What's Behind Anti-Evolution?
Did you ever wonder what was behind the anti-evolution drive that comes and goes in Western culture? It started even before Charles Darwin published his groundbreaking book, On the Origin of Species. Even Darwin's preacher father had more than a few concerns about his son's work.
It is my belief that the early arguments against evolution--whether it was Darwin's original ideas, which have largely been superseded by new learnings, or the later versions of evolution--have more to do with the general idea, from the Bible, that God created man and woman at the top of a hierarchy of animal beings. In asserting the biblical creation (or Intelligent Design as it is currently styled) or the Scopes Monkey trial, which most people believe was about whether or not man descended from the apes, those doing the asserting are lobbying for the idea that the human being (a) is more than a mere animal, (b) is the highest form of creation, and (c) was formed in God's image by God and not descended from anything else.
And I would contend that behind that is the Western European idea that came to fullest expression in the Age of Exploration, Conquest, and Exploitation of lands previously unknown to (and therefore "discovered" by) Western Europeans is the idea of the supremacy of the white race. Yes, to be blunt, those who espouse biblical creationism or Intelligent Design are, at their foundation, carrying on the racist traditions of our western culture.
This form of racism, which is still with us in less disguised forms, asserts that racial superiority is tied to skin color; the less skin color you have the higher up the racial chain you are, the smarter you are, and the more entitled to rule you are. That was the thinking in Darwin's time, and underlying all of the arguments about biblical truth (literal vs. metaphorical) is the notion that heredity is everything and that social position is somehow related to God's favor.
Of course, when I write it that way it sounds pretty silly, and I'm sure if many people read this blog, I would be creating a firestorm of condemnation from the Creationists, Fundamentalist Christians, Intelligent Designers, and anyone else who is still unconscious regarding racism in our shared culture and their own lives.
If you know the code, you can see how the "logical" argument works from God created mankind (my preferred term is humankind) and gave him dominion over the animals and fish and plants to white races, which hold the world's economic and military power at this moment in history, are superior to all other races. That will work for some people until the worm turns, as it has in the past and will, if humankind has a future, in the future. What goes around comes around.
It is my belief that the early arguments against evolution--whether it was Darwin's original ideas, which have largely been superseded by new learnings, or the later versions of evolution--have more to do with the general idea, from the Bible, that God created man and woman at the top of a hierarchy of animal beings. In asserting the biblical creation (or Intelligent Design as it is currently styled) or the Scopes Monkey trial, which most people believe was about whether or not man descended from the apes, those doing the asserting are lobbying for the idea that the human being (a) is more than a mere animal, (b) is the highest form of creation, and (c) was formed in God's image by God and not descended from anything else.
And I would contend that behind that is the Western European idea that came to fullest expression in the Age of Exploration, Conquest, and Exploitation of lands previously unknown to (and therefore "discovered" by) Western Europeans is the idea of the supremacy of the white race. Yes, to be blunt, those who espouse biblical creationism or Intelligent Design are, at their foundation, carrying on the racist traditions of our western culture.
This form of racism, which is still with us in less disguised forms, asserts that racial superiority is tied to skin color; the less skin color you have the higher up the racial chain you are, the smarter you are, and the more entitled to rule you are. That was the thinking in Darwin's time, and underlying all of the arguments about biblical truth (literal vs. metaphorical) is the notion that heredity is everything and that social position is somehow related to God's favor.
Of course, when I write it that way it sounds pretty silly, and I'm sure if many people read this blog, I would be creating a firestorm of condemnation from the Creationists, Fundamentalist Christians, Intelligent Designers, and anyone else who is still unconscious regarding racism in our shared culture and their own lives.
If you know the code, you can see how the "logical" argument works from God created mankind (my preferred term is humankind) and gave him dominion over the animals and fish and plants to white races, which hold the world's economic and military power at this moment in history, are superior to all other races. That will work for some people until the worm turns, as it has in the past and will, if humankind has a future, in the future. What goes around comes around.
posted by Tom | 3:16 PM
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