Evolution Ain’t Fishy It’s Theologically Hip! — Preacher’s Book Weds Science, Religion

DALLAS, Texas True story. A man became a vice president of a large corporation. He was thrilled by the possiblities of this new position of responsibility and leadership. Within six months of his promotion, he had five affairs. None of the women knew about each other. His wife of 12 years was clueless, too. Still, the man ended up losing his marriage and job.

The man lived with guilt and shame associated with his losses for the next 35 years. Only when he listened to a special sermon one Sunday did things change. By the following Tuesday night, he apologized to his ex-wife for being a sack of shit all those years ago. He was in tears.

What in the sermon changed the 80-year-old man? He realized he wasn’t prepared for how his rise in status would effect his libido.

“He only came to that understanding because he finally had a way of understanding what was going on in an evolutionary sense that enriched his understanding of traditional concepts like ‘the Fall’ or ‘original sin,'” said the Reverend Michael Dowd, author of “Thank God For Evolution: How the Marriage of Science and Religion Will Transform Your Life and Our World.”

“We now know scientifically that when a man especially has a rise in status… like when they get promoted at work or voted into office or become ordained, the testosterone levels will rise and in many cases rise considerably,” Dowd explained. “We now know that testosterone does two major things in any human organism. It causes that organism to take more risk, and it causes that organism to think more about sex.”

Dowd should know. He was the pastor who preached that sermon a few months ago in Florida.

In fact, the same chemical reaction is known to happen to women, he further explained.

“There’s a friend of mine, a woman in California, she had to wear a testosterone patch because she was on hormonal therapy. After two days, she said, “I can’t stop thinking about sex. Is this what guys have to deal with?” Well, yeah, actually,” he told the Iconoclast.

Evolutionary science is consistant with Dowd’s theological worldview because God never stopped revealing himself “when people believed the world was flat and religious insights were recorded on animal skins,” he said.

“For me, the discoveries of science are all revelations of God,” said Dowd. “With every new scientific discovery, I interpret that as this is God revealing the nature of reality, so it gives me a bigger picture of God. It gives me a deeper, richer understanding of my own faith tradition.”

Dowd wasn’t always pro-science. His evolution-positive theology sparked only as a result of encounters with a member of his first church. The retired 80-year-old farmer shared his knowledge and passion of astronomy. That was two decades ago.

“At one point I remember, it was the second time we [looked through the telescope], he was filled with awe almost to the point of tears. He said, ‘You know, reverend, the more I learn about this awesome universe, the more awesome my God becomes,'” Dowd said.

So why other than for personal, self-help purposes combine evolutionary ecology with Christian theology?

“My short answer is because the survival of our planet requires it. I mean, weapons of mass destruction in the hands of ‘end-times’ beliefs is a prescription for disaster. Unles