Grolar Bears and Theistic Evolution

First there was Judy's post yesterday about bears; then there was the TV shows last night called Morphed on the National Geographic Channel that got me thinking about God, creation, and evolution!

First, I have to say as a Catholic-Christian I firmly believe that we are monogenesis people, that we are descendants of one set of parents, in accordance to the Catholic Faith. I firmly believe that we were made in the image of God and that we are not descendants of any ape-type creature; again in accordance to the Catholic Faith. There is no questions or doubts in my mind regarding those things.

With that said, I don't dismiss evolution as something that does not or could not happen. I do believe that creatures evolve to adapt to their environment. I even belief that people have evolved to adapt to their environment.

We have NOT evolved from one creature into another, we have NOT come from apes, but we have changed (evolved) to meet the needs of our environment. Hair color, skin color, height, and weight are examples of those changes, those adaptations, that we have done. Just look at the average height and weight changes that have taken place in the last 500 years. Some will say it's because we have gotten lazy and have better food choices. I argue it's evolution based on laziness and better food choices. Even the way we have communicate with people have evolved has change and still is changing. We are always evolving. It's just NOT always measured in our physical appearances.

I also believe that animals have evolved and have changed over the years. Unlike human, I believe that it's possible that they could have gone from one species to another. This is because they are NOT made in the image of God. So for me it's not unrealistic to believe that a dinosaur became a bird, or a 4 legged creature that walked on land became a whale. I DO NOT believe that all animals can be explain that way, but I do believe that it's possible.

There is a name for my beliefs. It's called Theistic Evolution. Theistic Evolution is a general term and the beliefs within Theistic Evolution is very wide to say the least, but my personal beliefs do fall within that category yet they are NOT against the Catholic Faith.

Science and Religion; God and Science do not conflict and the more we learn the better we are able to understand our creator. So what does this have to do with Grolar Bears?? And what are Grolar Bears??

Grolar Bears are a NEW species of bears that are being discovered. They are a cross between Polar Bear and a Grizzly Bear. There has been at least ONE confirmed case of this in the WILD! Why are these to species interbreeding? Some will argue that it's the caused of global warming, and that the Polar Bears are being forced to be more inland. However, before we just drop the ax down on global warming it should be noted that Grizzly's are moving more north. So it's really is a combination of Poplar bears moving more inland and off the ice and Grizzly's moving more north that are causing these two different animals to breed in the wild. Are they interbreeding to survive? Are they evolving?

What does these have to do with homeschooling my kids? Well they are learning about our Catholic Faith from me and they are learning that science and religion are NOT at odds with each other that it is possible to believe in God, believe that Adam and Eve are REAL people, and that some forms of evolution can happen, because of the necessity to survive. The Polar Bears and the Grizzly Bears cross-breeding are prime examples of that!