Darwin's real message: have you missed it?

Creation Magazine ^ | Carl Wieland

[GodGunsGuts]

Darwin’s real message: have you missed it?

by Carl Wieland

Harvard’s renowned Professor Stephen Jay Gould¹ is a vigorous anticreationist (and Marxist — see documentation), and perhaps the most knowledgeable student of the history of evolutionary thought and all things Darwinian.

I’m glad he and I are on the same side about one thing at least—the real meaning of ‘Darwin’s revolution’. And we both agree that it’s a meaning that the vast majority of people in the world today, nearly a century and a half after Darwin, don’t really want to face up to. Gould argues that Darwin’s theory is inherently anti-plan, anti-purpose, anti-meaning (in other words, is pure philosophical materialism). Also, that Darwin himself knew this very well and meant it to be so...

[GodGunsGuts]

ping!

[An.American.Expatriate]

It occured to me the other day, exactly WHY I don't like "The Theory of Evolution" (at least as portrayed in most reports):

Here is an Example:

"Back in 1960s, Dan Johnson had an interesting proposal he dubbed “directed deterrence” which suggested that some plants may make choices as to exactly which herbivores to attract and which to deter. Hot peppers are prime candidates for such a phenomenon. What is hot in peppers is capsaicin, a chemical that elicits a sensation of pain when it bind the vanilloid receptors in the nerve endings (usually inside the mouth) of the trigeminal nerve. As it happens, all mammals have capsaicin receptors, but it was found, relatively recently, that birds do not."

While I agree that "nature" has a habit of weeding out the "weakest" - I find that implying that this is an active "choice" to be very misleading.

[txnuke]

Please ad me to the Darwin/creationism ping list.

[Alamo-Girl]

Thanks for the ping!

[GodGunsGuts]

Your on. Welcome to the HMS Creation!

[freespirited]

In summary, then, Darwin was fully aware that his idea was a frontal assault on the very notion of an intelligent Designer behind the world. In fact, he might very well have formulated it precisely for that purpose.

Let's say we pretend that this silliness is true even though it is not. What you never seem to get is that even if accurate, this would have no bearing on whether or not evolutionary theory is true.

The idea of a spiritual realm apart from matter seems to have been anathema to him as a young man already.

LOL. I don't doubt that the person who wrote this could spin Darwin's time in the seminary as proof of his disdain for the spiritual realm.

[atlaw]

“Digging deep into creation ministries’ archives for breaking news, and inadvertently proving that creationism is a one-trick pony” — placemarker

(Hot off the newswire — Stephen Gould is still dead)

[GodGunsGuts]

==I don’t doubt that the person who wrote this could spin Darwin’s time in the seminary as proof of his disdain for the spiritual realm.

Perhaps it’s time you read the rest of the story:

http://www.conservapedia.com/Charles_Darwin#Religious_Views_of_Charles_Darwin

[freespirited]

OK, I read it. Unfortunately, it is of debatable accuracy.

I have read of Darwin’s struggles with his religious views. I think the notion that he had fully made his mind as a young man is difficult to defend.

But like I said, it’s irrelevant from a scientific perspective.

[Boogieman]

I agree, scientifically it’s not an issue. But Darwinism is a tautology, and therefore it is significant.

[Fichori]

DCer posting a placemarker — placemarker


PS: your turn to jump in the lake

[tacticalogic]

Basically, the author is submitting that there is a some nefarious "message" there that no one (except him) "gets".

If he's the only one getting the message, what's the problem?

[Repeal The 17th]

What has this got to do with:
TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism

[Future Snake Eater]

“Breaking News”? Seriously?

[icwhatudo]

2 things I believe.

1. God created the world
2. This should not be in breaking news

[GodGunsGuts]

Follow the court cases.

[fkabuckeyesrule]

I just thought of this idea for a bumpber sticker: DARWIN WAS JUST AN ENTERTAINER

[Future Snake Eater]

I agree on both counts.

[Soothesayer]

I don’t think Darwin was overly happy with any possible anti-creation applications. He held off on publishing some of his work because he didn’t want to upset his devout Christian wife.