Do me a favor - don't be on my side

A few years ago, a student was doing the morning announcements. It was April, and there was some activities going on for Earth Day. He made a mention about global warming, and how we can tell it's happening because the weather was getting warmer.

I slapped my forehead.

I've written on global warming before but not quite with the same passion and certainty that I have on the evolution/ID debate. I believe that I said last time that I was about 85% certain that what was being said was accurate. A friend of mine talked me down to about 75% though. It's not so much that I deny that things are getting warmer, or that humanity is having an impact on it. I think what's still up for a bit of debate is just how much we're impacting it and exactly what the consequences will be. Still, people who are just completely dismissive of it seem to be on the wrong side of the current War on Reality.

Anyway, back to this kid. So, I'm on board with humans trying to limit their carbon emissions. Still, to make a comment like that? I don't profess to be an expert, but anybody who doesn't seem to realize that it ALWAYS warms up in April knows less than I do. I'll cut him some slack though. After all, I'd be pretty embarrassed if you listed all the the stuff that I used to say in high school. Still, there are plenty of adults who are saying some downright ignorant things on both sides of that issue.

Sometimes I just wish that certain people weren't on my side. One thing that comes up sometimes is when atheists talk about evolution as a way to disprove the existence of God. Now, while I don't believe in God either, and the fact of evolution contributes to my lack of belief, evolution hardly disproves the existence of a supreme being. After all, I'm fairly certain that most people who do accept evolution also believe in God. The only thing it does prove is that you can't take the book of Genesis literally and that you can't read The Bible as a science book. But you don't need evolution for that - a heliocentric solar system takes care of that as well. (As does the fact that there's no link between hair length and superhuman strength.)

This is why I won't ever get a "Darwin fish" for my car, and why I think that putting one on your car is lame. Darwin is not the opposite of Jesus, and his observations weren't intended to be.

I also get frustrated at some atheists who don't seem to think that there's any value in having some basic religious literacy. I mean, you should at least have some idea what it is that you're not believing. You don't have to be an expert - but learn a few things, okay? I have about as much respect for those sorts of atheists as I do Christians who can't name an Old Testament prophet (and according to the book, Religious Literacy, there are quite a few of them!)

So, please, if you're going to be on my side, get your facts straight. I don't want you to make me look bad. Take off that damn Darwin fish already. Replace it with a Flying Spaghetti Monster plaque instead, if you gotta have something.