Don't Be a Monkey's Uncle!
-Michael L. Bachmeyer
The other day, a college anthropology student approached me with some questions about evolution and creation. On the lighter side, does being a monkey's uncle reflect upon you, or on your brother's kids? At any rate his questions got me thinking.
What is at issue in evolution vs. creationism?
Some would frame the discussion of this issue simply around the origins question. Was there a spill from a soupy caldron or was there a Big Bang? Was it overactive amebas, monkeys or is there an Intelligent mind? Serious consideration ought to be given to this enduring question. There is more here to wrap your mind around than philosophical wrangle. At the core of the evolution vs. creation issue is the identity of man. It is the defining basis for identity and the intrinsic value of mankind.
The origins question is as old as mankind. It has been pounding the table of reason for legitimate consideration and for a basis in reasonable fact. The ability to even ask the question is a unique ability afforded only to man.
How did I get here? What was the driving force, the defining moment that gave birth to mankind? Is there a prime moving being? In other words, is there a god, and if so, who is He?
Let us frame the question of origins by pairing it correctly upon man's identity.
We can confidently state that all behavior is the result or end product of identity. Conversely, behavior indicates many things. Not only does it reveal what a man is capable of doing, it also indicates how he sees himself.
If we consider man to be a fantastic accident of minerals and molecules, then chance becomes the fathering factor. If mindless forces accidentally and haphazardly formed man into its indefinable image then it is easy to understand how life becomes mindless, meaningless and muted.
Identity is the key to purposeful living. Identity can be understood to be the concept or image of self that one holds to deeply. As a man thinks in his heart so is he. Identity is the chief component which drives behavior. It has long been accepted that identity is a key factor influencing behavior.
Throughout history society has determined to control violent and anti-social behavior through penalties and prisons. The secular view is to affect change by external or environmental means. Change the behavior, you change the person. Modify behavior, modify the person. Redirect the behavior, change the person.
Attempts at behavior modification have proven comparatively slight benefit. Short term successes of reconditioning therapy do not bring lasting results. Reconditioning seeks to affect a redirection in the thinking process. Limited psychology seeks to redirect the human condition with concrete walls, barbed wired, confinement and redirected thought patterns. While these may be practical to some extent, they do not touch the core of the issue. These methods have not brought about any significant change to the human condition.
Modern society is slowly coming to an inevitable realization. The heart of the problem of the human condition is not merely behavioral is not social. These are only symptoms. Rather, the heart of the problem is the heart of the man-his identity. Within the heart you will find the core of identity.
Can one honestly accept that humanity is the product of random alignment of improbable elements and conditions? To believe that leaves mankind as nothing more than a bundle of meaningless minerals with no greater purpose. Survival becomes the ultimate end. To accept that man somehow climbed out from a soupy swamp is to deny him of his highest self and greatest asset- an identity like that of his intelligent and imaginative Creator.
To accept that mankind is the result of a purposeful act of an Intelligent, Imaginative, and all powerful Creator is the greatest key to opening man's great purpose.
In the creation account we see a concept develop. Repeatedly, with each creative stage the Creator gave the creation the ability to reproduce its own kind (Genesis 1). In otherwords, blue gill sunfish produced blue gill sunfish. Dolphins produced dolphins. Sea gulls produced sea gulls. Monkeys produced monkeys. Cattle produced cattle. The things created were expressing the will of and nature of the Creator. The ultimate stage of creation took place when the Creator formed man. The Genesis record tells us, God created man in his own image, after his own likeness. He produced after his kind! Mankind is the crown of all that is created. He possesses from his Creator the resources of imagination, creativity and power of choice.
To deny man his true identity through asserting evolutionary theory or some other erroneous concept of origin is most damaging. It is the greatest form of degradation. It strips away who he truly is. Diminishes what he may become and limits what he may accomplish.
To believe the account of intelligent creation we begin to see ourself correctly. We then can respond meaningfully to both your loving Creator and to the rest of creation. We were designed by Intelligence with intelligence. We were placed here by Purpose for a purpose. That image reveals our great value and worth. That identity will produce meaningful realities.
Let the monkeys produce monkeys. We humans have much better things to be producing.