Darwinists and Dissenters

The Creationism/Evolution Continuum Personal Response Essay In her essay entitled “The Creation/Evolution Continuum,” Biological Anthropologist Dr. Eugenie Scott seeks to dispel the false dichotomy that is often posited between the proverbial “creationists” and “evolutionists” by differentiating the religious, philosophical, and scientific beliefs of several subgroups within this divide. The continuum, as illustrated in the essay, depicts a line separating “Creation” from “Evolution,” marked by eleven distinct viewpoints that are then individually outlined within the essay. The most dogmatic religious and scientific viewpoints occupy the poles of the continuum and represent an inverse relationship between belief in modern science and ancient

In chapter two of the book “Problems from Philosophy”, by James Rachels, the author guided us through the process in which the topic of God and the origin of the universe was discussed and argued. There were many arguments many arguments towards this topic from both a religious belivers view point, and a non-believer. The main points in this chapter were the arguments, like the argument from design, the best-explanation argument, the same-evidence argument, the theory of Natural selection, and the first cause argument.

In Science and Religion: Are They Compatible?, Alvin Plantinga argues that proponents of naturalism, like Richard Dawkins and Daniel Dennett, tell us that, according to the theory of evolution, neither God nor any other agent has designed or created the living world, and that evolution, therefore, clearly contradicts the central tenant of theistic religion (which Dennett labels “entirely gratuitous fantasy” ). If what these experts say is true and we must understand evolution only in the context of naturalistic, unguided evolution, “then evolutionary theory is deeply incompatible with theistic religion, whether Christian…or Jewish.” However, Plantinga stresses that evolution does not need to be interpreted in this way, and that, because of this, religion does not have to be held in such opposition to science at all. Christian and Jewish doctrines require only that “God intended to create creatures of a certain kind…planned that there be creatures of that kind…and acted in such a way as to accomplish this intention,” and such a claim is clearly consistent with evolutionary theory in that naturalism is not a necessary requirement of the theory itself. In this paper I will explore the positions of the Jewish faith with respect to the question of evolutionary theory, and, more explicitly, will draw comparisons between Judaism and Christianity to investigate whether popular religion is as staunchly opposed to evolutionary theory as Dawkins and Dennett propose. If the work of

Dawkins, Richard. The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design. New York: W.W. Norton, 1986.

European nations along the west coast of Africa for 300 years have traded slaves, gold, and ivory. During the 1500-1800 Europeans in Africa would mostly buy and sell slaves. Europeans started to gain interest in the continent and shifted to imperialism, and started seizing colonies. What was the rationale behind strong European countries conquering weaker European countries. I believe the three main reasons were Social Darwinism, Economics, and Nationalism.

Many critics of macroevolution offer an alternative theory to the origins of life, intelligent design, which states that certain features of the universe and of living things are best explained by an intelligent cause not an undirected process such as natural selection. In order to ensure the students of public high schools are learning credible information effectively, we have examined macroevolution and intelligent design and assessed the validity of each.

The Japanese attack on Darwin on the 19th February 1942, did not happen by chance but from the work of a major contributing factor leading to various consequences and eventually cementing the event as a significant one.

The feud between creationist and scientist about the origins of the universe dates back to the 20’s during the Scopes trial. Scientist are against creationism because there is no evidence to support the theory. Scientist support Charles Darwin’s theory Darwinism, the theory that organisms evolve from simple to complex through minor adaptations over time, because it has held up for more than a century. Rowe’s article expresses how he believes that creationist created intelligent design to take the place of creationism in public schools after the Supreme Court ruled that

Sir Thomas Aquinas and William Paley present two arguments for the existence of God. Aquinas defines God as omnibenevolent (all good) for his argument, and he continues in “The Five Ways” to present arguments to prove God’s existence (Rosen et al. 11). Paley, on the other hand, primarily defines God as a designer worthy of our admiration for his work (Rosen et al. 27). During class discussion, defining God involved three major qualities: omnipotence, omniscience, and omnibenevolence. Both Aquinas and Paley are attempting to prove the existence of the (Christian) God associated with these qualities. Although Aquinas’s “Cosmological Argument” and Paley’s “Argument from Design” have different premises, both have a similar logical gap in their

