"When they are learned they think they are wise"

Centuries before Christ, at the pinnacle of Greek philosophy, the wise Plato made a bold claim. In reference to our understanding and education he set up a scenario we now refer to as the Allegory of the Cave. In his imaginary cave, Plato planted a group of men who from their youth were strapped in chains so they could not move, not even their heads. The darkness of the cave was illuminated only by a fire behind the men which had a wall in between them. Over this wall, other men would hoist figurines and objects to cast shadows on the walls. Naturally the men would speak on occasion which sounds, echoing off the walls, would seem to emanate from the shadows themselves.

At some point, one of these men is released and allowed to look at the light source, but from the brightness he has never beheld, he turns away. In fact, a man is needed to drag that person up and out of the cave, into the sunlight, in order for him to finally see the truth of things. Over time his eyes would adjust and he could see the world and the real light source, the sun (which, in Plato’s analogy, was the source of life and everything).

Following the ascent to truth, suppose the person ends up back in his place in the cave, Plato says. He would try to convince the others of the falseness of their plight and come to no avail. See, his eyes would not perceive the dark like before and the others’ world consists of seeing the shadows in all their details. They would feel his experience had corrupted him even though the truth was quite the opposite. In fact, given the power, they would probably kill anyone who tried to similarly remove them from their chains to prevent their own loss of sight and lack of connection to reality.

As weird as this scenario sounds, Plato’s claim is thus: “They are like ourselves.”

I’ve been giving this a bit of thought lately and found we are more in line with this than ever before. The question of whether this world is real or not is not my debate. My interest is in our perception of it and that spans all our senses and understanding. Everything we know is based off our interpretation of sensory input and intellectual thought. Even “walking in another man’s shoes” involves our version of his interpretation.

What happens next is the clincher – what if you, like the men in the cave, have been in a state of untruth or partial-truth since birth? Would you know? How could you know? And if someone knew the truth and tried to tell you, would you believe them?

I maintain that this state of being is true for the majority of the world. We grow up in the society we are in. They teach us certain customs and beliefs and without good reason otherwise, we adopt the same. If we are raised thinking you don’t question authority, then we don’t question it unless something happens to shake our faith in the authority (like the Vietnam War). We accept what we are given and move on with our lives.

So what is authority? I’m not talking about governments. I’m talking parents, doctors, teachers, lawyers, judges, bosses, supervisors, trusted friends, and more. People we listen to and take advice from regularly. If your doctor told you to do something or that you had a certain condition, you’d more than likely accept his opinion as fact. Yes, it is from a person trained and schooled in the art of medicine, but regardless of how far you go molecularly, it is still his interpretation of what is happening in your body and it might not be right.

Similarly this happens with other figures (including newscasters, companies, dieticians…) we see all the time. We accept their viewpoints in their fields as facts. That can lead to trouble. There are fads that fit right into what we've been taught and extend it only slightly into the unknown. They sound correct because they do not challenge what we have always regarded as true - they mingle with it. That does not make them true. It does, however, verify this statement from scripture:

"O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish," (2 Nephi 9:28).

We train and learn and school ourselves and when it is done, we take what we know and call it truth. But we are being trained in what is currently accepted as truth - which may or may not be so. We literally fulfill the above passage when we unquestioningly accept the wisdom of authorities other than God. But even there our prophets have provided profound counsel to us from the beginning. Said Moroni,

"And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things," (Moroni 10:4-5).

The prophets can boldly testify of this because their words are true and the Holy Ghost will confirm it. Those who are not truthful will be proven false by the Spirit and in process of time.

But we cannot afford to wait. Some truths require action as we go. You having cancer has one truth - you have cancer. Ignoring or not discovering this truth does not change it. The same goes for our lives in most respects - the more we know the more we can influence for good and the less we know the worse off (or less empowered) we are. We must pursue truth in all that we do so as to be of the greatest power for good we each can be. Only then will the veils of darkness be lifted from our eyes and we'll be able to see things as they really are. Only then will we know the truth and be wise.

