Last Tuesday, an evolutionist and a creationist got together to talk about how they disagree on how the universe came into existence.
Haven’t we done this before?
Despite how tired this particular debate is, the meeting was watched by more than three million people and received a great deal of media attention. Bill Nye, the quirky scientist that ’90s kids grew up watching on PBS, engaged in a formal debate with Ken Ham, a young-Earth creationist and evangelist. The debate streamed live on YouTube for the public to watch, comment on, tweet about, etc.
However, all I could think to myself was, “Who cares?”
I am religious. Catholic, to be exact. I attended a private Southern Baptist school from preschool through 12th grade, and was taught a literal interpretation of the Book of Genesis. The only thing I was ever taught about evolution is that it is wrong, and I will be the first one to admit that I am willfully ignorant on the subject.
Because, for me, faith is not dictated on whether or not the earth is 6,000 or six billion years old.
Despite all its faults, Catholicism is fairly progressive in certain areas. It is the only Christian denomination that reconciles science with faith, with Pope John Paul II recognizing that there is no conflict between evolution and the doctrine of faith. But there are plenty of Christians who accept evolution as a fact while maintaining their faith.
And, much to my surprise, this was a point Nye made during his presentation.
Though I did not watch the entire debate, I watched enough to see both sides make a considerable case. As an objective observer, I think Nye was far more convincing. It is difficult for me to listen to someone whose answer cannot be expanded on. For Ham, that answer was consistently, “It says so in the Bible.” How are you going to convince people your point of view is correct when your primary evidence comes from a book they don’t believe has any scientific value?
You can’t. You won’t. Ham didn’t.
But I suppose neither Nye nor Ham were trying to convince someone like me. My mind is fixated on the far more spiritual side of religion; my soul and my personal relationship with God are the most important aspects of faith to me. The age of the Earth is near the bottom of the list, coming in between, “I wonder if I’ll get to chill with lions in Heaven” and “Why didn’t God want people to eat shrimp back in the day?”
I try to avoid apathy as much as possible, but when it comes to this subject, I can’t help but feel it. Evolutionists might call me ignorant, and creationists might tell me that I’m not actually a Christian because I don’t interpret Genesis exactly as they do.
But I guess it’s a good thing that I don’t really care what either side thinks about me.
So the next time this debate happens, I know I’ll have the exact same reaction. But beyond that, I’ll wonder why we’re devoting so much time and energy into debating a topic there will likely never be a definitive answer to. Until someone can give me an answer to that question, my response to things like this will remain the same. Samantha Ouimette is a junior majoring in mass communications and community relations coordinator. She can be reached at ouimette@mail.usf.edu or on Twitter @samanthasports.
