My step-dad, Lorenzo Lisonbee, was one of the "big-wigs" in the argument of whether schools would teach evolution in Arizona. As a biologist and scientist, he argued that evolution SHOULD be taught to the high school kids. There were others, who argued that evolution should NOT be taught to the kids.Lorenzo was a good man -
Soon after he married my mom, they left to serve two missions - one in Guam Micronesia, & one in Ireland.
He was part of the Church's communication system - a HAM radio operator.
He had just retired from teaching High School & serving as an Assistant Principal at his school.
He was the father of 8 children (plus 4 of us from Mom) - although we were all "grown and gone" by the time they married - but he loved, honored, sustained, & supported the decisions of all his children.
He loved Arizona - had hiked the Grand Canyon dozens of times, & knew the geology, the plants, the animals, the people, the history, and the beauty of the Canyon. One of his favorite things to "show off" was to take you out into the desert of Arizona to discover the beauty that is there. He knew all about everything you would ever see, & loved to 'teach' as you discovered.
But one of the things he was remembered for was his staunch support of teaching evolution in school.
I once asked him why. He explained that since we don't know how the Lord had created the earth - the books of Genesis & Abraham being the only hints - we humans have had to guess, discover, figure out, and try to decipher how it was done. In all aspects of scientific discovery, we have enthusiastically shared our discoveries, and taught them to our next generations. Why not this?
Sometimes, our information has been wrong - but we correct ourselves & move forward. Only in evolution has there been an argument against this practice.
We don't know how the Lord created the earth & all things in it. Maybe the process He used is what we now call evolution.
I have always thought of evolution as a really good explanation of the way things seem to be - and no one has yet come up with a better explanation! Far be it from me to try to put restrictions on the Lord because of my minuscule understanding!
One day, the Lord will come again, and will answer all our questions - He will teach us all the gaps in our understanding & correct our mistakes.
As John Bytheway once said, "I have a LOT of questions - no doubts, but a lot of questions!"
I remember as a teenager really struggling with my own feelings about evolution. I felt like I was a "bad" Mormon for secretly believing in something that was mainly dismissed as a heretic doctrine within Christianity. So I just kept my opinions quiet. I remember the distinct moment I heard Lorenzo talk about his belief in evolution and my heart leapt! He gave me the courage to stand behind what I believed, regardless of who told me it was "wrong". It was so refreshing to know others in the Church believed what I did.
ReplyDeleteI like his explanation very much.
ReplyDeleteLorenzo believed that God created the world, and created us in his image. He believed He did that through natural methods. After being raised to be openminded about evolution and still to have faith in God, I sat in a BYU geography class 30+ years ago and a light turned on in my head. "You are teaching evolution!" I said to the teacher. He smiled. "Yes, Miss Lisonbee." He went on teaching, but I don't recall the term evolution was ever used."
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