Ask and Ye Shall Receive - AC Repair

This is the second batch I blew

I bumped the thermostat a few months ago. Yeah, it crossed a wire and blew a fuse on the circuit board of my central air system. Problem was, I didn't know that and the old thermostat ran solely on power from the circuit board. Well, feeling my old handyman self I went to Home Depot and picked up a new one (with my wife's help from online reviews at home). I checked the instructions and installed it exactly as it said to and turned it on. The digital display was up, but the furnace was not.

After a little more studying on the Internet and some inspection of the system I found the fuse I'd blown - a little 3 amp blade fuse (like what you find in the car under the dashboard). So I went back to Home Depot, but they only carried down to 5 amp fuses. I then called other stores and found similar shortages. I even drove to an electrical component distributor and they looked at me funny before sending me to a car parts store.

See the little purple bugger up in the corner?

Bless those car parts places. I bought their last pack of five 3 amp fuses and went home. I used all but the last while wiring, because I could get the heater and the fan to turn on, but I popped the fuse every time I turned on the cooler. Since it was the freezing cold of spring (for some reason this year's winter never wanted to die), I plugged in the last fuse and left the cooler part alone. Obviously I had time to wait, right?

Well, time flies when you're avoiding a problem. About a month ago I tried tackling the issue again and didn't get any further. I blew another fuse and had to run to the auto parts store to grab another one. I put it back together and left it again since I didn't know the cause of my woes. A week later I was speaking to my elder's quorum president and mentioned the needed repair. He looked at me quizzically and said, "This might seem kind of funny, but did you ask the Lord?" I said a half-hearted prayer after that and didn't get any results (strange, eh?). But that didn't matter because we had a bought of storms and cool weather so I didn't need it anyway...

The time came last week to start getting nervous. Weather predictions showed my good luck was going to run out this week and I had to work fast. Speaking with my Dad, he told me to call a friend of his who was good with mechanical things. I was "too busy" last week to call and put it off until this week. Early this week was crammed full of stuff too. Finally the temperature caught up to us. Wednesday it reached 81 degrees in the house. My family was roasting.

Thursday I got up (late) and walked to the thermostat. I said a prayer and told God that I needed this to be fixed. I asked for help for the sake of my family and went to work. There is a good scripture to remember at a time like this:

"If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbradeth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering," (James 1:5-6).

I didn't think of it at the time, but it proved true by the next morning.

First thing I did was call my dad's friend and left a message. While waiting for a response and checking electrical diagrams Steph said, "You should call my Dad." We were both a little dumbfounded when we realized that he was an electronics technician and would be a big help and hadn't thought of this before. With his helped I started checking wires for shorts and the circuit board itself. All proved fine between the thermostat and the board.

my AC compressor

After I finished talking with him, my wife noticed her phone had received a call from out of state. It was my dad's friend. He referred me to a friend of his who was an AC technician. This man explained that the problem was probably with the wires to the compressor or in the compressor itself and how to check it. Once I was off the phone I used my father-in-law's instructions for checking wires for shorts and found the wires where fine. Then I pushed the button on the contact in the compressor and the machine turned on. So the problem was not wiring or the circuit board and the compressor functioned.

At this point I had a bit of inspiration. The contact (specifically an alternating double pole contact) for my compressor relied on a signal from the circuit board to open the pathway to make power flow to the unit (it flipped the switch). Without the power flowing through the unit doesn't turn on and stay on (unless I stand out there and hold the button). I called my father-in-law back and said I thought there was an issue with the contact. He had been reading an online manual for the compressor and came to the same conclusion. We had found the source of the troubles.

The new alt dbl pole contact

Sadly, more trouble was on the way because I couldn't get the part. If a popular appliance department store made one, it would take until Monday to get here and that would cost extra because it would be expedited! Local HVAC repair guys wouldn't sell me one and E-bay charged double the price of the item to get it here by Saturday. We didn't find a better option by closing and figured we'd call more HVAC places in the morning and try to barter with them (it costs $50-$70 to get them to come out and diagnose an issue, then labor and parts on top - and I knew the cause!).

After work (4pm-8pm), I got home and put the kids in bed. I had hot wired the thermostat to stay on fan mode (on my last fuse again) so I could go and hold the button down to cool off the house. Before I got outside I saw my elder's quorum president through the window (lives next door) and asked him about the part since he's an electronics component salesman. He told me our friend and fellow doTERRA consultant (other blog) was a certified AC tech and could buy one (because if the AC guys can fix an AC in a day, the parts have to be nearby, right?) from the local dealers. Sure enough, I called, he said he could and this morning he swung by with the part.

