I was thinking about what to write for this column as I made my rounds through the usual tests and appointments at a cancer hospital.  I have melanoma, very early stage 1.  This year is five years down the road from the first surgery and if I am still cancer-free, that is considered a “cure.”  I graduate from patient to survivor.   It is, at least, progress.  

 

We had some extra time and we visited the Museum of Science and Natural History in downtown Houston.  One of the main exhibits was a tour of all the geolgoical and biological epochs of our planet’s history going from the earliest prokaryotic (without a defined nucleus) cells three billion years ago, all the way to modern homo sapiens.  I especially appreciated the displays showing how the continents were arrayed on the planet (they have moved around a lot over 3 billion years), with atmospheric changes, with the biological record and the geological record.  Perhaps ironically, the exhibit was funded by Exxon Mobil Oil Company. 

 

There were lots of school groups and individual families touring the exhibit.  The dinosaura and ice-age mastadon skeletons and displays were fantastic.  Towards the end of the exhibit, the progressive evolution of hominids (including humans) was displayed as part of the developments of the “Tertiary Period.”  The display showed a convincing set of skulls, archaeological finds, tools, genetic evidence and more.  A woman was there with her three children who were all keenly interested in the progression from early apes (australo pithecus) to modern humans (homo sapiens).  As the children stared, the mother furiously grabbed the youngest child by the arm while stating her religious beliefs loudly enough for everyone to hear, “No, we didn’t come from monkey-people.  We came from God.”  

 

Apparently she had no problem with an exhibit that was shot through with Darwinian evolution, but for her somehow, humans just popped up as a peculiar exception to billions of years of biology.  “We came from God” according to her position.  I am not writing this to debate the woman’s ignorance or brilliance but to raise a broader issue of the distinctions between dogma, doctrine and faith.  

 

Dogma = “a set of principles laid down by an authority as incontrovertibly true, i.e. the Christian doctrine of the Trinity” Doctrine = “a belief or set of beliefs held and taught by a church, political party, or other group, i.e. “the doctrine of predestination” Faith = (Greek, “pistis”) “strong belief in God or in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.”  

 

Sadly, the English definitition for faith is recursive in that it includes the word being defined in the definition.  The word in the bible for “believe” is “pistueo,” the verb form of “pistis,” i.e. “faith” and “to have faith.”   

 

My sister and I have had great fun laughing about the “monkey people” encounter.  But at the same time, I am inclined more and more to let people have their dogma.  If you want to believe in a god in the form of an elephant who removes obstacles from your life (Ganeesha) or if you want to believe in a young man who was the son of God (Jesus), go for it.  Neither dogma established by an authority, doctrine established by authorities over a longer period of time, nor personal belief really impede or intersect with the findings of science.  

 

The Episcopal Church nationally and internationally is being held up as a pariah because we have bishops and clergy who publicly question some of the central doctrines of our collective faith.  This is truly unfortunate as it exposes the uglier trends of intolerance, intransigence and bigotry masquerading as “faith.”  Don’t you think that the creator of the universe could withstand some tough questions by a few puny humans?  Can you imagine that God wants us to ask tough, uncomfortable quesitons to help us get to a deeper faith?  Put differently, does God really desire a bunch of mindless, unthinking humans who simply regurgitate all the stuff their local pastor tells them?   

 

To this rambling rumination at 5:00 AM, I leave you with two central questions when dealing with your faith and a scientific understanding.  What are the essential things about your faith that help you be more loving, accepting and helpful for others?  Can your faith and science both be true at the same time?