We all know denial is a river running north in Egypt. It evidently runs left and right as well, as demonstrated on the editorial page of the Dec. 19 Tribune. On the left column was an article about the right-wing Islamic president of Iran who denies that the Holocaust took place. An overwhelming body of evidence doesn't matter to him if it contradicts his world view.
On the right was a column by left-wing liberal Richard Cohen, who denies the existence of intelligent design in the universe. An overwhelming body of 21st-century evidence doesn't matter to him if it contradicts his world view. I have never felt so middle-of-the-road. Both sides appear equally perilous to one who humbly and joyously embraces his Creator.
Ahmadinejab is the product of a culture which evidently nurtures a head-in-the-sand mindset. But what is Cohen's excuse? Modern science stands on the shoulders of open-minded explorers who rejoiced to discover the intricate workings of a creatively designed universe. Today's technology, which enables us to unlock the secrets of DNA on one hand and watch the birth of stars on the other, has done nothing to rule out the existence of an intelligent designer. In fact, the study of science today more than ever becomes an act of worship.
Those like Cohen and all too many high school teachers educated in the glory days of Darwinism are too closed-minded to see their "material is all there is" religion is old-fashioned and unworkable. But it's comfortable for them and it fits within the world view which has been built around it.
John McCain and any other public figure who challenges the accepted view of origins invites quick slander if they have the nerve to speak on the subject. It seems the staunch resistance of new scientific evidence by the Holy Roman Empire during the Enlightenment has been reborn in liberal elitism. Voices promoting anything but sanctioned positions are put down immediately lest they threaten accepted theology.
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Denial sometimes is as far away as Egypt and Iran and sometimes flows through our own backyard. Ahmadinejad and Cohen should both catch up on their reading. Enlightenment may follow.
Lowell Tieszen
Raymond