My AC is running again and the house is fine. I worked as hard as I could at the project and because I asked in faith (and worked), God gave me the help and answers. Little miracles are just as real as the big ones and this one meant a lot to me. I will ever be grateful for the advice of my elder's quorum president who believes so much in the power of prayer.

Don't Drop the Duck

So I was juggling some rubber ducks at work today and had an epiphany (yes, even silicon bath toys stylized to resemble cartoon ninjas have their philosophic import). I continually dropped a duck on the fifth or sixth toss. This startled me because although I am not a professional clown or anything, I used be pretty decent at keeping three round objects in the air. That’s when I stopped and thought for a moment.

I realized I was staring at one duck – watching him go over and under the other two. Besides giving me a cross-eyed headache, it was preventing me from doing the most important thing in juggling – keeping your eye on the whole picture. See, when I was training to juggle I had a tendency to stare at the balls. I didn’t want to drop them so I felt the natural thing would be to follow the one about to drop next and switch when you caught it. Well…anyone who juggles knows that is just silly (plus the balls went everywhere so I gave up on that approach).

Truth is your brain knows far more than you admit and your eyes, while easily deceived, still process tons of information without your knowing it. To learn to juggle I had to get right next to a wall and stare at it while tossing the balls. They took a little practice, but I was able to get the hang of it and go on from there to practice anywhere and anytime even without a wall.

Once I remembered that simple truth, I began tossing the ducks with ease (and less pain in my head). Then I had my epiphany. See, life is often like the juggling of those ducks. We can get so focused on individual and seemingly important things (such as: I don’t want to drop the duck so I better keep my eyes on it), that we forget the effects of letting go of the larger picture (which is that you’ll drop the other ducks by such narrowed focusing).

Our souls are old and have a lot of known and hidden talents. We are capable of great things, but when we drop the ball (no pun completely intended) on one thing to focus on another we are often just creating more strain for ourselves. Let the little things go. Focus on living live happily and fully and the other parts will work out as you move forward. Spend too much time on one thing or another and the rest of your life comes to pieces.

I learned that last one the hard way these past several years. I obsess over things easily and it ruins the rest of my goals. My school work would suffer from locking in on one specific class or ignoring all of them for family things. But my family life would suffer from focusing too much on school (such as nine credit hours over a summer term while having a 20+ hour a week job). So for the next couple of months we are taking a break from the schooling. I am spending time with my kids and wife. We’ll work on the house, on our business (see other blog) and our health.

I am grateful our Father in Heaven gives us the chances to learn and grow without suffering severely for every single mistake. He loves us and will take care of us. He loves us enough to let us take those chances and learn from our mistakes, but is always there to help and guide when needed. I am thankful he loves me that much.

Oh…and I am thankful for my boss’s random collection of strange rubber ducks, without which this post would not be written.

I was juggling these (minus the blue one)

Sustaining Church Leaders

     I was disheartened days ago when I overheard a man I had respected discuss with another man what they saw as flaws in the Church today. One man pointed to a large number of women who he knew that had left the Church after receiving degrees in a high ranking field. He pointed to the positions of general authorities on women's roles and blamed them entirely. He continued and questioned saying, "Why don't fourteen year-old girls pass the sacrament?" The other responded "President Hinckley said he didn't know why," to which the reply was "Well, then it is time for a change."

     They continued discussing the issue and pointing to the need for change in the Church on the matter. One stated how it was nearly impossible to get anything to go up through the leadership of the Church because of all the muck you had to wade through. The other said the only thing to do was to form a committee, research the issue and present both the problem and the solution to the brethren. This is the only way things get done in the Church today, he said.

     I had to stay several feet away since all I wanted to do was scream at them. I kept screaming in my mind "How can you be saying these things?! I know you and what you are and some of the callings you've had the Church. What is wrong with you and your friend?" The spirit wisely told me to hold my tongue and I thankfully did. But the questions bothered me for days. It wasn't just the conversation - it was the tone and ideas within it.

