Creationists, Apes and Aliens

It's the question humanity is forever asking and arguing about. We've long heard the arguments between creationists and evolutionists. Even recently with the interesting work of the late Lloyd Pye and his intervention theory we have been offered a third possibility of humanities origins, that we are the product of alien intervention – but this possibility (fascinating as it is) is not the purpose of this article. The purpose of this article is the interesting way in which creationists think.

Personally I am not 100% convinced by any of these theories of humanities origins. However the one I reject completely is the creationist who takes the Bible literally. Leaving aside the fact of the evidence we have to support the fact that the earth is much older than the creationists would have us believe, it is not my intention to disprove creationism. It's more their mental attitude that interests me

I have always wondered why if creationists think that god is all-knowing and all-powerful he could not have set evolution in place like some kind of grand plan? Surely if he is the most intelligent being imaginable then this would be no mean feat for him? Another aspect that interests me is that many creationists – when you mention evolution – immediately say things like “I didn't come from no stinkin' ape!” and “Do I look like a monkey to you?”. As I stated earlier I'm not fully convinced by Darwinian evolution either, it's plain to see that it has holes in the theory, however if it was proven to be true to me then I wouldn't really care if I was evolved from an ape. They're incredible animals and if one was an extremely distant ancestor of mine I simply wouldn't care. It would have no effect on me whatsoever. It seems to me like many of these creationists want to believe that they are divine and somehow special as if they're not an animal walking the earth. Almost as if every other animal apart from the human animal is somehow below the divine human in some bizarre way. True we are king of the animals but as a biology teacher I once had (in a Catholic school no less) said “There are two types of things that are alive on the earth, plants and animals.” So I have no problem in describing myself as an extremely advanced animal.

But this makes me think further, I have personally yet to discuss Lloyd Pye's theory of alien intervention in humanity with creationists but I wonder if I would get “I didn't come from no filthy intergalactic entity!”

I suppose what I'm getting at is that I don't understand the creationist view at all. God could have started evolution if he wanted. He could have created the aliens that created humanity as we know it, who knows? But I take issue with the idea that we can find complete truth within the pages of one book. To take the Bible literally misses the fascinating esoteric knowledge encoded in it and for me reduces the true weight and meaning of a text that scholars are still trying (and will be for some time) to understand fully.

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Lloyd Pye and Intervention Theory