Has Darwin Become Dogma?

500 years ago science revolted against theological dogma as the source of all knowledge. Today it is science that is trying to assume the mantle of the sole arbiter of truth. On magazine covers such as this month's National Geographic and in legal battles across the country, the scientific community has become absolute in its belief that evolution will answer all of the questions regarding our beginnings. They have become so dogmatic that anyone who questions this belief is considered a heretic who should be ridiculed into silence.

Nearly a century and a half has passed since the publication of Charles Darwins Origin of Species. Evolution has been taught as an undeniable fact in high school textbooks for well over a half century. Why all of the sudden do we find the cover of the November 2004 issue of National Geographic emblazoned with the question, "Was Darwin Wrong?" It's that like asking "Was Copernicus Wrong?"

So, what's up? When we turn to the first page of the article, we find the same question again, this time written across the gray feathered breast of a domestically bred Jacobin pigeon, the outlandish plumage of which reminds one of the costumes of the late Liberace. Flip to the next page and we find our answer, a resounding 'NO' printed in a font a third of the page high. But if the answer is such a large and definitive NO, why would the venerable National Geographic entertain (even rhetorically) the apparently foolish question 'Was Darwin wrong?"

If you read the article, you'll wonder what all the shouting is about. The author David Quammen paints a calm picture of an established science unburdened by serious criticism. The only critics, so we are told, are 'fundamentalist Christians','ultraorthodox Jews', and 'Islamic creationists', all of whom view evolution as a threat to their scientifically uninformed theology. Obviously, they aren't the ones ruffling National Geographics feathers.

Who else arouses the great NO? As it turns out, 'Other' people too, not just scriptural literalists, remain unpersuaded about evolution. According to a Gallup poll, no less than 45 percent of responding U.S. adults agreed that God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.

"Why are there so many antievolutionists?' they ask impatiently. Why indeed? Unfortunately, you won't find the real answer in the article, which merely offers a fluff and flash, unambiguous public relations presentation of evolution.

The real answer is this. To the question 'Was Darwin Wrong?' the proper answer is not a clamorous 'NO' but a well-informed 'Yes and No'. While there are merits to his theory, there are also serious problems, serious scientific problems.

Listen to these words: 'despite the power of molecular genetics to reveal the hereditary essences of organisms, the large-scale aspects of evolution remain unexplained, including the origin of species. So Darwin's assumption that the tree of life is a consequence of the gradual accumulation of small hereditary differences appears to be without significant support." Are these the words of a 'fundamentalist Christian', 'ultraorthodox Jew', or an 'Islamic creationist'? No, they are the words of Dr. Brian Goodwin, professor of biology, one of a growing number of scientists who find that the powers of natural selection are woefully insufficient to perform the amazing feats promised in the title of Darwins great work of producing new species.

But that was the great promise of Darwin. Small variations among individuals are 'selected' by nature because they make the individual more 'fit' to survive. Those more 'fit' characteristics are passed on to the offspring. Add enough little changes up over time, and the species becomes gradually transformed. Given enough time, evolution will have produced an entirely new species.

So it was that Darwin assumed that little changes in character and appearance (microevolution) would eventually yield, through natural selection, enormous changes (macroevolution). From a single living cell, given millions upon millions upon millions of years, the entire diversity of all living things could be produced.

That was the grand promise of Darwins theory. And Darwin wasn't wrong about microevolution. But the case for macroevolution is far from closed. In fact, biologist Mae-Wan Ho and mathematician Peter Saunders contend that, "All the signs are that evolution theory is in crisis, and that a change is on the way." Darwins theory is in crisis, they argue, because it has failed to explain the one thing that made its promise so grand; how new species arise.

I quote the words of Brian Goodwin, Mae-Wan Ho, and Peter Saunders because they represent the growing number of scientific dissenters from orthodox Darwinism (or more accurately, neo-Darwinism). National Geographic makes no mention of them. That would make the quick and confident 'No' into a rather sheepish "well, sort of".

