IS EVOLUTION A RELIGION?
(The online edition of our 8 page leaflet)
* Are you liberal minded? I hope so. Some religious fundamentalists don't want to read the alternatives and so they close their minds to any discussion which challenges their world view. It isn't always the Bible carrying type either.
* Vladamir Lenin once said that liberty was so precious, it would have
to be rationed. Don't starve yourself of the liberty of thinking
through your own position.
* Perhaps you have never met the question posed above. maybe you
have…but have been afraid to face its possibility. A true
scientist will face all the evidence and make his decisions
accordingly. If the evidence demands that he change his mind…
then so be it. Otherwise we would all still believe that the earth is
flat etc.,
*Let me nail my colours to the mast and say that I believe that evolution is as much a religion as Bible Christianity and that both religions have their fair share of fundamentalists.
1) EVOLUTION IS A RELIGION BECAUSE IT RELIES ON ITS WORLD VIEW TO SUBSTANTIATE ITS CLAIMS:
* Evolution is not unique in this. Creationism faces the same charge. The observation is true on both accounts.
* Science operates within a very limited sphere. Strictly speaking, it
is confined to what can be repeated in a laboratory. Beyond that it
cannot go and remain pure science. The fields of philosophy give
more freedom for thought and imagination than science ever will. The
two should not be confused.
* Science cannot prove or disprove what happened in the beginning. It
was not there. All the computer created graphics with special effects
etc., in the world cannot recreate the "in the beginning" scenario. Of
course, the creationist cannot scientifically prove his teaching
either…but he can logically defend it. Science cannot prove him
wrong, because science is out of its depth. We must look elsewhere for
proof.
* Evolution and its opposite number, creationism, do not have 2 different sets of evidence. Both share the same
evidence but interpret them in two different ways. The evolutionist
sees evidence for a common ancestor…the creationist sees
evidence for a common designer or creator. this is because both are
bringing outside sources into play when interpreting the evidence.
2) EVOLUTION HAS ITS "HOLY MEN" AND "PROPHETS" AS OTHER RELIGIONS DO:
* Although they are not formally called by these names, yet they are virtually treated as such.
* In some circles, it takes a brave man to challenge the likes of
Charles Darwin (or Huxley or Dawkins) because their word is practically
law. The writer of this tract has challenged the doctrines of the Pope
of Rome over a number of years in the letters column in the local press
with very little reply. However, when he challenged the teachings of
Darwin through the same medium, a 3 month debate ensued which ran to
over 30 letters being exchanged from various sources.
* Key evolution guru's have called for the stripping of all credentials
of those scientists who embrace any other theory rather than evolution.
In religious circles, this is known as "excommunication" The absence of
the actual name does not nullify the meaning of the action.
3) EVOLUTION HAS ITS SACRED BOOKS AS OTHER RELIGIONS DO:
* Namely the writings of the above men & others.
* Do you think you the evolutionists would accept you as a scientist if
you abandoned the various text books, did your own experiments &
declined to invoke the names of the above?
* …or said that you didn't really care whether you could quote
these books or not? if not…you are looking at the hall marks of
a religion.
4) EVOLUTIONISTS HAVE CONFESSED TO THE RELIGIOUS CONTENT OF THEIR FAITH:
* "With the failure of these many
efforts science was left in the somewhat embarrassing position of
having to postulate theories of living origins which
it could not demonstrate. after having chided the theologian for his
reliance on myth and miracle, science found itself in the unenviable
position of having to create a mythology of its own: namely, the
assumption that what, after long effort, could not be proved today, had
in truth, taken place in the primeval past." (Loren Eiseley, Ph.d.
(anthropology) 'The Secret Of Life' In The Immense Jouney, Random
House, Ny, 1957, p.199)
* "In fact, evolution became in a
sense a scientific religion; almost all scientists have accepted it and
many are prepared to 'bend' their observations to fit with it." (H.S.
Lipson, Frs (Professor of Physics, University of Manchester, Uk) 'A
Physicist Looks At Evolution' Physics Bulletin, vol 31, 1980, p.138)
* "The fact of evolution is the
backbone of biology, & biology is thus in the peculiar position of
being a science founded on an unproved theory - is it then a science or
a faith? Belief in the theory of evolution is thus exactly parallel to
belief in a special creation - both are concepts which believers know
to be true but neither, up to the present, has been capable of proof."
(L. Harrison Matthews, Frs, Introduction to Darwin's The Origins of the
Species, J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd, London, 1971 p. xi)
* Whenever you hear an evolutionist argue that "the evidence is out
there somewhere" as you constantly will…this is evolution by
faith alone.
* It is correct to refer to the "dogma's" of evolution.
5) WHY MEN CHOOSE TO BELIEVE THE RELIGION OF EVOLUTION RATHER THAN THE RELIGION OF THE BIBLE:
* Man is basically a religious being. He yearns for real answers to the
big questions of life e.g. "Where did I come from?" - "Why am I here?"
- "Where am i going?" A materialistic worldview does not answer
these questions but seeks to relegate their importance.
* It is not enough to dismiss the whole debate by stating that we are
the product of blind random chance. That is a sheer cop out.
* The religion of the Bible teaches us that we were created by God and
therefore we are accountable to him…science is not in the
position either to confirm or deny this statement. an evolutionist can
but he cannot speak as a scientist if he does so.
* Because evolutionists are also answerable to their Creator God, they
have a vested interest in answering this question. Unfortunately for
them, they choose to deny the inevitable, relying instead of repeating
their creed over and over again until they believe what is in reality their own propaganda.
* Men believe evolution because it has no moral values by which to
live. true, many evolutionists do lead moral & honourable lives,
but this is in spite of evolution and
not because of it. Where in the 'survival of the fittest' scenario are
the fittest required to care for the weakest? Evolutionists have argued
that it is not in the interests of the strong to suffer the weak to
survive. It is no surprise to us to see that the fruit of evolution can
be seen in the concentration camps of Germany or in the abortion mills
dotted around the world.
* A head in the sand approach to life is best catered for by evolution.
6) THERE IS A BETTER ALTERNATIVE TO THE RELIGION OF EVOLUTION:
If you have borne with me thus far, please read on to the end. It is
the faith that is built on the word of God himself i.e. the Bible.
* The Bible alone offers hope to the soul distressed by its personal
guilt before God. It does not go down the cruel road of telling that
soul that there is nothing to worry about. Its truth may be unpalatable
at times, but it is saving in its essence.
* The Bible teaches us that our Creator God sent his only Son into the
world to die for us. His holiness, based on the soundest principles of
justice, demands that sin must be punished. His mercy, without
compromising his holiness, provided a way of salvation. God can be
just and
yet the justifier on him which believes in Jesus (Romans 3:26) The sin
problem needs to be tackled - not denied. The Bible tackles it head on
with answers which are immediately satisfying to the need of the hour
i.e. forgiveness for our sins.
* The Bible has an answer for those who are helplessly enslaved by
various vices. It declares wonderfully: Therefore if any man be in
christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all
things are become new. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
SEE ALSO:
* Why Darwin shuddered when he thought about the human eye
* Darwin's startling confession about the Origin of the Species