Nate, Erica, and Brock Gabriel

As all fathers are when our children display knowledge and understanding beyond their years, we are proud and bust our buttons saying, “That’s my kid!” Such is the following article, written by my eldest son, Nathanael  It was indeed a blessing because, as Jesus said to Peter in Matthew 16, – “…for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” 

Such was my feeling when I read this email response to his close friend.  We’ll call him Esau but that is not his real name.  I am very fond of Esau.  He is very intelligent, a secular Jew, and inquisitive beyond imagination.  Esau and my son have spent hours in my driveway learning to work on their cars.  He loves to debate Christianity and evolution-versus-special creation which is the subject of the following email correspondence.  The Wall Street Journal published an anti-special creation article with an attack on intelligent design.  Intelligent design is scientifically based and strongly attached to the Second Law of Thermodynamics.  It is also supports special creation and is obvious and easy for all to see and understand, which is what my son argues. 

Esau is trying to find some way to refute Special Creation and the WSJ article was sent to us by him.  My son’s reply to his buddy and a young man I love and admire follows.  Esau is typical of so many young, and immature minds who believe religiously and unquestionably, what the “Professor tells them.”  Listen carefully as Esau implies that a high IQ and a PhD is not to be questioned when his unscientific opinions contradict basic and accepted scientific laws of physics.  I hope you enjoy it as I did.  You’ll have to read between the lines a bit to understand the context as it is like jumping into the middle of a conversation or debate between two close friends that has been going on for awhile. There are three emails.

R.S.Brewer, Pastor

Gilbert Independent Baptist Church

For further information on the Creation/Evolution debate see our website articles by the same name at www.gilbertindependentbaptist.org

Esau,

I think I understand where you're coming from.

First, I didn't mention Jesus Christ or my faith in my response.  Second, I
never mentioned evolution as laughable.  What does intelligent design have
to do with evolution?  It sounds like maybe you think that admitting
intelligent design means you have to be religious . . . or something like
that.

Important point:  I said it's laughable that there are people who still
argue against intelligent design.

Intelligent design is apparent to me.  And, on some level, evolution also
exists.  But evolution has been twisted to exclude intelligent design.  Do
you not see this?

People don't want to talk about intelligent design; they want to talk about
evolution.  Although intelligent design is obvious, people won't admit it
and people certainly don't want it being taught in our schools. 

Why?

I think people are afraid that if they admit they see intelligent design,
then they have to believe in God.  I'll admit that's the next logical step.

Regardless of how you feel about evolution, if one admits that intelligent
design exists, then one must admit the existence of a designer.  We both
know that if a designer exists, then people do have to open themselves to
the fact that issues such as human purpose, morality, ethics, right vs.
wrong, faith and religion may be more concrete than what we want them to be.

It's easier if we don't have to worry about those things.  We humans can
make the rules up as we go.  If morality is just man-made, then it's far
less restrictive in our lives.  We like that.  The strongest group can make
the rules on the aforementioned issues, which seems logical to a person who
rejects intelligent design, because, to them, it demonstrates survival of
the fittest.

But survival of the fittest can lead you to questionable ground.

It's all too easy to back people like this into a corner where they have to
say things they truly don't believe.  For instance (and we've discussed this
before), not too long ago Adolf Hitler was calling the shots in Europe.
Because Hitler and his group were the strongest at that time, they decided
what was right and what was wrong.

And, Esau, if you believe that right vs. wrong is dictated by we humans with
no authority beyond them, then you've backed yourself into a corner where
Hitler's quest was no better or worse than anything else.  There was nothing
wrong with killing the Jews.  There's nothing wrong with Zionists inhabiting
the West Bank and certainly nothing wrong with them killing Palestinian
children. 

If you believe, Esau -- as you once told me you do -- that there was nothing
wrong with what Hitler did, then I commend you for being consistent with
your arguments, because that's the corner one backs himself into when he
rejects intelligent design.

