Tokens in Dayton: Why?

BioLogos by Lee Camp:

Evolution & Christian Faith grantee Lee Camp recently published an article on the blog for Tokens, a radio show from Nashville combining music, interviews, university lecture, cultural analysis, and conversation, with each episode geared around a philosophical, theological, or ethical idea.

On July 17th, Tokens aired an episode on the topic of Christian theology and the theory of evolution. The episode was recorded on the site of the famed Scopes Trial of 1925, in the Rhea County Courthouse. The Scopes trial, a legal battle over control of education on the theory of evolution, became a highly public affair that pit constituents against one another in such a black-and-white fashion that it continues to cause problems, today, for the way Americans think about the relationship of science and faith. As Lee puts it in the intro to his blog post, one might wonder, “Why stick our foot into this mess?”…

Precisely because questions often assume things that should not be assumed, we have, both playfully and seriously, insisted that Tokens is about “breaking down false dichotomies.”

A dichotomy—presenting an either/or set of options—can be true or false. In some cases we must in fact choose either (a) or (b). However, oftentimes the dichotomies that are presented to us in popular culture are false dichotomies. “Do you believe (a) or (b)?” one asks, as if one has to choose. If the given question assumes things that should not be assumed, then it is a “false dichotomy.”

I do believe that there are many false dichotomies purported to be gospel truth in the arena of human origins. Well then, that just makes it a ready-made Tokens show, you know. Allow me to explain.