The Laetoli footprints

"The Laetoli footprints were formed and preserved by a chance combination of events -- a volcanic eruption, a rainstorm, and another ashfall. When they were found in 1976, these hominid tracks, at least 3.6 million years old, were some of the oldest evidence then known for upright bipedal walking, a major milestone in human evolution."

Extract taken from PBS Evolution home. My point?

Consider the following; If you deny the facts of evolution these footprints do not, in fact, represent an astonishing glimpse into our ancient past. They are an anomaly, best explained by some freak event. And why? Because God created the Earth sometime within the last 6-10000 years.

I want you to reflect on something. Our planet is ancient. It has a vivid history, cycles of change interwoven with at least five major extinction events. Our human story is a tiny part of the greatest story ever told, the grand tale of this pale blue dot we call home. There is no greater epic. It crushes
the purile nonsense spouted in the Holy books, rendering these children's story's as grim reminders of our lack of vision. If you prefer fantasy to the joys of reality then I've nothing to say to you. Nor will I indulge your fantasist inclinations. You see, reality is amazing. Absolutely, totally, jaw dropingly amazing. We've learned so much, and yet so much remains unknown. Why then, do some of you actively deny the facts of history, and in so doing  sacrifice a clearer view of yourself? The answer is religion. A perpetual thorn in the side of real progress. Granted, there was a time when it conferred a certain survival advantage, and in previous blogs I have described it as a lens through which to see the world. But the lens is faulty. It's tragically distorted. It's like wearing glasses of the wrong prescription, blurring the edges of reality and making it harder to see. Yet still you persist. Filing into your Churches and Mosques and Synagogues, convinced that you are somehow fallen, sinful, unclean. Yet fear not, for you've been told that you are children of God. Your sins have been washed away. And there's no arguing with you because you know, just know that you're right. You have the one true religion, the one true faith. What you don't understand you call mystery. What you cannot reconcile with modernity you call metaphor. You shape and mould your beliefs like malleable clay, smoothing here and reshaping there.

Only now the world has changed. There's a new flood coming, the oceans of reason invading the islands on which you inhabit. Some of you who read this will remain faithful until your dying breath, whilst some of you are already considering jumping ship. I know this because I get the e-mails. I know that you question and groan under the dissonance of your beliefs. To you I say be brave. There is a higher reality, a place where truth need hold no fear. There's a world where your mind can be open to new and spectacular horizons, and all you have to do is walk away from something that you never really had in the first place.