A few days ago, I had a surprise. A high school classmate who had “unfriended” me on Facebook, suddenly messaged me. In fact she sent two messages. The material she was so desperate for me to see, after a sentence of so-called pleasantries, (hope you are having a joyous winter?) was a long and tedious bit of trite flotsam on the errors of evolution. It came of course from the usual literalist rag website, designed to buck up all the fundies of the world that their outrageous worldview is meritorious.
I sent back a rather hot reply, boiled down to “don’t waste my time with such chit. Oh, and hope you are having a joyous winter too.!” Yech.
Truly, I have no time for such nonsense. As Patrick Moynihan once said, “you are entitled to your own personal opinion, but not to your own facts.”
Evolution is real, get over it; it’s embarrassing to have a conversation with someone whose brain has ceased functioning.
We tend to speak about evolution as something that “has happened.” In reality, it of course is still happening, but from our short life spans as humans, we cannot “see” it happening. Brain research shows I think rather clearly that our brains are still a work in progress. But still, we are in progress, both as brains and as species.
There is plenty in the world to suggest that regression seems to be more our direction. One can speak to certain personalities such as the Palin, the Limbaugh, and such. Certain people dash into our viewfinders rather often with swill so silly and off the wall as to astound us all that humans ever left the cave.
Sarah wants Rahm Emanuel fired for using the “R” word, yet has her press secretary does everything but kiss Rush’s butt-kins lest he think that her words reflected on his rather overactive use of the same word. Tancredo urges that Obama was elected by a bunch of illiterate folks (white and black presumably) who can’t spell vote and what kinda name is Barack anyway for an American? Any day, you can find a good dozen of such gems just for the asking, perusing the blogging world and regular media.
Still, I hold to the proposition that despite the detours and abrupt halts and throwbacks to more simian brain power, we are moving forward. Since I am a believer, I also believe that at the heart of every person, whether they are aware, do it honor or shame, is a soul/spirit, that is always in perfect communion with the divine and the connected wholeness of God.
I believe in what is called by some a “cosmic consciousness” and this humanness is moving upward slowly, imperceptibly but still upward.
I have to think that our increasingly world wide information dispersal must help in this raising up. It stands to reason. My notions may seem strange to even myself. I may feel alone with them. Odd. Bizarre. I might even feel that my thoughts are weird, fanciful and Utopian. Yet, through the power of the Internet, I can connect with thousands of others who think exactly as I do. That creates dialog and speeds up the process of movement upward. So I think at least.
The dangers are there as well. We all, bloggers too, tend to congregate around the water cooler whose conversation is agreeable with their own predispositions. Liberals read liberal blogs, conservatives read conservative ones. So it should come as no big surprise that the fringe nuttery tends to read and listen to those who support and validate their beliefs. Soon, they use these as their “talking points” and link up to “prove” they are right to unsuspecting others.
I like to think that some of us have the smarts to not use each other as this kind of “proving” ourselves right. Rather, we bounce off each other ideas–with plenty of argument and disagreement–and slowly we come to a higher level of “right.” Perhaps that’s just wishful thinking on my part. But I do read conservative blogs, not a lot, but some.
I’ve noted that among the blogging, facebooking world, real friendships exist, people do make a point of meeting up with these new friends. More importantly we do reach out through prayer, and hands on “help” to each other. One blogger has sure stepped up to assist me recently. I feel blessed indeed. And I try as best I can to extend myself to others in the same vein. This kind of thing was not possible a few decades ago. Our worlds were small, usually encompassing a few dozen miles. Now, our networks exist world wide in many cases.
It seems likely that our cosmic consciousness will grow exponentially as a result. So much more to draw from, so much to find support from, so many new ideas, new ways of living and thinking. New ways of being. If indeed our work here is to maximize our potentialities as humans, we have taken a major step forward.
At least I think so each and every time I reach out across miles, states and sometimes countries, to ask for help, and lo and behold receive it, offered with love. As we note more and more our commonality as humans, perhaps some of the hatreds and fears and suspicions start to retreat from our brains-in-progress. That’s got to be progress wouldn’t you agree?
Perhaps one day, we will all just suddenly agree that war is a waste and we have no more blood to spend on it.
Just sayin’.