[corkoman]

All this hatred for a biological theory. Oh, I didn't know we were going to use the "hate" lable to broad brush anyone who disagrees with that theory...we jumped that line pretty early today.

Sheesh - a broad brush whiner already.

The category was harm. Clearly the communist murder of millions of people qualifies it for 1st place.

How is it that a book that proposes a theory of biological adaptation through mutation causes harm? Where are the killing fields?

To elevate Origin over one that is directly associated with the murder of millions is done out of fear that it undermines their belief system.

And to do so is IMHO, a triumph of emotion over reason.

[backslacker]

The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin is one of the largest forces to separate people from God-given moral teachings, the Holy Bible. If humans evolved from another species, monkeys, and the Genesis creation account is false, then why read the rest of the Bible? All atrocities are the result of a weakened, or non-existent, moral foundation. You got it - drugs, pornography, fornication, lust, greed, pride, abortion, etc.

How is it that a book that proposes a theory of biological adaptation through mutation causes harm? Where are the killing fields?

Abortion IS a killing field, going on every hour of every day. Thanks in large part to the theory of evolution. If Darwinism simply proposed "biological adaptation", i.e. microevolution, it could be praised. But Darwinism proposes something much more (sinister) than simple adaptation: it proposes that one species evolved into another. How so? Well, by the additon of a special, unobserved ingredient. Time. First it was millions of years. Now, it is billions and billions of years, soon to be explained as trillions of years.

[sauropod]

It appears that Darwin was a eugenicist. Check out the new book From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics and Racism in Germany by Richard Weikart.

In the Descent of Man Darwin "discussed perishing barbarians, the elimination of savages and the inevitable prospering of civilized nations," as reviewed in the June 2005 American Spectator.

Looks like a good book. I'm going to read it.

[Ditto]

How is it that a book that proposes a theory of biological adaptation through mutation causes harm? Where are the killing fields?

One could argue that the concept of Eugenics and "Social Darwinism" that emerged in the late 19th Century were a result of "Origin of the Species". The rise of Fascism as typified by Hitler and the concept of limiting the breeding potential of disfavored minorities championed by Sanger both relied on taking Darwin's narrow observations of biology, liberally mixing them with age-old racial hatred and human inclination to maximize self over others, and then projecting those ideas into the political and social realm as "enlightened science" did in fact lead to the deaths of many, many millions, be it in concentration camps or in abortion clincs.

I personally do not think Darwin or his book are "responsible" for either, any more than the Bible is responsible for Jim Jones. The blame belongs to those who misused it to achieve their own ends.