October 18, 2004 | David F. Coppedge

National Geographic Faces Fact that Darwinism Is Minority View

The cover of the November issue of National Geographic is asking the question, “Was Darwin Wrong?  The work of the 19th-century English naturalist shocked society and revolutionized science.  How well has it withstood the test of time?”  The lead article by David Quammen notes that for decades, though evolution is supported by “overwhelming evidence,” 45% of Americans believe Darwinism had nothing to do with the origin of man, while an additional large share, about 37%, allow for theistic evolution.  This statistic has remained constant for two decades.  “The creationist conviction—that God alone, and not evolution, produced humans—has never drawn less than 44 percent,” Quammen notes with some surprise.  “In other words, nearly half the American populace prefers to believe that Charles Darwin was wrong where it mattered most.”
    Yet NG is not quite ready to capitulate; Stefan Lovgren writes for National Geographic News that evolution and religion can coexist, provided people are willing to give up a literal reading of the Bible. The Bible must be wrong, because “Scientific evidence shows that the universe was actually formed about 13.7 billion years ago” [see 01/02/2004 and 10/06/2004 headlines], “while the Earth was formed around 4.5 billion years ago,” Lovgren asserts [see 10/06/2004 and 09/20/2004 headlines].  “The first humans date back only a hundred thousand years or so” [see 09/29/2004 and 09/23/2004 headlines].  Both sides in the war of worldviews can get along, suggest some scientists, if religious people can just view evolution as God’s tool.

Sorry, appeasement will not work.  The King will not negotiate with unrepentant mythmakers.  He demands unconditional surrender.

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