Happy Darwin Day! If you didn’t already fall victim to all the fuss, today is both the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of the origin of species. It’s even Abraham Lincoln’s birthday. (And my friend Jake Rosenberg‘s birthday too!)
To celebrate, I have essay in today’s Religion Dispatches called “Five Things We Can Learn From Creationists.” It’s actually something I’ve been meaning to write since doing my 2006 college thesis on public performance in the evolution controversies. Amidst all the necessary creationist-bashing out there, I’ve always wanted to point out some of the little benefits that creationism has brought us. Who cares if they’re probably less significant than the damage?
Don’t worry, I’m a neo-Darwinian fundamentalist (Catholic, too) bred on old-school Richard Dawkins. My heart melts at the very sight of Carl Sagan and his angelic Ann Druyan. But I’ve also had fleeting moments, deep in the basement of my old college library, where Phillip E. Johnson convinced me evolution is all a materialist sham. I’ve eaten fish on the Bosporus with the sidekicks of the Turkish creationist guru Harun Yahya and, you know what? I had a great time (meeting Yahya himself was a bit more awkward). So here’s to good, old-fashioned, intransigent creationism!
Enjoy!
Comments
7 responses to “What Would Darwin Do?”
Very well done. Ah the wonder and beauty in evolution often overlooked…….Quentin.
Skeptics: “as brainwashed as the rest of us are, in one thing or another.” Absolutely, and a fine way of putting it! When will we have a Church of Uncertainty and Nuance?
Never, thank God!
What a great idea for an article. And very well executed, I might add. I applaud you.
Have you ever participated in, or read, an evolution debate that didn’t turn into silly name calling and personal attacks?
Why can’t be just get along, you know? Why can’t we just appreciate each other and respect differing beliefs?
I suppose we haven’t “evolved” enough. ??
Nice little essay. You’re far more benevolent than I am. I once devised the Curmudgeon’s Three Laws of Creationism:
First Law: They never tell the truth. Second Law: All “social conservatives” are creationists. Third Law: Creationists think everything is a religion.
What great laws! My favorite is #3.
Well done, sir.