What many will find worrisome is the intolerance of eminent scientists to the suggestion of engagement with the questions of children. Yet they are far from alone. Fundamentalism is spreading across science, with zealots ready to attack anyone who dares question the accepted teaching - be it the unquestionable importance of animal experiments or the unimpeachable evidence for dramatic global warming.
My point is that theistic evolution, whilst it may not be hard theoretical deism (you believe that God is powerfully at work in the upholding and progressing of history via predictable laws, rather than saying that he endowed creation with those powers so that it could look after itself), it is certainly functional deism. Deistic-type thinking, by the way, is not a product of the enlightenment; it was well articulated by the Greek philosophers a couple of millennia before - I don't like the present tendency of some theologians to assign every theological position they don't agree with to the Enlightenment as if it were supporters of certain theologies alone who are uniquely able to think outside of those categories!).
Theistic evolution is functional deism, because it teaches that God's mode of creation is naturalistic. Or, as we might want to put it to make clear we're not confused about God's immanance, it is through God's ordinary and predictable workings, as opposed to his supernatural and extraordinary workings. The category of supernatural intervention is not an inherently Enlightenment idea; it is throughtout the Bible - the moon stands still, water turns into blood, the dead are raised, etcetera. Any theology that doesn't recognise this distinction is not a superior one that's climbed out of the Enlightenment straitjacket - it's simply heresy.
Genesis 1, when analysed in light of this Biblical distinction, presents us with a creation that was through distinct, immediate, supernatural interventions that are in the past: not through a long, gradualistic process that is still ongoing. It does not only refute the pagan idea that some god of the Babylonians did it and that in fact it was Yahweh. It also refutes the naturalistic idea that the material world has sufficient inherent powers in itself as to be able to organise itself, whether the theoretical basis of that idea is full-blown deism or through God's immanence. That's why I say that theistic evolution is really deism.
Former Contemporary Christian Music singer Ray Boltz--known for his song "Thank You," as well as "Watch the Lamb," "The Anchor Holds," and "I Pledge Allegiance to the Lamb"--divorced his wife last year and has now gone public with the news that he is gay. The LGBT newspaper, Washington Blade, has the exclusive profile and the story.
The profile closes with Boltz saying, “This is what it really comes down to,” he says. “If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself."
(http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/BetweenTwoWorlds/~3/391043848/ray-boltz.html)
The (Consistent!) Atheist's Ten Commandments
You shall look after yourself. You've got to look after number one, because Nobody else will.
You shall only ever worship what you can see. Nothing else exists, remember! Worship money, worship possessions, worship power, worship fame, worship your career, worship sex. Never ask why it is that humans have this in-built need to worship something; that won't get you anywhere!
You shall not blaspheme the name of Darwin by questioning his theories. If anyone starts looking critically at Darwin, mayhem may break loose. Do you want to live under the Taleban?
You shall use all your time as you see fit. Even though you cannot explain where time came from. Or why it exists in the first place! Just take it for granted and do whatever seems right with it.
It was blind chance that gave you your parents, and they are less highly evolved than you in any case. Once they get old you should shove them into some dreadful hole where nobody will look after them. Better still, be a more consistent Darwinist and bump the weaklings off before they use up any more precious resources. Human beings are ultimately just super-evolved maggots – they have no unique dignity – so put the old dears to some use and make their remains fertilise the garden. Haven't you heard of evolution through the survival of the fittest?
You can and should kill anyone and everyone you can, because if they can't defend themselves then their genes didn't deserve to survive in any case. Unless we rid ourselves of the inferior genes, evolution will be much delayed. Off to the gas chambers!
You shall fornicate like a rabbit. You really need to, because the only way you'll survive after death is via your offspring. Your genes are selfish, and demand to be replicated. Sticking to your spouse will limit your chances greatly! Try out whatever takes your fancy, and don't bother with wondering why you feel so degraded afterwards.
There is no such thing as stealing. Nature favours the strong, and resources are limited. Fill your boots with what you can!
Truth and falsehood are illusions. We came from nothing and are going to nothing; don't let yourself be shackled by fantasy notions such as ultimate right and wrong. We humans can make our own truth! Don't listen to your conscience. It is lying when it tells you that you'll be held accountable for your deeds. Except that I said lying is an illusion. I think I need to think about this one a bit more.
Greed is good! You are the ultimate reality, and desire is what drives the evolutionary machine. Rape, pillage and plunder, my friend! Never ask why it never seems to satisfy you – this too is an illusion.
Happily most atheists aren't very consistent. Atheism can't actually work in the world that really exists – the one that God created. Therefore most atheists have to live some other way instead. They have to live mostly as if something like the Bible's set of rules was right after all. Wouldn't it be better to believe something that actually makes life work? There's a reason Christianity works in real life: because it's true.