Theologians with Martian Microbes

Pete stopped me at the WaWa:

"I read a piece (Pete teaches and he's the only other guy in town who reads) speculating on the impact on theologians if we find microbes on Mars."

"Funny thing. Nothing will happen. First, religion usually awards the unknown to God. It's a losing position, the more that we know, the less God does. Second, the older clergy will ignore the finding rather than admit lying to their flocks for the last three decades. The younger guys will incorporate the fact and no one will notice the transition. Younger members of the congregation tend to listen more to younger preachers. We see the same transition in customs between parents and their teenage children.

"Also remember, mathematicians are usually deists whereas most biologists are atheists."

I left the store, thinking that Mormons and Witnesses and Southern Baptists have the most trouble with the idea of evolution. The Mormons and Witnesses are similar: both have national meetings and a nodal organization of local cells. The members within each cell mow lawns and repair auto brakes for sick or destitute brothers. The local cell is also a monitor and wields powerful incentives for everyone within the cell to comply with doctrine. The cell organization also may exert a self-selective effect on converts: independent thinkers don't join in the first place.

I then remembered Imo, who dipped potatoes in water to remove sand. Her peers and female relatives adopted her new habit. The old males never did.

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