I think by nature, scientists are skeptical of anything spiritual. And I think that's as it should be, because I think the good scientists are probably skeptical of everything. And wouldn't it be lazy of a scientist, faced with a tough question, to just shrug it off and attribute it to voodoo or ghosts? Scientists have to investigate and observe and record and theorize all the time, and their whole business is dealing just with what they see. So it's no wonder that a scientist would have trouble believing that God created the universe out of nothing.

A lot of Biblical literalists believe that God did create the universe out of nothing, and that the creation account in Genesis is literally true. They believe it so vehemently that to suggest otherwise is a direct attack on their faith, their freedom to believe whatever they want, and the very foundation of culture and civilization.

There's a lot of controversy over this one. There's no real debate going on, but there is a lot of making fun of each other. Neither side takes the other seriously, or gives much credence (or even respect) to the other's point of view.

One time I was reading this little sidebar article in the newspaper, and it said that recent discoveries have suggested that life on earth is a billion years older than what scientists previously thought: Rather than being three billion years, it was probably closer to four billion. And I kept thinking, "Damn, they can be off by a billion years, and no one blinks." And then a few years later, I read an article that said Neanderthal Man was probably not a link in the human evolutionary chain, but an offshoot that died off. And when I looked at all the pictures of cavemen walking across the page and evolving into a modern man, it seemed like Neanderthal Man was a pretty significant link, and now we're just supposed to erase it and pretend it was never there? Sometimes it seems like we're supposed to put a lot of stock in a theory that changes all the time.

On the other hand, while I wouldn't classify every Creationist as insane, it sure does seem like all of the craziest people involved in the debate are on their side.

On the other hand, I don't know anything about it. I'm not a geologist or a biologist or an anthropologist, or any kind of ologist. And I think it's insanely arrogant when people say a prayer in the back of a church and think that gives them advanced degrees in all these fields.

And what's more, I don't really care. And what's more, I don't know why anyone even does. Why is one person believing in one thing, and teaching that thing to other people, a threat to other people believing in something different, even if that something different is ridiculous and stupid and insane? It's not hurting anyone. If someone wants to home-school their kids and teach them that Jesus rode dinosaurs, so what? If public schools want to teach that all life everywhere came from the snot-like stuff that washes up on the beach, who is that hurting? Kids are really resilient, and they could probably process both theories as possibilities. And then make up their own minds.

I guess I just don't see why it matters so much where we came from or how we got here. We're here. How we treat each other, how we live our lives, to me, that's what matters.