Biology and the Bible

I hear certain types of arguments a lot, even outside of my head between people in the real world. And I've discovered something - Biology is like the Bible when it comes to some arguments.

For example, take sex. No really, take some, I have plenty to share, just be sure to share yours as well. When people talk about sex, I hear this argument "Men want to spread their seed around. Women want to be selective about who's seed they take. It is a biological drive based on child rearing! That is why men always want sex and women do not, biology. No changing that, that is just how we are programmed. Live with it." And yet we are omnivores, as one can tell by that very same biology. (We have two types of teeth, we can digest both plant and vegetable matter, etc.) And yet there are vegetarians out there, I know, I have met a few. These are people who for have forsaken their biology for religious or social needs.

There are many examples of this, where people can choose whether to listen to biology or some societal signal. And yet in each case, even though they are deciding which to pick, when it comes to biology I hear "That's just the way it is, biological." Biology is used to justify why they do or don't do something, rather than saying, "This is what I have chosen to do."

I used to hear the same thing all of the time with the Bible. "Well, God said that we should all tithe, so give up your 10% to the Church. God said fornication is wrong, so stop that. Etc." Yet, the Bible also talks about stoning people for what we do not even consider crimes now, etc. So, the Bible was used not as a literal device, no matter how many people I have met who claim it is one, but as a justification of why they do or don't do something.

So, when I hear people say "biologically speaking" I think "Wow, that is interesting that we have a base level program to do that. And even more interesting that we can choose not to."

The Edward