continued…

So, even if there is some “random” genetic process at work, it should be logically explained and scientifically proven rather than relied upon like a shaman’s rags. Religious people are also guilty of this type of Error In Critical Thinking. And usually with similar results. Consider the following dialogue I have invented as a little one-scene play to illustrate my point:

Witchdoctor: It rains because the gods are sad and crying.

Tribe member: Why are the gods sad?

Witchdoctor: Because you haven’t brought me a sacrifice to give to them.

(A scientist happens to be walking by and interjects himself into the conversation.)

Scientist: It rains because water on the surface of the planet rises through heat induction gathered around small particles and condenses to form clouds, which then drop the water back down on the planet in various forms of precipitation.

Witchdoctor: And that is the way the gods choose to shed their tears. Now where is my sacrificial goat?

Tribe member: (growing suspicious of the Witchdoctor’s intentions) Why should I give you a goat if it is water and clouds and not the gods causing rain to fall?

Witchdoctor: You are not listening. The gods are controlling the clouds.

Scientist: No, the clouds are controlled by the sun’s heat, condensation, water vapor and atmospheric conditions.

Witchdoctor: (growing annoyed) Then the gods are controlling the condensation, water vapor and atmospheric conditions.

Scientist: No. The laws of physics determine these things.

Witchdoctor: (very annoyed and hungry) Then the gods are controlling the laws of physics. Now where is my goat?

It has already been pointed out by a million other people that the supernatural gets pushed back a little further whenever science makes a breakthrough. And there is a historic list several miles long (and an ocean of blood deep) to prove it. What I am interested in at this point is the psychology involved.

More Seriously Religiously Inclined people are convinced that the whole of Science is a disgusting sham. They will look you in the eye and tell you with a straight face that about four thousand years ago their God created the heavens and the world in six days and this includes every species of animal, vegetable and mineral. Their God is a very sneaky practical joker having planted all those dinosaur fossils in the earth and fixed the radiation emission rate of certain atoms to make them appear to be millions or more years old. Then, as His Supreme Jest, He planted some fossils that looked suspiciously like an early humanoid ancestor. I suppose that since the Word of God (or at least the Bible) is irrefutable, the Almighty Punch Line to this Holy Joke is if you are mislead by any Sacredly, intentionally planted, but still false, physical evidence contrary to the Bible you will be headed for the Lake of Fire and Eternal Damnation. These are the same people that end their conversational sentences alternately with phrases like: “…and burn in Hell, forever!” and “…because God is Love, Amen!” and “…so, can I borrow twenty dollars?”