Church’s ‘herd mentality’ won’t be
any different on Evolution Sunday
To the Editor:
Jonathan Dudley ends his otherwise excellent column “Evolution Sunday not so benign” (Science & Technology, 1/24) with a peculiar misgiving. He fears that a day when religious leaders across the country will come together to preach a message of coexistence between God and science will simply “perpetuate the same herd mentality it is designed to combat.” He believes that, instead of doing some critical thinking, “Christians will learn to assimilate another opinion because an authority tells them to.” While Dudley may very well be right, I don’t think these are things he can blame on the idea of Evolution Sunday or anything that is going to be said to mark that occasion on Feb. 11.
The truth is that going to church — by its very nature — creates a herd mentality and listening to a sermon is basically assimilating the position of an authority figure. That’s just the way it works, whether the clergyman is talking about God, Charles Darwin or Mickey Mouse. I don’t believe a lot of people leave their place of worship and think critically and independently about the preacher’s interpretation of scripture, but more power to them if they do. If that’s the case, they’re certainly capable of it after the services on Evolution Sunday.
Alberto Medina ’07
Jan. 24
The writer is in Pierson College.