Blind followers.

Most people who believe in evolution don’t know why they do; it just sounds good. After all everybody else seems to, and it is science, right? Wrong! Poor science and sometimes dishonest science. Most people believe in evolution because most people believe in evolution. It is popular, even if it is unproven and illogical. Think for a moment, if evolution were true, how many lies we have been told in the Bible, the biggest of which is the fourth commandment where God declares that he made the world in 6 days plus one for rest. (Exodus 20:8-11). Genesis 2:1 says His work was finished, whereas evolution says the process is still happening. Jesus said that the devil is a liar – but don’t get me started. Here is the story…

Example and influence are very strong forces. They cause people, and other creatures, sometimes to act in ways that they might not act were it not for their presence.

There was a French naturalist by the name of Fabre who observed an interesting caterpillar behaviour that illustrates this point. The caterpillar is called the pine processionary caterpillar. They are called processionary caterpillars, as you probably guessed, because they always travel about in processions, and their favourite food is pine needles.

One day Fabre placed a column of these caterpillars on the rim of a flowerpot and placed a pine branch on the table beside the pot. It would have been a very simple matter for the caterpillars to crawl down the side of the pot and over to the pine branch. But processionary caterpillars don’t have the built-in ability to handle such a situation. Furthermore, their instinct tells them to lay down a thread of silk wherever they go and to follow a thread of silk being laid ahead of them.

The lead caterpillar explored its way around the rim with all the others dutifully following the trail of silk it laid down. Then the leader came upon his own trail, at which point instinct took over and he followed not only its silken trail but those of all the others that had followed. Those caterpillars went around in circles for seven straight days, unable to break out of the habit that was leading them nowhere.

We might suppose that human beings would not get into a situation like this. However, many times humanity is influenced to go along with the crowd. One of the most striking illustrations of this had to do with the happenings surrounding the crucifixion of Jesus. Some that shouted praise during the triumphal entry into Jerusalem 7 days earlier, now did the popular thing and screamed, “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!”