everyday

On Becoming an Evolutionary Biologist has an entry discussing the debate between creationism and evolution. While his point of view is clearly expressed, I would like to chime in with my own 2¢.

I do not wish to argue the merits of Evolution vs. Creationism, rather the utter lack of respect either side of the argument has for the other. Obviously people are extremely passionate about the topic, but perhaps we have lost site of a fundamental principle of our society. What is this principle you ask? Well, the ability to intelligently debate a topic while respectfully disagreeing with your opponent. On the side of Creationism, the religious fundamentalists are arguing that evolution has no basis in scientific fact, despite an enormous amount of evidence to the contrary. On the side of Evolution stands well educated academics who believe that they “know” what is true and right and are unwilling to accept or even tolerate a differing, non-scientific point of view.

Both sides are guilty of using extremist tactics to debase the other. Both use exaggeration and omission to confuse the un-decided. The religious fundamentalists point to omissions in the historical record of fossils as proof that evolution is a hoax. They point to organisms who haven’t evolved in eons as proof that evolution does not exist. They prey on the ignorance of the masses regarding evolution to bolster their ranks. Now, this is clearly wrong. Not just wrong in that they are incorrect, but wrong in a deeper sense. They are purposely misleading and distorting the facts to their followers. But the scientific community is not free from blame either. The scientific community is guilty of basely dismissing a religious point of view without even acknowledging that it is a legitimate point of view. Not necessarily legitimate in fact or proof, but legitimate in that it is held. The scientific community is also guilty of not properly educating the masses. They fail to admit that there are enormous gaps in the data. That while we may have a good idea of what is going on, very little of what we know can be stated as scientific fact. They also fail to admit that we don’t definitively know anything. Very little can be stated as an absolute fact with absolute certainty.

While I personally agree that evolution is a fact, I do not know what role (if any) a deity or higher power played in the creation or maintenance of our universe. I do, however, believe that the Christian Fundamentalists are not correct. In fact, they are, in my opinion, absolutely incorrect. I obviously side with the scientific community, but I wish they would do a better job of explaining what evolution is, how it works and that they may be wrong, if only partially.

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