I don't argue that you should reject what science espouses.  I say be the
intelligent, free-thinking guy that you are and admit to the technology you
see around you -- technology that goes far beyond what our scientific minds
can create.  You don't have to have faith or religion to do this, only an
open mind. 

What follows after that is simply more truth. 

Love ya, buddy. 

Nate Brewer
Admissions Counselor
University of Phoenix Online

-----Original Message-----

From: Esau

Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2004 2:23 AM
To: Nate Brewer
Subject: RE: WSJ.com - Evolution Critics Are Under Fire For Flaws in 'Intelligent Design'


Laughable? Laughable? There are a lot of words you could use to describe
evolution, but laughable shouldn't be one of them. Let me explain.

Look around you Nate. Go to any science museum, in any city, in any state.
What do you see explained in minute detail? Evolution. Dinosaurs. Carbon
Dating. Archeological digs. The shifting of the continents over the last million
years. Survival of the fittest. The Age of the universe. Is this laughable?

The greatest minds on the planet are doing research in astronomy, biology,
chemistry, etc., and almost all of them accept, in one form or another,
human evolution. They are not all atheists and some still believe in some
form of god, but the nature of their research shows that they do not believe
in pure creationism. According to your belief then, these brilliant men are
throwing away their lifes' work on make believe? Is that laughable?

Go to the high school near your house, heck, pick any town in this great
nation and go into their public high school biology class. What are they
learning? Evolution. Your tax money is teaching these kids modern science.
Is that laughable?

So tell me, do you think it's all a joke? Some high level conspiracy by the
governments of the world? Some trick by god to find the "true" believers?
Some phoney belief that's sweeping the world and we're all too weak to
denounce it because of fear of public humiliation? Is this the new worldwide
McCarthyism or do today's top minds really believe in evolution? These
questions, are they laughable?

We once thought the world was flat too. And do you remember how the Catholic
Church declared anyone who believed that the Earth revolved around the Sun,
and not visa versa, was a heretic? Was that laughable?

How can you explain Lucy, ancient cave drawings and archaic humanoid
fossils? Let me help you out, you can't. You can say "I don't know but I
still have faith." Good for you and your faith, really. I think your faith
is wonderful, but don't call evolution laughable. It seems to me, from your
point of view, all this evolution nonsense is a waste of time and money and
you should be crying about it, not laughing.

Do you think that the most brilliant men on this planet, the leading
scientists, researchers, and doctors are stupid? That they have had the wool
pulled over their eyes and are being fooled into wasting their lives on
astronomical research, archeological digs, and anthropological discovery
that is fiction? That there really were no dinosaurs, we really didn't
evolve from apes and there really is no such thing as a black hole that
warps space-time? I guess I simply have more faith in human intelligence
than you and I'm not laughing.

Here is some reading courtesy of ASU: http://www.becominghuman.org/

Nate, I could talk about this all day and until I'm blue in the face, but
here's the kicker: If you were raised by a Muslim cleric or a secular
couple instead of a Baptist preacher you would have a profoundly different
view of religion and the world. Why are you so lucky to believe in Jesus
Christ and know the truth while the rest of us wallow in ignorance?

Your Friend,

Esau

P.S. I want you to know that I don't expect any sort of lengthy response to
this email because I don't think you have the time between work, school and
family.

n      Original Message --
From: Nate Brewer
To: "'Esau

n      Subject: RE: WSJ.com - Evolution Critics Are Under Fire For Flaws in 'Intelligent Design'
Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 16:14:27 -0700


Good article, Esau, though I don't make the argument of irreducible
complexity to support my belief in intelligent design, mostly because I
don't fully understand it.  What difference does it make if some of my
individual parts can serve a function outside of the function they
currently serve?

I think of a human's vision and the relationships that provide it.  The
eyeball is an extraordinary piece of technology, not to mention the
brain, the heart, the lungs and reproduction equipment.

Intelligent design is obvious to me.  It's not questionable.  It's
laughable that there are people who argue against it.


Nate Brewer
Admissions Counselor
University of Phoenix Online

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