Living in Fantasyland

“Belief” has gotten too big for its britches. The judeo-Christian creation story is rightly revered as a pillar of those religions. It illuminates truths of human nature and how we interact with our creator or cosmic forces of creation, however envisioned. It helps us understand ourselves and our world. It is an inspired masterwork of sacred literature. But it isn’t history or science.

It denigrates the creation story to secularize it as “creation science” in opposition to the real, beyond reasonable doubt, exhaustively researched and documented science about the age of the earth and origins of life on earth. Evolution is fundamental to the biological sciences. It’s not a belief. Global warming caused by humans is a scientifically observed and thoroughly documented current happening. It’s not a belief. By the way, smoking causes cancer. Not a belief.

In the equal-opportunity Fantasyland of all creeds, the supernatural rules. Belief, faith and feelings trump facts. Subjective “truth”—especially as popular or peer group opinion— obliterates objective truth.

On the right, Trump’s and Putin’s lies are excused as valid “feelings” in tune with their bases. They are celebrated for tactical cleverness. On the left, no amount of scientific evidence can acquit genetically modified food products of crimes against gastronomy.

More examples are in Kurt Andersen’s excellent book, Fantasyland, How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History (Random House, 2017). “America may now be at peak Fantasyland,” he wrote, trying to end on an optimistic note.

I doubt it.

HOWELL MEDDERS

Fayetteville