They also purposely avoid mentioning the growing Intelligent Design movement, a group of scientists, philosophers, and mathematicians who have very serious doubts about many other aspects of Darwins theory. One suspects reading between the lines that the real reason that National Geographic suddenly 'doth protest too much' against doubters of Darwinism, is that the Intelligent Design (ID) movement has done so much to bring the scientific and philosophical problems with evolutionary theory into the public spotlight. They cannot draw attention to the ID movement, however, or people might become more informed about the difficulties that beset Darwinism. So, we return to the question, 'Was Darwin Wrong?" National Geographic says "NO". But readers who aren't satisfied with such simple answers should read the following books.

William Dembski, Uncommon Dissent: Intellectuals Who Find Darwinism Unconvincing

Edward Larson, Summer for the Gods: The Scopes Trial and America's Continuing Debate Over Science and Religion

The origin of life: Darwin conjectured that all life was descended from a single, simple form. But where did the first living thing come from? In a now famous private letter to Joseph Hooker, Darwin offered a conjecture: if (and oh! what a big if!) we could conceive in some warm little pond, with all sorts of ammonia and phosphoric salts, light, heat, electricity, etc., that a proteine [sic] compound was chemically formed ready to undergo still more complex changes, then we could explain the origin of life as a lucky chemical reaction. Against this hope, origin of life researchers have fallen on hard times. While there were some initial victories in the laboratory, generating small amounts of pre-biological molecules, scientists are unable to generate anything more biologically interesting unless they artificially rig their experiments in ways that contradict the actual conditions of early Earth.

The problem is so acute that many origin of life scientists have given up, and are now turning their efforts to trying to discover ways that complex, life-seeding molecules may have been delivered from space. Alas, the problems facing such efforts are just as severe.

The fossil record: According to Darwin, evolution had to occur very slowly, through slight changes not by leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, the fossil record does not support such gradual transformation. Instead, species seem to appear quite suddenly, fully formed, stay the same for millions of years, and then just as suddenly disappear. The most significant problem for Darwinism is the Cambrian explosion, where quite suddenly, about 550,000,000 years ago, all the major phyla of the animal kingdom appear in the fossil record.

The Truth About Inherit the Wind "Of course, such a simple choice between bigotry and enlightenment is central to the contemporary liberal vision of which Inherit the Wind is a typical expression. But while it stands nominally for tolerance, latitude, and freedom of thought, the play is full of the self- righteous certainty that it deplores in the fundamentalist camp. Some critics have detected the play's sanctimonious tone-"bigotry in reverse," as Andrew Sarris called it-even while appreciating its dramatic quality and well-written leading roles. The play reveals a great deal about a mentality that demands open-mindedness and excoriates dogmatism, only to advance its own certainties more insistently-that promotes tolerance and intellectual integrity but stoops to vilifying the opposition, falsifying reality, and distorting history in the service of its agenda.

In fact, a more historically accurate dramatization of the Scopes Trial than Inherit the Wind might have been far richer and more interesting-and might also have given its audiences a genuine dramatic tragedy to watch. It would not have sent its audience home full of moral superiority and happy thoughts about the march of progress. The truth is not that Bryan was wrong about the dangers of the philosophical materialism that Darwinism presupposes but that he was right, not that he was a once great man disfigured by fear of the future but that he was one of the few to see where a future devoid of the transcendent would lead. The antievolutionist crusade to control what is taught in the schools may not have been the answer, and Bryan's own approach may have been too narrow. But the real tragedy lies in the losing fight that he and others like him waged against a modernity increasingly deprived of spiritual foundations." Carol Inannone First Things

The Debate Rages On Although nearly 100 years have passed since the infamous Scopes Monkey Trial, the debate rages on. In Grantsburg, Wisconsin a firestorm of critique was leveled against the school board this month for revising its science curriculum to include more than one model/theory of origin in the districts science curriculum. Current Wisconsin state law mandates that evolution be taught but the school board viewed the law as too restrictive.

