I Must be a Gavity-ist
It is a pet peeve of mine when fellow people of reason call themselves, “Evolutionists.” I get it when fundy Christians call people that, but when people of reason use that label on themselves, I get annoyed. They should fucking know better!
Creationists use that label on others because they are trying to lower the science of evolution to that of religion (which they seem to realize is actually quite poor). Their claim is that evolution is a mere belief just like their mere belief in God, Jesus, etc. All beliefs are equal and therefore their belief in the literal Genesis is just as valid as the scientific view in evolution.
The thing is that all beliefs are not equal. Some beliefs have evidence and some don’t. Evolution has mountains of evidence while creationism has zero. This is where the creationist usually points out that evolution is “just a theory.” To the creationist, the terms “theory” and “belief” are interchangeable. This is why I like to creationists that I am a gravity-ist. I believe in the theory of gravity.
The thing about labels is that while one can have more than one belief, the label one uses generally represents the strongest belief and one which dominates ones life the most. So by calling someone an “evolutionist” they are making a judgment that evolution is the strongest belief that a particular person of reason has and that it is the belief which dominates our life.
As a person of reason, all scientific theories of such weight play equal dominance in my life. I hold the theory of evolution in the same level of certainty that I hold the theory of gravity. Both play equal dominance in my life although a case could be made that my “belief” in gravity actually places more dominance in my life. So if creationists are going to label be based on the scientific theories that I believe in, than it would make more sense to call me a gravity-ist than an evolutionist… although, creationists aren’t trying to disprove gravity… yet.
Filed under: culture war, education, evolution, Religion, science