in one hundred years than Christianity did in eighteen hundred.”
~John Burroughs

WE ENJOY THE SPOILS OF MODERN SCIENCE and technology which allows us to soar into the clouds and reach any destination in this manner, both quickly and comfortably. Individuals from antiquity must have lamented — and had much time to lament — the laborious tedium of traveling from point to point by foot or by beast. It is no wonder that mythology hosts an inherent wish to fly by its creation of the Phoenix, Pegusus, Sirens, Harpies, Griffins, Cherubim, Angels, vampires (as bats) and even Superman. We seem to maintain an uncommon fondness for the miraculous and the mythical, even to our own detriment and to the annihilation of others in our species, as well as the lesser species in our food chain. But just as we have assimilated into this technological society with our actions, so must our hearts and minds move from the imaginings of despairingly tedious superstitious history toward the truth which resides in realism.

Science has proven itself valuable time and again. It has been the messenger of understanding to the human race for some time now. Even myths that are still stubbornly clung to, have been proven false through the process of scientific method and empirical testing and double-blind examination.

For instance, the hoopla about the Shroud of Turin was eventually shown to be just that. Carbon dating showed that the fabric was not old enough to have been the burial cloth of Jesus, even if we accept the postulate that Jesus lived at all. Archeologists have also recently found another shroud that carbon dates to the alleged time of Jesus, (between 1 and 50 CE) but its material (not available in that region at the time) and its weave (too complex for the time) supports the finding that the Turin shroud was created in the Middle Ages, between 1260-1390 CE.

The Jerusalem tomb in which the new shroud was found, had been sealed shut with plaster for the last 2,000 years, and scientists suspect it was not opened for the second burial (it was customary to rebury the dead after a year) because they were trying to prevent the spread of tuberculosis and leprosy, which was found in the DNA of the bones in the recently discovered shroud.

This information should act as precursor to our ability to scrutinize mysterious discoveries, before we attach a magical explanation to it. It should extend to other seemingly miraculous things.

For instance, we know now that God did not carve out the Grand Canyon with his giant cosmic spoon. We know it began to form almost 17 million years ago,[1] by the process of water and wind erosion, continental drift, volcanism and the behavior of the Colorado River.

We have been schooled in the realities of stage magicianship, and allowed ourselves to be amazed while also knowing that this performer has no mystical gift bestowed by an endowment from dark arts, or an omniscient being, but is merely fooling us with his skills at sleight-of-hand and optical illusion. And many will depart from that auditorium and next day, to be found in church, worshiping that invisible being with complete and utter devotion. Until those stalwart believers admit there that is no difference in the two, we will remain a nation with believers in the majority, and will suffer for its various consequences.

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