Quotation from Darwin (Evolution)

by dhw, Saturday, March 29, 2008, 13:10 (6083 days ago) @ George Jelliss

George Jelliss writes: "As regards the inclusion or not of the phrase 'by the Creator' after the word 'breathed'. This is surely a trivial point..." - Taken in isolation, yes it is, but it's symptomatic of the way Dawkins and his ilk distort arguments and mislead people (or perhaps even themselves) into thinking that their beliefs are backed by science. It's become clear on this forum alone that there is a great deal of confusion over what constitutes Darwinism, evolution and natural selection, and to what extent atheism is based on faith in chance. - First, Darwinism. In an interview, Dawkins said specifically: "I'm a Darwinist. I believe the only alternatives are Lamarckism or God...Life in the universe is either Darwinian or something else not yet thought of." (The latter clearly rules out God or any other sort of designer.) Darwin said one "can be an ardent Theist and an evolutionist." So if Dawkins is a Darwinist, what was Darwin? - Secondly, according to Dawkins, natural selection "explains the whole of life" (p. 116, The God Delusion). And: "Design is not the only alternative to chance. Natural selection is a better alternative" (p. 121). Does it? And is it? Does natural selection explain the origin of life or of the mechanisms that gave rise to heredity, new organs, adaptation etc., and doesn't natural selection depend on random (i.e. chance) mutations? Contrast Darwin: "How a nerve comes to be sensitive to light, hardly concerns us more than how life itself originated." - Darwin, evolution, natural selection and atheism have been rolled up into a single ball, inscribed with its maker's logo: DAWKINSIAN SCIENCE. Alternative views of science, including Darwin's own, are excluded. The different strands need to be separated: Darwin ... sorry if this is getting repetitive ... was an agnostic, natural selection is only one element of evolution, evolution itself does not provide scientific evidence either for or against God, and the choice remains: either you believe in chance, you believe in design, or you admit you don't know.