A Civilized Question

February 17, 2007 by Dr. Mc.

I don’t remember why we were standing at the door. It was the mid ’50’s, and Ricky and I may have been looking for more kids to play with. We had knocked, and a woman came slowly to the screened door, wiping her hands on her apron. When I saw that she was black, I asked what any kid in my neighborhood would have asked: “Do you live here?”

The woman, who had initially been quite cordial, straightened up, placed one fist on her hip, and asked back, “Now, is that a civilized question?” From her tone and posture the apparent correct answer was, “No.” I don’t remember the rest of our short conversion. I already had enough to think about. Not only did no black people live in my neighborhood, but to even question the idea was uncivilized.

Today, as a sociologist, I find it intriguing that not only was I taught that black people should not live in white neighborhoods, but also that black people believed and repeated it! The concept is profound: If people are treated inferior long enough, they too eventually believe and preach it themselves.

Today I experience it again when I hear, “Oh, I’m a Christian, but I don’t believe we should bring religion into public school science classes.” Much of what we accept today we get through society by the way ideas are handled. Sometimes what is not said communicates with more power than what is said; just as when the woman at the door would not entertain my question.

These ideas being subtly communicated today include that science is measurable, hard facts; religion is not. Underneath that is the idea that science is sufficient to explain everything without a Creator. No matter how the evidence stacks up, the worst material explanation is always superior to a more reasonable explanation involving a Designer.

Consider with me for a moment that God just might be real. No, I mean really. If there might actually be a Creator, shouldn’t we at least be allowed to consider that there might actually be material evidence (not theological evidence), evidences not better explained any other way? If it’s there, fine. If it’s not there, that’s fine, too. If we are not allowed to ask the question in a science context, then that’s not fine. We are actually promoting the paired concepts that science is real, and God is not.

So let’s cut the fluff: When people say, “Sure, I respect your faith, but we should keep that separate from science,” what they really mean is, “I respect your right to pretend whatever you want, but let’s keep that separate from reality.” And when people who claim to have faith in God repeat it, they have bought into the idea that any question that suggests otherwise is uncivilized. Just like the woman at the door, they have been trained to believe that faith in a Creator for which evidence is not allowed is inferior to faith in a theory for which proof has not been found.

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