I have always understood that there is an innate rivalry between science and religion, but I always cited that to a complete incompatibility to believe in both. It seemed that one either looked to religion to explain something, or to science. Darwin’s theory of evolution expands on this incompatibility and complicates it, as people have manipulated its contents to both support religion, and the case against it.
As we looked deeper into Darwin’s theory, I realized how sharply this particular theory disagrees with religion. In the article “How to Teach Science to The Pope” by Michael Mason, it is shown how there are aspects of science that coincide with religious views. “If you think the universe is fundamentally good and that it’s an expression of a good God, then studying how the universe works is a way of becoming intimate with the Creator. It’s a kind of worship. And that’s been a big motivation for doing any kind of science” (Mason). But Darwin's theory so starkly opposes the idea of Creation that is promoted in the Bible, that it's easy to see how it could have deepened the rift between religion and science.
But there are those who combine both religion and science in the theory of Intelligent Design. These people, such as Micheal Behe, believe that evolution has happened, but there was an “intelligent designer” who devised the layout for certain organisms. Their main claim is that there are machines in organisms that would not have been able to have slowly evolved because they are too complex, know as the theory of “irreducible complexity.” Behe “accepts that natural selection produces most of the complex structural adaptations of plants and animals, and…that modern living things descended with modification from common ancestors” (Appleman 540). But, he still believes in irreducible complexity, and therefore rejects Darwin’s theory of evolution. Intelligent Designers have found a way to combine both religion and science, and although they have not been well received in the scientific world, they are getting a lot of attention in the religious United States.
This video chronicles some of the more well known crusaders for "Intelligent Design," and as we can infer from it being on CNN, "Intelligent Design" is a topic of interest for the American public. This is different from other countries, such as Britain, which carries a picture of Darwin on its currency.
And then there is Dawkins, one of Darwin’s most vicious supporters, who concludes that the existence of Darwin’s Evolutionary theory supports on the case for atheism. In Dawkin’s section in Appleman’s Darwin, Explaining the Very Improbable, he states in regard to Paley’s comparison to the designer of a watch and an intelligent designer of a human, “All appearances to the contrary, the only watchmaker in nature if the blind force of physics, albeit developed in a very special way” (Appleman 302).
Darwin’s theory of evolution and explanation of natural selection, has caused a fiery debate between the realms of religion and science. Darwins' is one of the scientific theories that has more religious consequences, since it proves that the creation story embraced by some many theologians, is false. People have used Darwin’s theory to support both atheism and intelligent design, and has complicated the distinct difference between science and religion.
Dawkins, Richard. “Explaning The Very Improbable (1987).” In Darwin, 3rd ed. Phillip Appleman, ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2001
Mason, Micheal. “How To Teach Scince To The Pope.” Discover Magizine. August 18, 2008. http://discovermagazine.com/2008/sep/18-how-to-teach-science-to- the-pope
Scott, Eugenie. “Antievolution and Creationism in the United States (1997).” in Darwin, 3rd ed. Phillip Appleman, ed. New York: W.W. Norton, 2001
CNN. "Creationism Vs. Darwinism." YouTube.com. 19 Oct 2008. 29 Nov. 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc8NSh5gn8I
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