The books of Faith and Science

I'm rather opinionated when it comes to matters of politics and religion, but I usually keep my opinions to myself.

However.

This is my soapbox, so upon it I shall box my soap.

Now in the interests of full disclosure I am a practicing Roman Catholic, though I do not always agree with what the Vatican says I'm supposed to believe. I have a very scientific outlook on things, so I'm always looking at things in the most logical sense.

From time to time I plan to post my opinions on various religious topics on this blog just to have them written down somewhere. I don't really ever expect my blog to be read the world over, but I've always said I need to get these things written down.

So.

The world seems to operate in extremes. Left or Right, Black or White. There never seems to be any happy middle ground. And that's how I feel about religion and science. Why can't there be a happy middle ground? Why does it have to be just creationism OR evolutionism?

If God created the universe, He created all the rules that govern it too. That's the way it is. If, for the sake of argument we say that God exists and He created the universe, then He not only made everything in it but how it all interracts with each other.

So then why, if God went through the trouble of creating the universe, wouldn't He operate within the rules and boundries he set up for it?

Creationism is the belief that God snapped his fingers and life was created on the earth.

Evolutionism is the belief that life evolved from the most simple strands of amino acids, eventually coalescing into life that become more and more complex.

Well why couldn't God start that whole process? Think about it. There really isn't much difference between the ideas of creating life from dust and primordial soup coalescing. They're both lifeless matter begetting life.

And to illustrate why I believe God works through the rules of the universe, here's a little analogy: When you buy a fish tank, what do you do?

The novice throws rocks, plants, water and fish all in at the same time and hopes for the best. He instantly creates a world and expects all the different factors within that world to successfully interact in the most positive way.

The smart fish owner dumps in the rocks and the water and maybe the plants or better yet plant bulbs, and lets the tank sit. The tank gathers healthy bacteria, chlorine and other chemicals not taken care of when the tank was started either evaporate from the water's surface, are filtered out by the filter, or settle to the bottom beneath the gravel. He changes the filter carbon frequently, and adds things like extra aerators and tank heaters to help regulate the environment, and will probably leave the tank to sit and rest like this for a week or two. Then and only then does the smart fish owner go and put the fish in the tank.

I believe God worked the same way with the earth, too. Before he could place man on earth, he had to have the environment to support him. In order to have the environment to support him, the earth needed plants and animals. But animals need healthy plants and cool temperatures (compared to the rest of the universe), and healthy plants need clean water and rich soil. All of that comes from the creation of the Earth and millions of years of cooling and settling.

Of course the sun is needed for the Earth as well, but you can't just throw the Earth rotating around the sun. If it's too close to one planet or another, bad things would happen. And the Earth needs to be the right distance away from the Sun lest we cook or freeze. Scientists say Jupiter and the other gas giants of the universe, with their high gravity, act as filters for our solar system, sucking in potential problems that could come Earth's way. Pretty convenient if you ask me.

Of course the sun is rotating, too, traveling around the universe in the Milky Way.

The point of all my rambling is that we live in the ABSOLUTE PERFECT environment for our species. For all the billions and trillions of factors that could go wrong, everything here went right. And that's why I believe things weren't just snapped into being. I believe God molded the universe slowly so that life could exist in a stable environment.

Besides, what's more impressive - a god that snaps his fingers to get stuff done, or a god that takes his time and does things right the first time?

The book of Faith and the book of Science have the same author - so why would they contradict each other?