Similar skirmishes are being fought around the country. Ever since the Scopes Trial, the ACLU has been an active player, bringing lawsuits against any group who questions the Darwin dogma in school curriculum. After a group of parents in Cobb County Georgia complained about the exclusive presentation of evolution as the sole theory of origin in three biology textbooks in 2002, stickers were placed in the science texts intended to remind students to keep an open mind. Now the ACLU is representing another group of parents in a lawsuit against that school district claiming that the stickers promote the teaching of creationism and discriminate against particular religions.

The Dover Area School Board in Pennsylvania recently voted to include the theory of 'intelligent design' and other alternative theories to evolution in their science curriculum. Similar action was taken by the Ohio board of education this spring when they narrowly approved a similar plan. Critics charge it risks a return to teaching creationism.

To say that evolution has not answered all the scientific questions regarding our origins does not suggest you have to teach creationism in schools as a scientific theory. What should be taught is an honest assessment of what science does and does not know regarding our beginnings. The questions regarding our origins are too big for science alone to answer. People of faith should not allow themselves to be relegated to an anti-science position for questioning Darwin. Questioning the validity of theories is what science is supposed to do.

Benjamin Wiker Benjamin Wiker holds a Ph.D. in Theological Ethics from Vanderbilt University, and has taught at Marquette University, St. Mary's University (MN), and Thomas Aquinas College (CA). He is now a Lecturer in Theology and Science at Franciscan University of Steubenville (OH), and a full-time, free-lance writer. Dr. Wiker writes regularly for a variety of journals, including Catholic World Report, New Oxford Review, Crisis Magazine, and First Things, and is a regular columnist for the National Catholic Register. Dr. Wiker just released a new book called Architects of the Culture of Death (Ignatius). His first book, Moral Darwinism: How We Became Hedonists, was released in the spring of 2002 (InterVarsity Press). He is writing another book on Intelligent Design for InterVarsity Press called The Meaning-full Universe.

This is why I believe the ability to falsify a theory is extremely important!

On this we definitely agree. Which is why you hear it repeated so often in the science threads that purely theological issues are outside the domain of science. But that doesn't mean, nor do most scientists claim (nor do I claim), that theology is all about nothing. As I've often said, only a "strict" materialist would declare that theological matters (gods, souls, heaven, hell, etc.) have no existence. All scientists, I assume, would agree that such matters can't be addressed by scientific methods. At least not yet.

Thank you so much for your reply! I figured you were a big supporter of being able to falsify a theory before it can be called "science". On this we very much agree.

I do however believe that science has made some cuts too narrow in trying to comply with a "scientific materialism". As an example, the study of the mind or consciousness would suffer if only the corporeal (the physical brain) could be considered. The same is true of information in biological systems.

But, thankfully, the physicists and mathematicians are not halted by such constrants and will continue to pursue anything that is at least one of these three: corporeal, spatial or temporal.

If it creeps in, as sometimes happens, it's almost certain to be spotted by peer reviews....

Wow! You are an "innocent," aren't you, PH? It's been my observation/experience that a whole lot of new research isn't even getting into the so-called peer review journals, because the "gatekeepers" and "custodians of the received wisdom" are there to make sure it doesn't ever see the light of day. And the reasons such first-pass "jurors" give for declining publication are so spurious and unreasonable as to be laughable. Indeed, one could laugh -- if what is actually going on here were not so very serious. FWIW.

I found that those of my friends who were admirers of Marx, Freud, and Adler, were impressed by a number of points common to these theories, and especially by their apparent explanatory power.

Interesting, A-G. Of course, science must have more than "explanatory power"; in order to be science, it must also be able to make predictions. Now I wonder: What predictions does/can neo-Darwinism make? Somebody??? Anybody???

What predictions does/can neo-Darwinism make? Somebody??? Anybody???

You've been around too long for such a question. In a nutshell, given the theory that all life is descended over time from earlier forms, one never-disproved prediction is that any fossil that is found will fit into that framework (Piltdown Man didn't, and turned out to be bogus). There is also the prediction that transitional forms once existed, and some of them may therefore be found. Many have indeed been found. Here's a load of such evidence, which I'm sure you've seen before, but maybe haven't studied: 29+ Evidences for Macroevolution.