     I have been reading and praying, searching for meaningful words on these subjects. I think I found what I needed and I'll share it with you.

     My first thoughts focused on their contempt for the way the brethren and other leaders were dealing with the issues facing women in the gospel and world today. I found a meaningful quote by Elder Ezra Taft Benson given at BYU:

"The prophet is not required to have any particular earthly training or credentials to speak on any subject or act on any matter at any time. Sometimes there are those who feel their earthly knowledge on a certain subject is superior to the heavenly knowledge which God gives to His prophet on the same subject. They feel the prophet must have the same earthly credentials or training which they have had before they will accept anything the prophet has to say that might contradict their earthly schooling. How much earthly schooling did Joseph Smith have? Yet he gave revelations on all kinds of subjects. We haven’t yet had a prophet who earned a doctorate in any subject, but as someone said, 'A prophet may not have his Ph.D. but he certainly has his LDS.' We encourage earthly knowledge in many areas, but remember, if there is ever a conflict between earthly knowledge and the words of the prophet, you stand with the prophet, and you’ll be blessed and time will vindicate you," (BYU, February 26, 1980).

     We cannot presume to tell the Prophet what is wrong with the Church and how to fix it. He is the Lord's anointed and he will be instructed as necessary for the development of the Church and kingdom of God on the earth. Only he can receive revelation on how to change the current setup and if their is a conflict with our thoughts and the Church, we side with the Prophet (who the brethren also side with).
     Another good quote, this time from President Harold B Lee:

Now the only safety we have as members of this church is to do exactly what the Lord said to the Church in that day when the Church was organized. We must learn to give heed to the words and commandments that the Lord shall give through his prophet, 'as he receiveth them, walking in all holiness before me ... as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.' (D&C 21:4-5.) There will be some things that take patience and faith. You may not like what comes from the authority of the Church. It may contradict your political views. It may contradict your social views. It may interfere with some of your social life. But if you listen to these things, as if from the mouth of the Lord himself, with patience and faith, the promise is that 'the gates of hell shall not prevail against you; yea, and the Lord God will disperse the powers of darkness from before you, and cause the heavens to shake for your good, and his name's glory,'" (October Conference 1970, Sunday Afternoon Session).

     It seems to state the obvious. We may have extreme issues with the current policy of the Church regarding women and the priesthood or the role of women. It doesn't matter. Our place is not to question the brethren, especially the prophet, but to seek our own confirmation of the truth as they give it to us and ask for humility when we struggle with what they say. They manage the Church according to revelation from the Lord and not the philosophies of men. Again, we must follow the Prophet even if it conflicts with our social or political views.

     We are not sheep. It is not healthy for us to blindly go through life. However, it is not our place to question the divinely appointed leaders of the Church. Said Wilford Woodruff,

"The Lord will never permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray. It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and from their duty," (Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church, Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in Deseret Evening News, October 11, 1890, p. 2.). 

     Hence, questioning the President of the Church's decisions is not healthy at all. It is saying the Lord is not in control and quite incapable of managing the affairs of His children through the Church. So we do not follow blindly, but we follow. Get going and do what the Apostles say and pray for a testimony of it as you go. 
     Brigham Young spoke about his way of handling any faults he thought to perceive in the Prophet Joseph Smith in this manner, 

"Though I admitted in my feelings and knew all the time that Joseph was a human being and subject to err, still it was none of my business to look after his faults. … He was called of God; God dictated him, and if He had a mind to leave him to himself and let him commit an error, that was no business of mine. … He was God’s servant, and not mine,” (Journal of Discourses, 4:297.).

     That quote was ideal for me! Of course they are men and have faults. If they were free of faults, wouldn't they be translated by now? Ask any of their family and dear friends and I am sure they can remember things from the past that are not pristine. That doesn't matter though. Reflect on the pre-conversion state of the sons of Mosiah. Mormon said "for they were the very vilest of sinners. And the Lord saw fit in his infinite mercy to spare them," (Mosiah 28:4) and we should all be grateful He did. Their faith lead to the conversion of thousands of Lamanites and changed the course of history in Americas as well as provide priceless scriptures for our day and age.

