Re: Conflicts and confrontation

It seems YEC organizations are the ones seeking to be careful about this
(doctrinal rejection of evolution -- or even heterodox variations on
creationism) and will probably be adding it to their official faith statements.
 Non-YECs are also guilty of it in a less formal sense. "Shunning" can go a
long way, even on a listserve like this one. I just finished reading "The
Creationists", and was fascinated to know how the ASA itself has been 'Shunner'
as well as 'Shunee' at various points of its history.

I am still trying to develop good and sensitive answers to YEC concerns about
where 'evolutionary philosophy' will lead a person. Science aside, it seems to
me their concerns remain well-founded. I've heard of a person's amazement at
the 'order and provision' of creation inspiring them to seek out faith or
enhancing their existing faith. But have any of you, because of your
evolutionary beliefs, found your faith enhanced -- built up? I think I remember
some of the "Perspectives" Essays authored by many on this list come closest to
expressing a positive faith-evolution association. But the fact seems to remain
that for most TEs their faith 'tolerates' and 'accomodates' evolution at best --
is weakened and even destoryed by it at worst. Numbers himself seems to be an
unfortunate example of this. Until Non-YECs are able to really address this
concern and give it good answer, I don't think YECs will be very sympathetic
with the ASA cause, no matter how scientifically compelling it is.

While I also dislike the exclusionary mindsets of various groups, Randy, I can
understand why they seek a community sense of 'purity'. Many creationist groups
have sought that holy grail of a 'unified front' to present to the world, only
to find themselves confounded by their own internal disagreements. Thanks for
picking up on this.

--merv

Quoting Randy Isaac <randyisaac@adelphia.net>:

> Merv,
> A couple of weeks ago you posted an excellent candid comment and question
> about YEC positions in the environment in which we work. You rightly pointed
> out that it's much easier to take a stand on a belief when such a stand has
> little or no influence on our lives, such as jeopardizing our jobs. All of
> us have read and admired the martyrs chronicled in works such as "The Book of
> Martyrs" but few of us have faced a choice between life or belief. ok, let's
> not take it that far. Just in the situation where we might have strong
> anti-YEC beliefs while working in a YEC organization, or the inverse.
>
> I was thinking about your note this past week while attending IBM's
> annual corporate technology recognition event. It occurred to me that the
> company's technology folks represented an incredible diversity of beliefs but
> it still managed to achieve an amazing degree of coherence and cooperation.
> Perhaps the secret was to focus on unity of that which the group needed while
> ensuring that the diversity in all other areas was respected and did not lead
> to confrontation. In other words, we all shared a commitment to the
> technology goals of the company while honoring the various religious and
> ethnic beliefs in the group. I had good conversations with my Muslim and
> Jewish friends and we talked about organizations comparable to ASA in their
> religions. The system worked because we kept our religious beliefs from
> becoming conflicts. They were not germane to the function of the group.
> However, had the differences been critical to the technology objectives of
> the group, the conflicts would have had to be resolved.
>
> The analogy is that in ASA and in our churches, the message we need to
> emphasize is the unity of that which makes us Christian, our belief in Christ
> and his salvation. Beyond that we ought to be respectful of each other and
> avoid confrontation. That ideal falls apart when a church or school decides
> to make a position such as YEC a fundamental part of a statement of faith.
> Then the core has shifted from a central focus on Christ to a focus on a
> specific set of ideas. At that point confrontation has been initiated and it
> would be very difficult to stay within that organization.
>
> Net: hard as it may be, we don't need to engage in a crusade to root out
> YECism. It isn't central to Christianity. Yet when it becomes a part of the
> organizational mandate or is presented to the body of Christ as a critical
> tenet of Christianity, we must be ready to stand for integrity in our
> beliefs.
>
> Randy
Received on Thu Jun 1 12:28:04 2006