And the reasons such first-pass "jurors" give for declining publication are so spurious and unreasonable as to be laughable. Indeed, one could laugh -- if what is actually going on here were not so very serious.

So very, very true! As I recall, at least one Nobel prize was awarded to a frequently rejected innovator. I'd go look for name or names, but I must tend to some chores and such.

I also agree with you that Darwinism needs to make predictions about the future of species and needs more methods of falsification. At the moment, the original "randomness" tenet of the theory is rarely mentioned evidently because recent discoveries of regulatory control genes indicate many mutations were not by happenstance.

Perhaps the newer theories of autonomous biological self-organizing complexity will eventually replace the "random mutation + natural selection = species" formula.

Darwinism needs to make predictions about the future of species ...

That's about as difficult as predicting the future history of America. But if you can tell me what environmental changes will occur, I can make general predictions as to what will be the result -- if the environment changes slowly to allow evolution to take place. We do see some changes with predictable results. Where the climate is becoming more dry (or wet), there are observed changes in vegetation. What had been adapted to live there dies out, and better-adapted species take hold. The fossil record, and the geological record, tell us what's happened in the past. I can't predict the future. If the changes are gradual, life will probably adapt. But no one can tell you what, say, horses will look like in a million years.

Perhaps reexperienced would be a better term than reconstructed. If memory is holographic it would be useful to realize that holograms do not contain all the information of the original image. There is considerable noise and loss of detail in any real hologram. In the case of memory, the detail fades intil real information content is problematic. We tend to fill in gaps in details, and any trial lawyer knows, the fill-ins are not reliable.

One method of removing bias is to randomize not only the experiments but even the output data before analyzing. For example, were one trying to fit a straight line to a set of (x,y) pairs, one would have another person (or even a computer) just give you new values X=ax+b and Y=cy+d for four random numbers a,b,c,&d. The person doing the fitting, fits Y vs X by any means wished (least squares, WAG, inspiration, chicken livers, etc.) without knowing even what ranges the fitted parameters should take. Afterwords, the true fit is back computed.

This has even been done in the following manner. A physics paper was written, refereed, and set for publishing without anyone knowing the exact results. After the referees checked the metholodogy and the journal accepted the paper, the real values (and conclusions) were computed and published.

It's been my observation/experience that a whole lot of new research isn't even getting into the so-called peer review journals, because the "gatekeepers" and "custodians of the received wisdom" are there to make sure it doesn't ever see the light of day.

My experience has been exactly the opposite. What has your experience been? Did you ever submit a paper for publication? Have you ever been a reviewer?

Your comments are false and a slur on those who actually publish and review. I don't think you understand the process at all. (Most people who haven't done scientific research nor review it don't. Many who take part in the process don't understand it either, even though they may be good scientists or reviewers.)

I've been in all four positions: submitted papers which were accepted, submitted papers which were rejected, reviewed and recommend publication, reviewed and recommend non-publication. Mostly peer review is concerned with sound methodology (which is why astrology doesn't get published much), spelling, grammar, numerical errors, and whether the article is somewhat original (so as to keep out plagerism or unintentional duplication.)

Good anology. And it speaks to the flawed reasoning of Peter Singer & his abortionist cohorts whose argument in defense of infanticide is that the baby lacks 'personhood," a fuzzy way of getting around having to say 'spirit".

You say that like there's something wrong with infanticide!?

What predictions does/can neo-Darwinism make? Somebody??? Anybody???

An abundance of transitional forms?

A reconciliation between the first law of thermodynamics and general relativity?

Repeated incidents of spontaneous generation?

New forms of life appearing regularly?

Five to ten new human base pairs added annually?

But there's no bone evidence either. There are appearances of new species in the fossil record, but no gradual descent from one species to the next. There are gradual moves in the fossil record, but they are pretty much all within-species.

An excellent critique of evolution is the book "Darwin's God".

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.