EDF 1005 Reflection Paper #4

Jackie Lawrence
Reflection Paper # 4
EDF 1005

Growing up, I was baptized Catholic, raised Presbyterian, and attended a rigorously religious Catholic School, uniforms and all. After my mother left my family when I was twelve or thirteen, religion in my house disappeared as well. My father, deeply confused and hurt in our crisis, left it up to his children to discover their beliefs in spirituality. High school taught me Catholicism, but at that point in my life, I was pretty skeptical. My only goals in those religion classes were to earn A’s. Although I somewhat eventually came up with my own version of God and the afterlife, I was always confused when it came to studying evolution in school. The readings that were assigned, as well as my Social Science class this semester, have already answered a plethora of my questions.
The discovery of Lucy in Ethiopia in 1974 helped verify that humans evolved over a period of several million years, as her fossils were 3.2 million years old. Although Lucy’s bone structure was closely related to a chimpanzee’s, anthropologists were able to confirm she walked upright, like a human. This major discovery sparked a lot of interest. Lucy wasn’t exactly a chimp or an ape, and her skeleton exhibited characters similar to humans. As the scientists endured more painfully complex research, they learned that the first human beings, or homo habilis, evolved around 2 million years ago. Then came the homo erectus, which were able to stand and walk erect on two legs. In 1984, Turkana Boy was discovered in Kenya. Besides his skull, he had an extremely similar skeleton to what modern twelve year old boys have today. As an adult, he probably would have been around six feet tall! Turkana Boy’s skeleton further expanded our knowledge of evolution. Eventually, we learned the homo erectus migrated out of Africa and into Europe and Asia to settle. Around 600,000 years ago, homo sapiens, which are modern humans, had evolved in Africa. Social organizations and culture systems were developed and refined over time throughout the world. It is said today that all our genes can be traced from 150,000 years ago, through ancestry called the mitochondrial Eve.
Obviously, I didn’t obtain any of this information from religion class. I’m sure evolution vs. religion can easily become a hot debate, especially when views at home differ from what is taught in school. I am fortunate to have experienced the gut feeling that somebody is up there rooting for me, which empowers my faith every day. I know I have been given many second chances; therefore, I am on this earth today for a reason. How, what, when, where, and why are not as significant, at least to me. Beliefs and facts are two very different things, but to most, their beliefs are factual. And whether you’re an anthropologist or a priest, you have every right to feel that way.