question whether you will come back to the topic. It'd be nice if you'd show more interest in the Bible other than just cherry-picking verses in order to belittle people. There's a lot more to the story in the chapter itself, let alone the whole book.

    -- Posted by bjo on Mon, Apr 13, 2009, at 12:03 PM
  • I'm very familiar with the Bible, thanks. As for your link; the tired arguments of "Man wrote it, so some of it was mistranslated/misunderstood." hold absolutely no water to someone with common sense. The Bible is true or it is not. It is the word of God or it is not.I 'cherry-picked' some verses as the majority of religious leaders have over the years to suit whatever I want it to. Arguments like "Oh, but this story is meant to be symbolic and this verse cancels out this verse" mean nothing. I agree with you that most people have not sat down and actually read or studied the bible. If they did they would be horrified. Genocide, murder, rape, incest. It's been used to justify slavery, The Salem Witch trials, The Crusades, Sexism (even though religious leaders are trying to backpeddle on this with weak excuses like your link contained and much, much more. Who knows what evil deeds the Bible will be used to justify next?

    -Peace-

    -- Posted by CastleInTheAir on Mon, Apr 13, 2009, at 6:17 PM
  • I'm looking forward to the day when it becomes clear that the critics of evolution actually understand the concept, that man did not evolve either from the apes or from Neanderthals, but that man and ape both evolved and split off from from a common ancestor and Neanderthals were merely another twig albeit a dead-ended twig on the bush that is nature and its creatures either another species of humans- Homo Neanderthalensis or a subspecies Homo Sapiens Neanderthalensis.I'd think it would lend further credibility to the arguments of anyone invoking evolution in whatever form, for whatever purpose if it appeared they actually understood what they were talking about.

    -- Posted by davis_x_machina on Tue, Apr 14, 2009, at 11:26 AM
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