Traditionally, people of faith tend to be a little more questioning of Darwinism than non-believers. Darwinism, simply put, is the idea of evolution through the survival of the fittest. Change from one species to another probably gets the most attention, but change within species (also Darwinism) is measurable and verifiable.
But let's get back to the whole "survival of the fittest" and people of faith, and let's pick on specifically evangelical Christians. Many new creationists (they believe that the world is 6,000 years old) are appalled at Darwinism and will tell you there has not been enough time for all the species to evolve. Many old world creationists, often argue the same thing, but will sometimes concede Darwinism evolution does occur within species.
Yet, over the last two years, I have noticed something rather interesting. Many people of faith, including evangelical Christians, have become Darwinist in their beliefs with Covid-19. What do I mean by that? Tell me if you have heard some of these terms in your church: "There is risk in living"; "We are all going to get it anyway"; "Masks and quarantining should not be mandated", and I am sure there are other examples. These comments are Darwinist evolution in nature (lol). The idea that there is risk inherent in living assumes survival of the fittest as does assuming everyone will get Covid-19, and finally that masks should be optional.
Now, I am not arguing for or against these comments, in fact, I probably agree with most of them, but this virus has revealed in us ideas we may not have always agreed upon before.
And I am not just going to pick on the faith groups either. The Darwinists have become oddly worried about the "weaker" of us in society. These people usually believe that evolution is a fact, that's it's happening and that is has made society and animal groups better and stronger. Yet, they seem to be concerned with those in society that don't want to be vaccinated, don't want to wear masks, don't want to shut schools down, and overall pose a greater risk to dying.
Sure, you could argue that those evolutionists want to protect themselves, but a natural thinning of the herd would often be considered good by those in that group. In fact, the thinning of the herd would occur in groups that they often do not agree on most any issue. So what's the problem?
The last two years have definitely been frustrating and a lot of growth and learning has taken place for me personally. I happen to fall into the class of the Darwinist here because I guess it follows more under free will and choice. I am vaccinated, I wear a mask, and I try to be somewhat smart, but if you choose to not do those things, well, I believe that freedom is for everyone even those that disagree with me. Even those who potentially want to harm to me.
So, in the short term we will move on arguing, getting sick, dying, and disagreeing over what is right with Covid-19. But here's what I believe, too. In the long term, those same thing will keep happening and I am not sure that it isn't time to live our lives freely with some intelligence...if you choose to.
But what do I know? I am just a regular person with an opinion who makes no decisions for others...and I kind of like it that way.