     Our leaders are flawed men and have their own troubles to deal with on top of dealing with ours. The Lord uses them to help us and He blesses us when we obey their counsel and harken to their teachings. Elder George F. Richards (President of the Council of the Twelve) said, "When we say anything bad about the leaders of the Church, whether true or false, we tend to impair their influence and their usefulness and are thus working against the Lord and his cause," (In Conference Report, Apr. 1947, p. 24.). 

     It is not our place to tear them down in any way. We must never engage in evil-speaking of the Lord's anointed for any reason. President David of McKay stated,

"Better stop murmuring and build. Remember that one of the worst means of tearing down an individual is slander. It is one of the most poisonous weapons that the evil one uses. Backbiting and evil speaking throw us into the class of malefactors rather than the class of benefactors,”(Gospel Ideals, Salt Lake City: Improvement Era, 1953, pp. 142–43.).

     I freely admit that I don't know all the answers to God's rationale on keeping woman out of performing priesthood ordinances for the Church like the sacrament. All I understand is that he gave to the two genders differing, but overlapping charges from the time they left Eden until today. As the Family Proclamation states, 

"By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation," (General Relief Society Meeting, September 23, 1995).

     In considering the roles of women in the Church and world, remember such examples as Mother Theresa - who never married or had children. Think inside the Church of Sheri Dew who was a counselor in the General Relief Society Presidency of the Church, but also never married. Think also of the college degrees those women who serve in the General Relief Society Presidency carry. We are encouraged to obtain as much education as possible and that is not a gender specific commandment. Women are not simply cattle or servants - they have high and exalted roles to fulfill. That is usually within the role of mother, but not always.
     Speaking to my wife about this matter she said that it is very clear to her there are different roles for the two of us. She has inspiration and guidance for the children that I never have had, nor expect to. Her calling as a mother is unique to her gender and carries great responsibilities and blessings. Some days I come home and she is frazzled by the behavior of the children, but it only takes one smile or hug to make her day. She loves them and would do anything for them. I love them too, but I cannot compete with her in that respect.

     Outside of my home (and inside) my faith is with the brethren and the Church. When they ask us to do something or be something, I feel convinced that is the course of action I need to take. There are no other options for me because I know it is true and want the blessings obedience brings into my life. When I receive a mandate from a priesthood leader, local or general, I know it is from God because that person was called by Him to help me and others. 

     Our sustaining our leaders means exactly that. We are to follow, uplift and support them by whatever means we can. That is what God asks of us and speaking ill of them or their work is only going to drag us down to Hell. This work is true and that means the Apostles and Prophets are called of God and speak for Him. I know it is true and can never deny it. It is what keeps me going and it guides my faith when I hear them speak or read their words. 
     They truly are men of God and anyone can see it by the fruits of their labors - they bring others to Christ. They bring me to Christ. They can bring you to Christ as well. Listen to them. Try their words. Have faith and you will see the beauty that is in this restored Church and gospel. God loves us and gave us these leaders to help us in this, our time of need. Believe in Christ and his servants.

In the Season Thereof

This phrase in the D&C has intrigued me the past few years "And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man— Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof," (D&C 89:10-11).

We have had a lot of upheaval in our family's health - both extended and close. My wife's family is suffering with celiac disease in general and fibromyalgia in one member. I went through a summer of eating the same thing constantly or suffering for it. My brother dealt with eosinophilic esophagitis (which meant he didn't eat at all for a time). My sister has diabetes as well as my grandparents and my son suffers from Asperger's.

What this all has in common is food. We may not recognize it, but our society (in America) no longer eats the foods we once did. We've genetically manipulated and modified crops like corn and tomatoes to suit our whims and bleached all the nutrients out of flour to make it white and fluffy (that's why we have to have "enriched white flour"). Does it worry anyone else that despite the natural and organic food campaigns we are not getting any better? Despite reducing meal sizes at fast food restaurants and showing people the damaging affects of excessive caloric and sugar intakes almost a third of America is very overweight?

I remember a commandment given not too long ago which said, "We encourage you to grow all the food that you feasibly can on your own property. Berry bushes, grapevines, fruit trees—plant them if your climate is right for their growth. Grow vegetables and eat them from your own yard" (Spencer W. Kimball, in Conference Report, Apr. 1976, 171; or Ensign, May 1976, 124). Again, what does it mean? He was talking about family preparedness then, right?

