Week 2

 This weekend I found myself thinking more about the group discussion we had in Anne's section on Thursday. While we were trying to reconcile our own opinions on reading Darwin and on the topic of evolution we veered off into a discussion on incest, connecting the two through an emphasis on how our own past and experiences influence our gut reactions to controversial subjects, and how we then find as much data and ideas to back up our initial stance. What I found funny was how often I found this topic following me this weekend. While speaking to a friend from my old school, I told her about the classes I am taking this semester, one being "Cultural Perspectives on Marriage and Family." I explained how i was reading a book called Forbidden Relatives: The American Myth of Cousin Marriage, to which she responded with an anecdote from an article that she had just read for one of her classes. This article, "The Emotional Dog and Its Rational Tail," was one Anne referenced in class. This brought about an interesting conversation and caused me to think more about why we were having said conversation in class on Thursday. Through my reading of the aforementioned book, I drew more connections about how our moral judgment affects our reasoning with controversial or multi-sided topics or events. 

When reading Darwin, I find myself taking what he has to say as the "be-all-and-end-all," which I know is not true or fair. Unlike some people to whom religion is their backbone, I don't have much else to compare to Darwin's theory. I think that our discussion on religion and evolution also gave me a lot to think about this weekend. It seems like a lot of my thoughts are incomplete, but that's where I stand right now!