Has Creationism created a monster?

I would object to being called a ‘theistic evolutionist’ mostly because it would be a label that suggests that I know enough about science to have an opinion. I do not.

I object to being called a Creationist too, because although I believe in the God who created the heavens and the earth, and although I used to be happy to defend Creationism, I have been turned off of it for three reasons:

• Creationists trade on being the godly defenders of the Truth in the face of a global conspiracy to indoctrinate the world with bogus evolutionary science. When it became obvious to me that there was a massive lack of integrity in much of the Creationist camp, it seemed to me to fatally discredit their position.
• When mixing with unbelievers, even those of friendly disposition towards Christians, I noted the damage that creationism does to the perception of Christianity, not because Creationists don’t accept evolution, but because they don’t engage in commendable tactics.
• Studies in Genesis led me to believe that the science question was besides the point.

Now I don’t have a problem with Creationists. Some of my best friends are Creationists. If your conscience leads you to hold that science and scripture are best understood as preaching that the world is less than 10,000 years old, so be it. However, as people called to deal truthfully and to represent the gospel with integrity, the way in which you represent your beliefs matters far more than what you’ve decided to believe.

Why Doesn’t the Bible Explain Itself Better?

One of our design school projects was to draw a notable piece of the architecture of our city. An annoyingly meticulous friend of mine decided to do the very ornate city hall. When it was deadline day, she sheepishly pulled out a pencil drawing that was stunningly beautiful. The main entrance and dome of the hall were rendered in dramatic shading of almost photographic detail, but the austerity and pomposity of the colonialist landmark quickly broke down into quieter minimalistic line-work towards the edges, leaving the composition light and dynamic. It was an inspired balance of tense, intriguing texture and easy, sensitive calm. However, she didn’t realise this. The first thing that she did was to apologise for not finishing the whole thing. Mercifully, time constraints had prevented her from brutalising the harmony of her drawing with oppressive OCD shading from wall to wall.