Anthony's+Week+5

Of all the great scientific discoveries in the history of humankind, by far one of the most hotly debated has been Darwin’s Theory of Evolution. Never before had one scientific theory flied so in the face of the established religious laws of nature. According to religion, God created all creatures at the same time, a couple of thousand years ago. Then along comes Darwin with his theory that all life began with a simple common ancestor and has evolved from that common ancestor by the process of natural selection, where tiny changes in an organism make it better suited to survive in its environment, and theses tiny changes are passed on to the next generation, and over “unimaginable tracks of time,” as Darwin put it, these changes have caused all the live forms on Earth we see. No God is needed; it’s simply random changes in an organism that make it better suited to survive. Ever since “On the Origin of Species” was published in 1859, a great debate has been raging that continues up to this day over wither evolution should be taught in schools, and if so, should religious theories such as creationism or Intelligent Design. At the beginning of it all, evolution was banned in many states, and therefore could not be taught in school. These laws of course lead to the famous Scopes Trial, in which biology teacher John Scopes was arrested in Tennessee for teaching evolution. The trial was more of a circus, which eventually led to Scopes being acquitted, but no decision on the constitutionality of the ban was made. The trial has become famous because of all the media attention it received, despite nothing really being accomplished by it. The evolution debate continues as religious fundamentalists continue to battle with scientists over which theory is right, and which should be taught in school. Usually, both sides hold very firm, opposing views. The religious camp claims that Bible says that God created everything, so therefore, it must be true. Scientists point to the fossil record and DNA evidence as support for evolution. There is almost never a middle ground, and therefore almost never any progress. However, Ken Miller has raised an interesting point: Darwin and God can coexist. Miller is a scientist who studies evolution, but is also a practicing Christian. He sees a way in which both evolution and God can stand side by side, not having one eliminate the other. He claims that evolution and natural selection have produced all the different species that we see around us. Most people would argue that as a sign that God doesn’t exist. However, Miller claims that evolution was implemented by God. “Evolution is neither more nor less than the result of respecting the reality and consistency of the physical world over time. To fashion material beings with an independent physical existence, any Creator would have had to produce an independent material universe in which our evolution over time was a contingent possibility. A believer in the divine accepts that God's love and gift of freedom are genuine - so genuine that they include the power to choose evil and, if we wish, to freely send ourselves to Hell. Not all believers will accept the stark conditions of that bargain, but our freedom to act has to have a physical and biological basis. Evolution and its sister sciences of genetics and molecular biology provide that basis. In biological terms, evolution is the only way a Creator could have made us the creatures we are - free beings in a world of authentic and meaningful moral and spiritual choices.” This raises an interesting question. Have the scientists and the fundamentalists been arguing two sides of the same coin? According to Miller, it seems so. This view on evolution is a great way to bridge the gap, and make evolution be accepted for the great scientific theory it is.