I couldn’t help but notice the opinion letter published on Thursday, Feb. 12, in which the writer recognized and celebrated the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin, the 19th-century scientist. The recognition of any great scientist or thinker of the past is certainly a valid topic for such a letter and I have no problem with Darwin’s birthday being noted. However, it is disturbing that the “theory” for which Darwin is most recognized, that being the “theory of evolution,” continues to be touted as “fact” in the 21st century.

The author of the Feb. 12 letter stated that in Darwin’s book, “Origin of Species,” “Darwin brought together in one volume much of what was known about evolution at that time,” and also stated that “evolution was a fact” (something never decisively proven by Darwin). Truth be known, as with any discipline worthy of continued research, there have been many scientific discoveries in multiple fields of study in the 150 years since Darwin published his book. Much of the science of the 20th and 21st centuries has called into question Darwin’s “theory” of evolution. The letter writer himself cited the paleontologist, Stephen Jay Gould, as having explained in his 1994 essay that “evolution is a theory.” Many modern day scientists and researchers have concluded, based on 20th-century discoveries in physics, archeology, cosmology, biology, chemistry, anthropology, zoology and geology that they are very skeptical of Darwin’s claims that “random mutation” and “natural selection” can account for the complexities of life. While there may be evidence for some evolutionary process within a given species, evolution cannot stand up to scrutiny as the source of all life across the great myriad of species.

Along with Darwin’s Tree of Life drawing, several other “icons” of evolution are often used as proof of evolutionary theory. Among these icons are the experiments of Stanley Miller in 1953, Ernst Haeckel’s comparative drawings of embryos and the archeological discovery of the “archaeopteryx” in 1861. The problem with these “icons” is that the science of the past 50 years has, at the very least, called their validity into question if not served to discredit them completely. Couple this information with the fossil evidence of the “Cambrian Explosion,” which supports a “Biological Big Bang” (not a gradual evolutionary process across species), and you can certainly understand why there are many noted scientists and researchers today who no longer support Darwin’s theory and by no means do they view it as “fact!”

It is my belief that as members of modern society we should strive to discover the truth and base our lives upon it. Therefore, as a parent, a Christian, and a concerned member of society, I simply cannot sit back and see evolutionary theory espoused as “fact” without offering my understanding of “the rest of the story.” The truth is that evolution is, and always has been a “theory;” it has never been definitively proven; and modern science is calling it into question more now than ever before. In my opinion, evolution (as the origin of life) should not be taught to our children as “fact,” especially when a growing number of reputable scientists are questioning its validity, and instead are pointing toward intelligent design and/or divine creation as the origin of life as we know it. As for me, I’ll take Divine Creation (Holy God) and the truth of Scripture anytime.



Sincerely,



Jim Donovan

Tifton