In the past hundred years, a great debate has shaken the foundation religious and scientific beliefs of society. Philosophers have been arguing about such a debate for hundreds of years, but there does not seem to be any consensus on whether on the existence of god and the universe. The ancient world never battled over such questions, rather they had accepted the fact that the natural world was created by some being. However, as society made major advancements, the question about god 's existence and his creation arose causing many debates and arguments to come about. The design arguments are a popular example of such debates, which is very prevalent amongst philosophers and society at large. “Simply put, the design argument, or the argument from design, states that the order and purpose manifest in the works of nature indicate that they were designed by an intelligent being” (Velasquez 251). The greatest proponent of the design argument was philosopher William Paley, who formulated the argument. As a student of philosophy and avid proponent of god 's existence, I support the design argument and philosopher William Paley. I would like to argue against the beliefs of atheism and agnosticism while supporting the design argument as a means of god 's existence. I believe that god is the creator of that which surrounds us and science and nature is a means to prove the existence of god, not rebuttal it. Also I will support the design argument with the

Many scientists believe variations are caused by environmental factors, such as food availability, weather and more; and that species evolve when environmental conditions change to increase the species survival. Darwin censures this idea; he believed that the main cause of variation is due to reproduction (Chapter I). Darwin suggested that parents pass down specific characteristics to their offspring, and those variations are continued on in the following generations. The problem with Darwin’s theory of reproduction is that Darwin did not comprehend how or why some characteristics are perennial and how others are not. Darwin’s inferences on variations also conflict with the idea that God created species independently, which was widely understood by many people in a time where religion was prominent (Chapter II).

Biology professor Kenneth Miller’s central argument is that science should not undermine one’s faith in God. “Science itself does not contradict the hypothesis of God.” He makes this argument by stating that science explains the things that God has made and in doing so, trying to prove the existence of God through natural or scientific means does not make sense. Once the supernatural is introduced, there is no way to use nature, thus science, to prove or disprove its existence. Miller argues that science gives us the window to the dynamic and creative universe that increases our appreciation of God’s work. The central point of his argument is evolution. Creationists, of the intelligent design movement, argue that nature has irreducible complex systems that could have only arisen from a creature or designer. This theory is widely supported among devout believers in the Bible and God. Miller argues that if they truly believe this, completely ignoring hard facts and theories, then they are seeking their God in the darkness. Miller, a Christian himself, believes that this “flow of logic is depressing”; to fear the acquisition of knowledge and suggest that the creator dwells in the shadows of science and understanding is taking us back to the Middle Ages, where people used God as an explanation for something they have yet to or want

The article, “A Matter of Scale,” urges the audience to observe the small and extraordinary components of the biosphere and acknowledge its genetic variations as explained by Darwin’s theory of evolution. However, Kelly’s essay, “Evolution: An Article of Faith,” considers Darwin’s theory as a “false religion” suppressing God’s ability to create the “work of intelligence.” (Evolution) The heated debate over the credibility of Darwin’s theory of evolution has led to the division of scientific and religious groups. Devoted, religious people discover two major flaws with Darwin’s theory of evolution regarding the inaccuracies of the fossil record and the contradicting phrase “survival of the fittest” that has passed on harmful mutations to next

Darwinism is a theory of evolution developed by Charles Darwin also called Darwinian Theory. Darwin utilizes Thomas Malthus’ principle of exponential population growth to debate the possibility of infinite growth of population sizes which is tested by the limitations of geography and natural resources that makes it impossible for an infinite number of beings to survive. The limitation in resources results in species experience a “struggle for existence,” creating a survival competition. In this theory, Darwin stated that all species of organisms arise and develop through the natural selection of small, inherited variations that increase the individual 's ability to compete, survive, and reproduce. Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species in 1859 which argued that species evolved to get better all the time. Some people used his theory to argue that members of the elite or height of the social ladder were superior to the working class and impoverished due Darwin 's "survival of the fittest", which is considered Social Darwinism. In one of the earliest examples of science fiction, The Time Machine, H.G. Wells’ introduces Social Darwinism along with the theory of evolution.

In the history of science vs. religion there have been no issues more intensely debated than evolution vs. creationism. The issue is passionately debated since the majority of evidence is in favor of evolution, but the creation point of view can never be proved wrong because of religious belief. Human creation breaks down into three simple beliefs; creation theory, naturalistic evolution theory, and theistic evolution theory. The complexities of all three sides create a dilemma for what theory to support among all people, religious and non-religious.