Tuesday, January 03, 2006

Amid the evolution related debates and statements that have been made lately, I have been puzzled to find the Roman Catholic Church issuing pro-evolution statements. They often say that evolution is compatible with the concept of God as long as the evolutionary theory does not leave God out.

I do not think you will find many evolutionists that believe evolution leaves God in. There are some, I know, but not many.

For example, take Olivia Judson, a biologist in London. She wrote an op ed piece for the New York Times called “Why I’m Happy I Evolved”. I lifted this quote from Al Mohler’s blog.

"Some people want to think of humans as the product of a special creation, separate from other living things. I am not among them; I am glad it is not so. I am proud to be part of the riot of nature, to know that the same forces that produced me also produced bees, giant ferns and microbes that live at the bottom of the sea.

For me, the knowledge that we evolved is a source of solace and hope. I find it a relief that plagues and cancers and wasp larvae that eat caterpillars alive are the result of the impartial - and comprehensible - forces of evolution rather than the caprices of a deity.

More than that, I find that in viewing ourselves as one species out of hundreds of millions, we become more remarkable, not less so. No other animal that I have heard of can live so peaceably in such close quarters with so many individuals that are unrelated. No other animal routinely bothers to help the sick and the dying, or tries to save those hurt in an earthquake or flood.

Which is not to say that we are all we might wish to be. But in putting ourselves into our place in nature, in comparing ourselves with other species, we have a real hope of reaching a better understanding, and appreciation, of ourselves."

I think the telling line is that she finds it a relief that bad things are the result of impartial and comprehensible forces of evolution rather than the caprices of a deity. It is a relief because there is no one to serve or satisfy. You are what you are because you are. Things are what they are because something caused it to be so. God did not make it occur.

In this relief, she is joined by many Christians. They also want to believe that bad things happen because of impersonal forces, not because God made them to be. You could see this after “The Tsunami”. Theologians rushed to say that God did not cause the Tsunami, it just happened and we know not why. Or, that it happened due to physical causes not related to God. Some would venture to say God did not cause it, but allowed it, as if that makes you beel better about it. I created a little stir on this blog by taking the opposite view, that God indeed is in charge of all things and, therefore, did cause the Tsunami (although I agree we know not why). Interestingly, when bad things happen, many of those same people ask God to intervene and save them from the bad thing.

Regardless, there is no credit to creation or to God here. There is only the natural forces of evolution at work. This is the mainstream view of evolution. It does not account for God.

The Times also published a column by Verly Kinkenborg. Here is the money quote:

"The essential, but often well-disguised, purpose of intelligent design, is to preserve the myth of a separate, divine creation for humans in the belief that only that can explain who we are. But there is a destructive hubris, a fearful arrogance, in that myth. It sets us apart from nature, except to dominate it. It misses both the grace and the moral depth of knowing that humans have only the same stake, the same right, in the Earth as every other creature that has ever lived here. There is a righteousness - a responsibility - in the deep, ancestral origins we share with all of life."

Kinkenborg, you can see, is not neutral, but rather opposes the idea of God. In fact, that is what is behind the blitz of criticism for Intelligent Design theory. It allows for a Designer. Christians jumped on the theory as proof of creation and equated the Designer with God. That killed it. Evolutionists have been hammering away hysterically ever since. Why have they done this? Because Evolutionists do not believe in God and believe evolution excludes Him (regardless of what the Pope says).

In contrast, the Bible clearly attributes all creation to God. Not just in Genesis, but all through the Bible. Write this on your forehead and on your hand: no creation, no God.

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