It's Time for Religion to Embrace Reason

During the first Republican Presidential Debate last year, a simple question was posed to the ten candidates, “Does anybody [on stage] not believe in evolution?” Surprisingly, three of the candidates raised their hands. This brief episode illustrated a disturbing trend in our nation: The belief that faith is more important than reason. “I don’t care what the science says, The Bible says this,” has become a credo, almost an affirmation of faith, among certain religious groups.

NIU is no exception when it comes to this type of irrational thought. I have run into numerous people on campus that have still not accepted evolution. One of the keys to intellectual advancement in college, as well as life, is an ability to objectively evaluate evidence and arrive at conclusions consistent with that evidence. We must also be willing to challenge previously held beliefs in light of new evidence. Fundamentalist religion impedes these basic principles. It’s time that strongly religious people realized this. Much of what religious texts say is allegorical, so they should not be taken literally. There are some important lessons that can be learned from The Bible, but the origin of species isn't one of them. Reading The Bible and believing that the Genesis creation stories are true is akin to reading Animal Farm and believing that animals can talk; it completely misses the point.

If there is a God, and this God gave us the ability to use science, the greatest tool we have for understanding the world, then why wouldn’t He want us to accept its findings? Why would He want us to rely instead on superstition and emotion? He wouldn’t.

Regardless of what flavor of religion you follow, reason is not something to be feared. You should turn to religion if you feel it answers the question of why we are here, but we should all rely on reason to find out how we got here. Evolution is a truth, and there are many more truths that can be discovered if you just liberate your mind from the chains of extreme religion.