Evolutionism and Creationism

*******

Evolutionism (the "-ism" marks it as a philosophy, not science) has had as many illogical and emotional proponents as the unscientific creationism. Since creationism is generally associated with some idea, concept, or type of God or, at least, guiding force, it has been widely held that it is in the realm of only religion. So, evolutionists say, it should never interact with, or blend with, scientific evolution.

This is "exclusivistic" thinking. (It excludes rather than includes.) But from a more inclusive perspective, there is no valid objective or scientific reason why the two perspectives could not be combined.

Despite their historical polarities as "opposites," creationism and evolutionism do converge, if viewed with an open mind. For this to happen, the mind must be open to both sides, both ideas.

I suggest the "evolution-design integrative theory," or "edit," as exactly this kind of fruitful compromise. It recognizes evolution as a process, but also openmindedly leaves room for the concept that it was a guided process. This does not necessarily involve either the Jewish or Christian God. Perhaps the guiding, organizing principle exists within the cell, or even the biomolecules. This is "God in matter," if you like.

This is not creationism, at least, not in its traditional historical definition. But it does help to explain the astonishing complexities of biostructure. The simple unguided "coming together" of the correct biomolecules has been likened to an explosion in a printing-shop producing a complete dictionary! If anything, the cell is even more complex than a dictionary!

That some mysterious "organizing force" or "patterning agent" brought together the right biomolecules does not imply intervention, invasive or intrusive maneuvers by a personal God. But it does explain very much, especially in the earliest phases of cellular evolution.

The mystical tradition has never believed in a "God out there." The mystics have thus been severely persecuted, by Islamic, Jewish, and Christian fundamentalists for "atheism," which, of course, misses the point entirely. Mystics believe in a very different kind of "God." They believe that God is the Power of Love, and this God is "interior," or "inside." Usually, this is interpreted, correctly, to mean that God is within the mind; but it could also imply "God" within the cell.

Perhaps, by extension, it could be said that even a "form of Love" attracts macromolecules or biomolecules together. This is as good as any explanation, and it is better than the argument of "randomness" (remember the dictionary). If evolutionists and creationists were not so stubbornly resistant to compromise, if each were not so exclusive, a compromise such as "edit" could be taught in schools, and we could finally solve this hundred-year-old problem.
*******