Celebrating Darwin's 200th

[inbhirnis]

NPR today has a good bit on the commemorations of Darwin's 200th birthday in the UK. Lots of documentaries on the telly, special coins minted, etc. Apart from NPR joining in with a series of pieces over the last few weeks, not a peep from the rest of the media. And I think this quote from NPR's piece today says it all: (you can listen to or read it here)

"In other words, Darwin is not the controversial figure in the United Kingdom that he continues to be in the United States. Bloomfield says the reason for this is science has proved Darwin right."

Pretty sad. Why are so many US folk freaked out by this? 'All' Darwin opined about was how things evolved, but (as far as I know) didn't tackle creation. So, it seems to me that religious folk can still hold to their creation myths at the same time as accepting that there is a hell of a lot of evidence that evolution has occurred. I guess that's too nuanced a position for the fundies, plus the inescapable conclusion is that we too have evolved, and that will never be accepted by them.

Comments

[paterson-si.livejournal.com]

Darwin is one of the reasons I am a proud atheist now. :)

[bear-left.livejournal.com]

I can barely express how exasperating it was to teach at UGA, & cover the Scopes Monkey Trial... and to have to figure out how to teach this material to students who fundamentally rejected the basic principle of evolution.

[erstexman.livejournal.com]

My most recent issue of National Geographic has a cover story titled "What Darwin Didn't Know" that is pretty good. However you are correct - I have seen no other coverage other than NPR.

[stockykub1973.livejournal.com]

I always find it intriguing that the UK, whilst having a State sanctioned church, is far more secularist than a country like the USA that has secularism written into its constitution.

I am sure that you would agree that the way that some American politicians wear their Christian beliefs on their sleeves would never be countenanced by the UK electorate. In fact one of the things that did creep me out a little about Tony Blair was the shiney eyed evangelism he indulged in.

There was a big controversy a couple of years back when a Christian charity was awarded the contract to take over a failing school in the North East of England. It was found that it was teaching creationism. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/3341240/Staff-and-parents-fight-to-stop-takeover-by-academy-that-teaches-'creationism'.html)(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-382694/Pupils-confused-science-lessons-creationism.html)

[tilia-tomentosa.livejournal.com]

"There are actually 34 states in the United States that have passed anti-evolution laws of one kind or another," says Krishtalka, "whether it's stickers in textbooks or warnings that 'Reading this book with be injurious to your mental health," What the hell? This is MEDIEVAL!

When I was still in my previous university, I had a dorm roommate who belonged to some weird imported Christian "church" - she believed that dinosaurs never existed and their bones were just faked by the scientists.

When I was still in my previous university, I had a dorm roommate who belonged to some weird imported Christian "church" - she believed that dinosaurs never existed and their bones were just faked by the scientists.

I was taught the Theory of Evolution at school. Just for the record, the Communist rulers LOVED Darwin because they saw his theory as anti-religious, and I'm wondering if they didn't "edit" it a little to make it serve their aggressive atheism better.

I don't think many of the Christians here literally believe that Adam and Eve were created as the Bible describes it. When I was still in my previous university, I had a dorm roommate who belonged to some weird imported Christian "church" - she believed that dinosaurs never existed and their bones were just faked by the scientists.

By the way, there are many non-religious people too who feel uncomfortable with the idea that we are so closely related to the great apes. It is humbling, isn't it, to know that you are just an ape with a little more intelligence that a chimpanzee. But I have no problem with accepting this idea of myself.