[Ira_Louvin]

Thomas Jefferson ~ April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826

The Origin of Species published November 24, 1859

The fact that Thomas Jefferson died 33 years prior to the origination of the Evolutionary theory proves this entire article to be disingenuous, but then the Discovery Institute has never let a frivolous thing like facts get in the way.

Doesn’t the 9th commandment say something about spreading falsehoods?

[demshateGod]

You don’t really think Darwin created evolution do you?

[Pale]

"The fact that Thomas Jefferson died 33 years prior to the origination of the Evolutionary theory..."

Well... technically this is not true. Evolution as a concept existed in Jefferson's time. He was certainly familiar with Lamarckian ideas. Darwin came up with the first defensible mechanism for evolutionary change (actually mechanisms, since he came up with both natural and sexual selection). I have not a single atom of doubt that, had Jefferson lived another 40 years, he would have heard about natural selection, slapped his head, and said Why the h*ll didn't I think of that? Just like Huxley.

[Tublecane]

“The fact that Thomas Jefferson died 33 years prior to the origination of the Evolutionary theory proves this entire article to be disingenuous”

You mean he died decades before Darwin’s particular exposition of evolutionary theory. But Darwin did not pull his theories out of thin air. Have you never heard of Erasmus Darwin or Lamarck?

Granted, Darwin tends to be the starting point today in the minds of laymen and scientists alike. But we’ve moved so far beyond him that it’s safe to say we have more of an advantage on the subject than he had over his predecessors.