Lilly and Rachel’s first playdate was hanging out at Rachel’s house and playing with her numerous pets. Because Rachel was an only child, her parents had encouraged her love of animals so she would always have the companion of a living, sentient being. She had two dogs, two cats, a horse, and a donkey. They walked to the local playground after introducing Lilly to her furry friends. Mildred and Oscar were glad that one of their youngest daughters had made a new friend. Their three other children were having challenges adapting to the new normal. James’s parents encouraged him to pick a new extracurricular activity since he had decided he didn’t want to play soccer during the previous school year. He had chosen Boy Scouts as his latest activity. Mildred and Oscar had searched high and low for a troop they thought would be a good fit for James and had landed on one that met weekly at the local catholic church.
St. Andrews Catholic church was an older chapel built in the early 1900s. Beautiful stained glass windows lined the pews on both sides of the sanctuary that led from the entrance. They depicted scenes involving the saints and Jesus. The Whites were protestant; they had attended different denominations over the years and were currently attending an episcopal church with an excellent children’s ministry. Scout Troop 1465 met in the church’s basement and met on Thursday evenings. In preparation for his first troop meeting, James had read the handbook his father had purchased and was in his new uniform. As he descended the stairs into what felt like the bowels of the church, he felt a rush of excitement and fear. He’d never had an issue making new friends, but he had never met this group of kids. The unknown could be nerve-wracking for anyone.
James’s first scout meeting went well. As it was the first meeting of the school year, most of the meeting had been going over the plans for the year, and the boys got to know each other and the other parents who would be assisting. Scout Master Mckinnon was a no-nonsense woman who was the mother of George, one of the quietest boys in the troop. James could tell that she was well-liked by all and ran a tight ship. As the meeting ended, Mckinnon mentioned the first outing of the school year: “ I’m very excited that this year we’re going to the Science Day at the local ecology center.” She smiled at the group. “ We didn’t get to do this activity last year because it fell during a county-wide camping trip.” Miss McKinnon was very excited about this field trip. Wildwood Ecology Center was a private, local educational hub. Besides reptiles that resided there, they also had exhibits on the water cycle, local ecosystems, etc. Science Day was when they invited other local conservation groups to set up booths and educate the public on their work in the local community. They even had a local paleontologist bring fossils for the public to look at and give a talk about his adventures looking for fossils. James was very excited about this field trip. He had always enjoyed science and was looking forward to an activity with his new troop members that was right up his alley. Most of all, he was looking forward to meeting the paleontologist.
The morning of the field trip was a cool, crisp Saturday in September. The leaves have just started changing on the trees, and the weather felt perfect for an outdoor science event. James’s dad, Oscar, came in to tell him he couldn’t take him on this excursion. “I have some work to catch up on, ” his dad said. “I have arranged for you to carpool with other boys who are going.” He smiled down at James. He continued, “Mrs Johnson will drive you and a few other boys on the field trip and back.” James was sad that his dad couldn’t join him on the field trip, but he knew he would still have a good time with his new friends. When Mrs. Johnson pulled up, she pulled up in a dark blue minivan that screamed soccer mom and smiled brightly at James. “I hope you’re ready for a fun day.” She waved at Oscar as James climbed into the van. He took a seat in the back by one of the windows and was greeted by the other boys who had already been picked up for the field trip. Once they pulled out of the White’s driveway, Mrs. Johnson looked at the boys in the review view window before speaking, “So now I know we’re going to be learning about science today, but I know you won’t be learning about science from a biblical perspective. We’re going to watch a video now that shares the truth behind secular science and will give you a biblical foundation regarding science.”
The next forty minutes passed in a blur. The video Mrs. Johnson played for them contained all kinds of false information, and James found it confusing. The video claimed that the Earth was only 6,000 years old despite what radiocarbon dating happened to say on the matter. The video also went into great detail on how all of the major subspecies of dinosaurs could have been contained in Noah’s ark at the bottom of the ship and how there must have been dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden. The video also took particular issue with the idea that humans were descended from other great apes. James was now in an internal debate with himself: should he wait until he returned home and bring up the issues he had with the video with his parents and hash out what would be the best way to respond, or should he take it up with the adults in charge of him currently, Mrs. Johnson and risk getting in trouble. James knew he was new to the group and didn’t want to rock the boat. Besides, he wanted to make friends, so he chose not to say anything.
The rest of the day, including ecology exhibits on restoring local streams and wildlife and the importance of combating invasive plant species, could have been more uneventful. Once he got home, he waited to clue his parents into the confounding experience he’d had earlier in the day. When he was ready to discuss it with his dad, Osca, he went up to his dad a bit timidly and asked, “Dad, have you ever heard someone say that the Earth is only 6,000 years old ?” His father, who had by now finished his pile of work projects that had prevented him from attending the event, put down the newspaper he was currently perusing and looked down at his son. “Well, I can’t say I’ve heard it often,” said Oscar. “Where did you hear this?” James continued filling his father in on his day. “Mrs. Johnson played a video for us today on the way to the science day, and the video told us that the Earth is only 6,000 years old, that there were dinosaurs in the Garden of Eden, and that humans were not descended from other great apes.” It all came out in a rush; James had been deeply frustrated by sitting through the video and not feeling like you could talk to Mrs. Johnson about what had bothered him so much.
Oscar relaxed, “I haven’t had very many conversations with Mrs. Johnson, but from my conversations, she and her husband seem to be a bit more conservative than your mother and I. Oscar continued, “Some people take the Bible literally as in everything that is stated in it is true. He said, “Your mother and I are not literalists regarding the Bible. Your mother and I believe that certain parts of the Bible are true, especially in the New Testament regarding Jesus and his miracles, for example. We tend to believe, though, especially regarding the Old Testament, that many of the stories are allegories, stories told to teach a lesson to people and not facts. All of the scientific research and the vast majority, if not all, of scientists agree that the Earth is older than 6000 years and that we are descended from other grade apes.”
James was now furrowing his brow and frowning at his dad’s response. “Well, if people are going around believing things that are incorrect and not based on fact and teaching other people incorrect facts and false science, wouldn’t it be best for someone to tell them that they’re wrong?” Oscar smiled at his son. “You see, people who believe things that we disagree with or that we think are just plain wrong don’t think there’s anything wrong with what they’re believing, and I’ve learned over my almost four decades on this Earth that telling someone they’re wrong and trying to convince them otherwise is often a foolish waste of time.” James frowned. “Then how do you get people to understand what science is correct, and how do you get people to understand when they believe something that is not based on fact.” His father sighed. “ It’s only expedient to directly contradict and get into debates or arguments with people about what they believe is actively harmful to other people.” James thought for a moment. “ She isn’t hurting anyone, so I did the right thing by not saying anything.” Oscar nodded his agreement and stood up, stretching once he was standing up completely straight. “ You made a good choice, son; let’s go inside for dinner.”
Just as they walked in, Violet bounded down the stairs; her mother called her down for dinner. “ I want to start taking horseback riding lessons.” Mildred and Oscar exchanged looks. Violet was about to have her adventure with a new activity, just like her brother.
Living on the Spectrum 
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