I have a saying: “I believe in Jesus; everyone else is required to provide evidence.” As a science-trained Christian, I fully understand that faith is exactly that—”the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1). I appreciate that my decision to be a follower of Jesus is a way of life that I have chosen based on faith. That said, I place a high value on the kind of evidence-based thinking I learned from science. Sadly, evidence-based thinking seems in short supply these days and as a society we pay dearly for it. Here are just three examples from today:
1: This morning the Weather Channel highlighted the use of social media by malicious entities to spread fake information during hurricanes. They referenced a study in which researchers identified 10,350 unique Tweets containing fake images that were circulated on Twitter during Hurricane Sandy; 86% of those were retweets.1 Conclusion: social media users are too willing to spread false information without vetting it first.
2: Last night at a meeting on climate change sponsored by Faith Alliance for Climate Solutions, one candidate for Senate argued that sea level rise in Virginia is caused by farmers and cities around the Chesapeake Bay pumping out too much ground water, a false narrative that in no way accords with the overwhelming mountain of scientific evidence for rising sea levels. Meanwhile, real Virginians deal daily with the realities of properties and communities that are being swamped by the rising sea.
3: This week’s headlines have been dominated by a sexual assault allegation made against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh. Already there are many people who have staked their opinions on Kavanaugh’s guilt or innocence—often vocally so—before any evidence has been brought forth. Evidence-based thinking says we have no idea yet whether Kavanaugh is guilty of the things he is accused. We haven’t yet seen evidence—one way or the other—presented as part of sworn testimony or any other official investigative process.
While these three examples differ in their particularities, they all represent situations where evidence matters. Accurate information can be a matter of life and death—for an individual, a community, and a civil society. Sadly, evidence-based thinking seems in short supply these days. Far too many of us are drawing conclusions based on our biases, opinions, wishful thinking, penchant for gossip, and/or intellectual laziness.
So, today I am championing the kind of evidence-based thinking practiced by science. Identify and check your assumptions. Rely on facts. Work to find the evidence. Be skeptical. Oddly enough, it might just help make the world a bit more as Jesus imagined it.
