When I look around me and the global situation, I am compelled to continually examine, research and comprehend the essence of our civilization, frequently pondering whether it constitutes a genuine civilization or merely a discordance of expectations. Through studying prominent sufi's, philosophers and scientists from past and recent times, I have scrutinized our past, tracing developments from the Sumerian era to the emergence of a global religion, analyzing the evolution of thoughts and ideas. Following my recent essay here, 'Sumerian Mythology Revisited', I felt inclined to expand upon my thoughts, hence this supplementary post, crafted to be concise and engaging.
Creationism and it's Illusions
Creationism, viewed through the lens of mysticism and religion, is a complex phenomenon that lies outside the purview of science. Rather than seeking empirical validation, creation myths function as meaning-making tools that provide people with existential narratives to explain their origins and purpose. Historically and psychologically, the tension between religious creationism and science illuminates a deeper conflict—not merely over facts, but over paradigms of understanding, self-concept, and human limitation.
Historical Perspective: The Narrative of Divine Origin
Throughout history, humans have sought explanations for existence that transcend the observable world. Whether in the form of Genesis, ancient Mesopotamian cosmologies, or the Hindu concept of Brahman, creation stories have been a way to domesticate the unknown. These narratives serve as cultural anchors, providing a framework to understand human life, morality, and death. Creationism in this sense is not an aberration—it is part of a long-standing tradition of mythologizing life to make it bearable and coherent.
The psychological attachment to these stories lies not merely in belief but in what Carl Jung would call archetypes—universal symbols that resonate within the collective unconscious. Myths of creation answer the fundamental human need for identity and order, satisfying the mind's tendency to seek patterns. Historically, these stories also served practical purposes, justifying the moral laws or social hierarchies upon which civilizations were built.
In contrast, scientific explanations such as the Big Bang theory or evolution challenge the certainty of divine design. The historical reaction from religious institutions—the Catholic Church’s initial resistance to heliocentrism or modern fundamentalists’ opposition to evolution—reflects not just theological rigidity but an existential threat to narratives that confer order and meaning.
The Psychology of Belief and Cognitive Dissonance
Psychologically, belief in creationism reveals a form of cognitive consistency. Humans are more comfortable holding onto beliefs that align with their identity and worldview. When new information, such as evolutionary science, contradicts deeply held religious beliefs, individuals experience what Leon Festinger called 'cognitive dissonance'. To resolve this discomfort, many religious adherents either reject scientific evidence or reinterpret their beliefs to incorporate scientific findings—e.g., the concept of 'intelligent design.'
What makes this tension psychologically fascinating is that religion operates in a realm of non-rational truth—a truth that is felt rather than measured. A Belief in the Unknown. From this vantage point, creationism is not about proving a scientific fact but about affirming a spiritual truth. This distinction is often blurred by believers who feel the need to defend their myths as literal truth, mistaking science’s search for "how" with religion’s concern for "why." The confounding happens here: religious people sometimes misapply their own myths as if they were competing with science or facts, instead of seeing them as complementary narratives serving different purposes.
Mysticism: The Bridge Between Myths and Reality
Mysticism introduces an interesting wrinkle into the conversation. Mystics—whether Sufi poets, Christian mystics like Meister Eckhart, or Zen monks—often acknowledge the limitations of language and reason in accessing ultimate truths. For the mystic, creation stories are symbolic rather than literal; they point to realities that transcend ordinary experience. In this framework, the Genesis story, for example, is not a description of historical events but a metaphor for the unfolding of consciousness or the birth of awareness.
Mysticism, in many ways, bridges the divide between science and religion by acknowledging that there are dimensions of existence that cannot be captured by empirical methods. This humility contrasts with the rigidity of literalist creationists, who sometimes fall into what a man I consider a prophet of our time, George Carlin might call the folly of "believing your own BS"—mistaking symbol for fact.
The Role of Arrogance and the Confounding of Belief
At the heart of creationism’s tension with science lies a paradox of human arrogance. On the one hand, there is the arrogance of assuming that divine truths can be reduced to human language and concepts. On the other hand, there is the scientific arrogance of dismissing non-empirical ways of knowing as superstition. Religious literalists are confounded when they attempt to fit non-scientific ideas into the mold of scientific discourse, expecting empirical validation where none is possible.
The psychological need to defend these myths as literal truths reflects an existential insecurity—a fear that without these ‘stories', life might lose meaning. Yet, the deeper wisdom found in mysticism suggests that it is precisely the unknowability of creation that makes it sacred. Carl Sagan, another of my most admired and respectedscientist, in his reverence for the cosmos, understood this humility well: "The cosmos is within us. We are made of star-stuff." His perspective offers a bridge—science as a way to appreciate the mystery, without needing to confine it within religious dogma.
Conclusion: Complementary Narratives, Conflicting Worlds
In the end, creationism, religion, and science each offer different ways of engaging with the mystery of existence. The mistake comes when people, driven by psychological need or institutional pressure or even stepping out of their ideological sanitation, conflate these narratives as if they were competing answers to the same question. Creationism, from a religious perspective, is less about factual origins and more about providing a sense of belonging in the universe. Mystics accept this ambiguity, whereas literalists resist it, trying to domesticate the sacred into comprehensible, fixed doctrines. Hence, this has obviously led to much angst and blood being shed.
The lesson, perhaps, lies in embracing both science and myth without arrogance—acknowledging that the universe may be beyond human understanding, and that the pursuit of knowledge is not just about knowing, but about being humbled by what we cannot know. This humility is where science, mysticism, and religion might perhaps find their reconciliation.
As history shows, people are most confounded when they demand certainty from realms that are meant to offer reflection, not resolution. We have journeyed thousands if not millions of years and everyday, we find new discoveries of our past that confounds the history and the myths we have been fed. Isn't it time to humble ourselves and curtail our arrogrance and to understand ourselves?
The Gentile!
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