The world is changing and not often for the better. We try to believe that mankind is heading in better directions, but what if we are wrong? The scriptures talk of how horrible things will become in the last days - prophets still forewarn us of the coming events. I think we forget the first part of the section called the Word of Wisdom:

"A Word of Wisdom, for the benefit of the council of high priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the church, and also the saints in Zion—

To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—

Given for a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.

Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation," (D&C 89:1-4).

Look at those last two verses. It says it is "adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints" and that it is "in consequence of evils and designs...in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days." Often we attach it to the next verse (five) which talks of drugs. Truly, those are a perfect example of conspiring men (like the tobacco companies). However, backtrack. These four verses are not an introduction to verse five alone! Read the end of verse four - it is for the entire section!

What has happened to our food? It is laced with sugar (not at all necessary and definitely linked to multiple health concerns) and "enriched bleached flour" which is a monstrosity of human engineering. Why would you destroy the natural nutrients in a grain only to replace them with lesser outside sources? 

What about the tomato which has become so hybridized and genetically modified that even its nutrient content is significantly altered from decades ago? Or corn which has been cross-bread and manipulated to produce ethanol and corn syrup? Anyone notice how most popular breakfast cereals are now made with corn?

 When we muck about with nature we end up with Africanized Honey Bees and killer viruses. Think of the crazy explosion of health problems that not only were never heard of, but more than likely never existed until the last century (which strangely coincide with the changes of diet of an industrialized nation). 

Suddenly the remark to grow our own gardens and eat in the season thereof makes a lot of sense. Fruits and vegetables are meant to be eaten as God made them. Things are not meant to be genetically altered to last longer or be grown in test-tubes, instead of soil, for year-round harvesting. We are not only messing with nature, but we are messing with our own health. Every time we alter foods to enhance one property or another we sacrifice something in return. 

At some point we have to return to the things God gave us or we will destroy ourselves with our creations. As smart as we think we are, we aren't smart enough to play God. He set up the world and all the nutrients and benefits of the plants and animals in it. Our modifications will only bring about more suffering down the line. Once I have a yard, I am planting a garden.

Beyond Contestation...

I work at the BYU Bookstore and I was shelving books yesterday when I saw one that caught my eye. I don't remember the title or the main subject, but on the back was the phrase "since the fact of evolution can no longer be contended..." I was appalled.

What do you mean it is beyond contestation? Seriously?! Of course it isn't past that point. It is conceited and arrogant to dismiss the other side so carelessly and with zero respect.

For starters, will the presence of evolution has been confirmed in a myriad of cases of animals and adaptation in humans as well, there has not been conclusive evidence that factually demands the pronouncement of "here is the proof of evolution, come see it and you cannot ever doubt again!" Never has been.

Remember that old evolution of the horse exhibit from way back when - you know, the one that shows the little pygmy-sized horse thing that over time becomes our modern horse? That set up is based off of a myriad of bones from all over the world and many are not complete skeletons. On top of that, at least two of them are found in the same fossilized rock in Nebraska (see National Geographic, January 1981, p. 74). So, if one "evolved" from the other, why are they together at the same time?

Then you have human evolution. It is just as scattered and misleading. Is it possible, I can't say. Is it for certain, certainly not. Science proves things in the realm of science. When it finally catches up to itself (remember the brontosaurus? yeah, never existed and was a mistake) it adapts and brings in new information. We had many different versions of the atom before the atom bomb was created following the discovery of nuclear fission. We are still redefining it today as new understandings of the components that not only make up the atom, but make up the components of the components, are being illuminated.

Basically, it is simply beyond reason to throw out the other side just yet. There is evidence and lack of evidence both ways. You can choose one side or the other based on the faith you subscribe to or try and merge the two, but you cannot just deny the validity of the other side as if they don't matter.

I believe God created man and all the things on the Earth. As far as my understanding goes, that does not mean we evolved from subspecies. If that is wrong I am sure He will illuminate me later. I do not dismiss the evidences of evolution as ridiculous or unfounded - they make sense in their own light. Just don't tell me my ideas are worthless and stupid when compared to them.