The House of Darwin

I have discovered that humanity needs some core focus, something to place their hope in. For billions of people, that hope is in some sort of deity. Whether it is Allah or in mystical self realization there is something that grounds our actions and informs our decisions. In short, there is a god that rules over us and commands our allegiance. Even people who are atheists and deeply scientific place their hope in science and the achievement of reason. The BBC had an article by atheist Andrew Marr who explores this concept and points out the reality that Darwinism can be a religion. Darwinism seeks to uproot religion and plant another form in its place, albeit a secularized version.

The French Revolution sought to uproot the ideology of God and replace it with reason. The regime removed the altar devoted to Christianity in theNotre Dame and replaced it with the goddess of reason. Whether it is the belief in a divine purpose for life or an accidental explosion, the assumptions on the origin of life informs one's worldview. Marr wrote about religion, "I believe Darwin was right and that as science advances, he is proved more prescient, not less. But religions are absolute. They bring their truth and then repel all boarders. They divide mankind into the saved and the ignorant damned." The same can be said of Darwinism. Man turns to science for the answers and will shun those who say differently. Religion is dressed in a different cloak of reason.

I do not believe that Christianity hampers logic, instead it helps build a foundation for it. While Christianity can stifle growth (Galileo's trials are perfect example of this), it also has fostered expansion in science, government and social issues. Darwinism does not merely uproot religion and replace it with science. It places reason upon a pedestal for all to behold. While Darwinism can solve scientific dilemmas, it cannot solve the thirst for worship. It could even open up problematic areas in terms of ethics and morality. While someone can believe in evolution and also in God, the belief in a purposeless world designed on accident has philosophical implications. As Vonnegut would say "so it goes," the belief in a cosmic accident frees up an individual from having a purpose and gives them the space to act on their own accord. There is no firm basis for morality because might will always make right. In the end, Darwinism morphs into the target that it intended to disprove, a dogmatism steeped in intolerance.