"Are you a creationist?" I remember my cousin asking condescendingly after a particularly ugly debate, the kind that characterized Christmas parties at my aunt's house for a number of years.
"I am," I admitted. I remember my cousin dancing away across the room at that point (we'd all been in the wine that evening, and then to excess), giggling to herself, before dancing back over to me.
"Well, let me tell you," she began, "I'm an anthropologist..."
"Which proves what?" I asked, rolling my eyes and emptying my glass.
And so it went. Actually, no, it didn't; the debate ended fairly quickly after that point, with my grandfather mumbling to me that I was full of...fecal matter (though he was speaking about a different issue that had been a subject of heated discussion). The debate itself had raged for a good half an hour, possibly more, and I have forgotten pretty much all of the words spoken therein, save for my cousin's. Why? Because they reflect a trend, a viewpoint, that is both erroneous to its core and too depressingly common in society these days.
When we think of the term 'creationist' - indeed, when most of us use the term 'creationist' - we usually think of these guys, or maybe these guys: the Young Earthers. And to be fair, Young Earth Creationism is certainly a form of creationist belief. But is it the exclusive form of creationist belief?
In fact, creationist belief falls into a spectrum. That is to say, there are other forms of creationist belief, not just the silly ones that claim that the world is merely thousands of years old and that evolution is a lie foisted upon us and our children by (variously) atheists, scientists, and/or Satan. What is more, not all forms of creationist reject the idea that the Earth is very old, nor do all forms of creationist reject the idea that life on Earth evolved.
So why is it that the term 'creationist' has become associated almost exclusively with only one form of creationism, if in fact it is not true that there is only one form of creationist?
Well, a lot of people want it to be true. A lot of people strive to construct and maintain a false dichotomy between science and religion, between the theory of evolution and the belief in a creator. Worse still, not all of these people are themselves creationists of any stripe; the pressure to view science and religion - creation and evolution - as being enemies locked in eternal combat comes as much from people who do not believe in God (or at least in a creator) as from people who do.
It's not easy to understand why both sides strive to build up this dichotomy. For non-creationists, it confers a kind of rhetorical advantage: it is pretty well-evidenced that life did in fact evolve, and so it's easy (under the dichotomy) to case 'creationists' as being in opposition to the evidence. Likewise, one can sympathize with those creationists who have allowed their faith to become intimately wedded to the notion that "man didn't come from monkey" (news flash: d'uh). But these aren't complete reasons in and of themselves.
At its most basic, academic meaning, the term 'creationist' refers to anyone who believes that life on Earth, the Earth itself, the Solar System, the Galaxy, and/or the entire Universe were created. By whom they were created is a separate discussion, in a sense; a Catholic like me who believes that the Triune God created all things is every bit as much a creationist as a Muslim who believes that Allah created all things. The point is that creationists believe in a creator. That creator might have brought about creation very quickly only a few thousand years ago, or He might have brought about creation by means of ordained, sustained, evolutionary processes requiring billions of years. Either way, He's the creator, and anyone who believes in Him is necessarily a creationist.
Which is why I asked my cousin what her "outing" me as a creationist proved. I'm an evolutionary creationist and a Catholic, which means I believe the Triune God brought all things into being by means of ordained, sustained, evolutionary processes over the course of billions of years. I do not reject any scientific evidence, nor do I reject the revelation of Scripture...nor do I accept that the two must be in conflict.
I believe in a creator. I am a creationist. And so can you*.
* with apologies to Stephen Colbert
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