ANOTHER VIEW
Creating a Debate about Evolution (Part 2)
Dr. Francis Collins, head of the Human Genome Project, recently published a book entitled, The Language of God, where he demonstrates why he thinks that faith and reason can co-exist. That he is one of the most successful and respected scientists of the early 21st Century has brought his book into prominence and gives it credibility few others have. Though Dr. Collins accepts the theory of evolution as the best explanation for the development of species, he believes there are limitations to scientific knowledge that require a serious investigation into the existence of God. As plausible signs of God’s existence he points out the moral sense of right and wrong found throughout the human race, as well as the question of cause and effect in the appearance of the universe.
Scientists espousing Intelligent Design (ID) theory argue that the complexity of DNA as an information storage package could not have conceivably developed through random mutation and natural selection. Information, for example, like that stored on my computer’s hard drive, does not naturally come together through random processes. The information on the hard drive meant something to me before I ever entered it because I had an idea of what I wanted it to look like after it was entered. It took deliberate intelligence to organize the information and then to confirm that it retains its meaning. Darwinists like to say that given enough monkeys typing on enough keyboards over enough time and they would eventually produce Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The glaring problem of this example is that it would be mere gibberish unless someone was standing around who knew how to read and understand English. Information isn’t just style, it’s substance. This is just one of many criticisms of Darwin’s theory.
But in spite of real problems with Darwinian evolution, many in the science and educational establishments want very much to keep the lid on any debate. Why? When people feel threatened they tend to become defensive. When reason fails to defend, they can resort to slandering their opponents. It’s much easier to dismiss someone with a negative label than calmly debate the issue, because a debate about evolution might unearth evidence for the existence of God, a situation that some scientists and teachers simply don’t want. Again, why? It seems that for some, like arch-atheist Richard Dawkins, belief in God is the root of all evil, everything from war to slavery, to obstructing the progress of human civilization. For them, secularism isn’t one alternative in a free world, it’s the only alternative…sounds frighteningly like the days of communist Russia where belief in God could land you in the Gulag with Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
To be continued…
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