A Message from the "religious left."

February 11th, 2007 will mark the second annual "Evolution Sunday" observation. It's a nationwide event, with active participants in all 50 states. And I think it's pretty cool!

It was originally conceived and organized by a college professor. He knew a lot of very intelligent people from academia, including some serious scientists, who embraced and lived by sincere religious beliefs. These people also accepted and believed in Darwin's theory of evolution.

Well, they were all getting a little tired of hearing the "religious right" proclaim "what Christians believe," and making demands that their ultra conservative views should be taught in our schools.

You see, these "religious conservatives" want to believe (and require that everyone else believe) in a literal interpretation of the bible. So, if the bible says God created the heaven and earth and all that goes with it in seven days (actually, 6 days because on the seventh he rested) then they say that means 7, 24-hour days, from start to finish!

Now, some of us know that what we read today as "the bible" is actually a collection of teachings and stories handed down over several centuries, and then written in various languages (some of which are no longer spoken anywhere) and then massaged by a number of religious leaders over the years, and eventually published in one of the dozen or so current English language versions which our "religious" friends hold so dear.

Anyone who's played the kid's game where you start at one point in a circle and whisper something to the person next to you, and they whisper it to the next person, and so on around the whole circle, knows that what comes out at the end is never the same as what began the game. And anyone who knows anything about translating things from one language to another, even among modern spoken languages, knows that the translation always depends in part on the translator's interpretation of what is meant.

So, most of the rest of us believe that the bible is meant to be a spiritual and behavioral guide. Many of it's stories are symbolic-- written to make a point. And while we may believe that much of it has been reasonably well maintained through all the years and translations, we certainly don't think it should all be taken literally!

Now, back to Evolution Sunday-- The event is celebrated around Charles Darwin's birthday. Through press releases, speeches, and sermons in churches around the nation, it makes the point that many very well-educated and devoutly religious people believe you can accept the voluminous scientific evidence supporting Darwin's theory, and also accept the belief that all this was set in motion, and probably guided along the way, by a Greater Power!

Of course, you can't take the seven-day-creation story to mean literally seven 24-hour days.

But that doesn't bother us. What does, is the notion that some small group of religious militants wants their personal interpretation of the bible to be taught in our schools as "science."

It isn't science! And, we don't want our children to be told that it is!

At least, that's what I think... Ron Heilner

Jus' Fascinatin'

People never cease to amaze me.

See, I was raised in a good church-going Methodist family, which was kind of unusual in a neighborhood where almost all my friends were Jewish. In college I studied a little about world religions, just out of curiosity, then eventually wound up marrying a nice Catholic girl. When she was 40, she died. No illness, no symptoms, no warning-- she just died. I loved her, and I took it real hard. For a variety of reasons, I sort of gave up on religions and churchs and, for that matter, on God!

Now as time goes by, I soften my view a little bit, but I discover there are actually quite a few people who don't want to follow any of the major religions. However, a lot of them do feel like there's a pretty mean, evil world out there and they'd like to try to changing it-- or, at least create a little force field around themselves and their families. So, I decide to establish sort of a church of my own, on the internet. The premise is simple: All the world's religions share a lot of the same basic principles and, just because you don't like their clanish ways, doesn't mean you can't believe in things like "do unto others..." or "thou shall not kill," or helping the less fortunate! So why not live by some rules, but without the dogma and politics?!

So I start my little church (www.1stwebchurch.org) and you don't have to buy anything, or give me your email address, or make any donations. It just offers a lot of ideas and things you can do to make your life, and those around you, a little better in the spiritual sense. You can be a part of a simple concept: Do what you know is good and right, and maybe those who see you doing it will be motivated to join in. And, if they do, maybe the world around you will start to get just a little bit better. And even if it doesn't, at least you'll know you did your part! I don't care if you ever wind up joining a traditional church or not. That's up to each of you.

The web church has been running for about 3 years now, and I've gotten some great emails from visitors. But, guess what-- I get an equal number of messages from "born again, truly religious" people who just beat me up every which way (figuratively, of course) because I don't demand that everyone believe what they believe!

I don't know. It seems a little un-Christian, to me...

At least, that's what I think... Ron Heilner