Posted on 01/13/2002 8:47:59 AM PST by aculeus
He was the originator of the most dangerous idea in history. He disenfranchised God as our creator and revealed the animal origins of humanity. Many believe his influence was pernicious and evil.
But now a campaign has been launched to establish an international day of celebration on 12 February: birthday of Charles Darwin, author of the theory of evolution by natural selection.
'Along with Shakespeare and Newton, Darwin is our greatest gift to the world,' said Richard Dawkins, honorary president of the Darwin Day Organisation. 'He was our greatest thinker. Any campaign to recognise his greatness should have a significant British contribution.'
The Darwin campaign was launched by US activists two years ago to resist the anti-evolution campaigning of fundamental Christians. Now the aim is to create global celebrations by 2009, the bicentennial of his birthday.
'We have little chance of getting a national holiday for Darwin in the US - there is far too much anti-science and pseudoscience,' said project organiser Amanda Chesworth.'We are more likely to get one established in Europe, particularly in Britain, his birthplace.'
Celebrations will include seminars and lectures, and the showing of films and plays on Darwin's life, though other ideas include an atheist giving Radio 4's Thought for the Day, and a lesson on evolution being preached at Westminster Abbey. 'I'd do it like a shot,' said Dawkins.
Darwin was originally religious. He saw nature's diversity as proof of God's existence. Only a divine creator could be responsible for such marvels, it was then thought. But, after travelling the world in the Beagle, and after years of thought and experiment at his Down House home in Kent, he concluded that natural selection offered a better explanation.
Life forms better suited to their environments live longer and so have more offspring, thus triggering an evolution of species moving into new ecological niches. As philosopher Daniel Dennett said, it was 'the single best idea anyone has ever had... ahead of Newton and Einstein and everyone else.'
It is also remarkably simple. 'You can explain natural selection to a teenager,' said UK biologist John Maynard Smith. 'You have difficulty with Newton and little chance with Einstein. Yet Darwin's idea is the most profound. It still haunts us.'
Nor is opposition to Darwin confined to religious figures. Sociologists, psychologists and others involved in social policy hate natural selection, said Maynard Smith. 'They deny human behaviour is influenced by genes and evolution. They want to believe we are isolated from the animal kingdom. It is damaging, intellectual laziness. That is why we need a Darwin Day.
This point was backed by biologist Steve Jones. 'If you look at Africa, US fundamentalism, and the Muslim world, you realise evolution supporters are outnumbered by creationists. Yet these are people who have deliberately chosen to be ignorant. They are flat-Earthers without the sophistication. We need a Darwin Day to counter that ignorance.'
Hey, all..........I'm composing a little love note to Monsieur Jones (who still wonders why none of his friends will stand near him during a thunderstorm). My question to all of you is this:
Is "f**k off" supposed to be hyphenated?
I thought the more intellectual way to put that was, "bollocks!"
Christian belief aside, you've swerved into a nigh-unto-perfect example of exactly why I have such a problem with those who worship at the altar of "evolution". Thanks. That helped.
And your position on the fossile record?
I stand on it.
ROFL........................Well, just how bloody conveeeeeeeeeeeeenient! LOL!!!!
Y'all just slay me. You really do.
"Well.........ahem........harrumph...........of course, you Christian morons, we cannot possibly prove evolution via the fossil record due to its massive "holes"; it's only you flat-earth dolts who can't seem to make the mental leap and draw the proper conclusions as have we enlightened ones."
Killer stuff, dude. Keep it up. Shoot, that'll get you tenure in one of yer basic Major Universities, I'd wager. :)
Anytime. I divorce science from spirituality in my life. My spirituality feeds my ethical/moral decisions, science feeds my intellectual thought-experiments. And never the twain shall meet.
Apparently only Creationists who read pamphlets put out by other Creationists.
The intellectual death of Atheism has been greatly exaggerated. :-)
An atheist might claim your philosophy is based upon a myth. Do you have anything other than subjective belief to base your claim that atheists are morons? Your whole line of reasoning to date has been nothing more than a subjective diatribe. If all your beliefs are based upon such faulty reasoning, it is no wonder you are so strident; volume, in your case, makes up for lack of logic.
The intellectual death of Atheism has been greatly exaggerated. :-)
I personally think agnosticism makes a lot more sense
Why? Are you "agnostic" over whether Santa Claus exists? I don't see the particular need to take a middle ground position on the existance of Santa Claus.
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