Prof. Kjar on Natural Changes

("Roger, Keith, Pete and John." Here. Flickr. 28 March, 2010)

Prof. Kjar's lecture about evolution was a curious talk on how things change and the wording to what it means to change and why. Prof. Kjar's own love of ants seemed to fuel much of his lecture as he went on to touch upon the change in rats and other earlier creatures of the earth. I found it interesting that the common rat ones sees is in fact rather young genetically compared to others in the same family. As for the history of natural selection and the fight for evolution, prof. Kjar took an interesting view point by taking into account the factor of a dead specie. Should a creature be powerful enough to create a planet and all of the creatures on it, how could creatures made by such a being be wiped out over time? Along with other examples of evolution vs. religion, prof. Kjar was able to paint a fairly clear picture of why the two are at odds with one another.
Evolution has been a part of my beliefs for as long as religion has, so many of the areas that debates between the two start do not hold much sway for me. Perhaps it was my own love of Jurassic Park as a kid, but dinosuars and creation seemed to fit when I was younger. My father being the deeply rooted man of science told me of all the different animals and bugs the earth had seen that no longer can be found other than in the earth. My mother came from a more religious family and thus instilled the teachings of Christ and religion in me. That childish mind of mine just kind of took the two and made one lump sum of Jesus walking along side T-rex. It wasn't until I was in my teens that religion and science began to show signs of their warring pasts. Prof. Kjar's lecture was a wonderful learning experience to me as I am still kind of teaching my inner child.