Thursday Thoughts - November 16

Fundamentalist evangelicalism in its refusal to rethink theology in light of evolution, especially when it comes to Genesis 1-3, reminds me of La peste by Camus. In this book, Dr Rieux, struggling to find out why so many are dying, finally receives the grim confirmation that a plague should be acknowledged and the city closed down. Intriguingly, this type of proclamation and act of closure, though often unconfessed, is happening in a myriad of conservative church contexts that simply refuse to look carefully at the issues, which in turn perpetuates the spread of plague. Pretending evolution doesn’t exist and hiding its effects is having devastating results. At the moment, a sensitive fundamentalist might admit, the prognosis is not good. Many, I fear, will die on the cross of ignorance or arrogance before a cure is accepted. Hope for the future, in this context, is connected to being willing to explore new options that carry with them the vaccine of credibility.