November 17, 2019 | David F. Coppedge

Darwinism Produces Irrational Hate

Darwinism should be opposed simply on the grounds of what it does to people’s sensibilities and manners.

On CEH’s Twitter feed @crevinfo, we occasionally have to block abusive responders. We give fair warning with the following notice:

Each violation produces an additional warning, but this usually just makes the abusive person angrier until they blow off in a cloud of smoke. Invariably, the abusive tweets come from Darwinists who mock creation, using any or all the fallacies in the Baloney Detector. Judging from the language, some are probably uninformed scoffers living in their parents’ basement in their underwear with nothing better to do than mock creation, religion, or whatever else their subculture tells them to hate.

Some, however, are working scientists. One might hope scientists would be experienced in the practice of civil discourse during disputes about observational evidence, but that skill must not be part of the curriculum of some. They may start with civility—as if wearing a Greek happy mask—but it usually doesn’t take long for the mask to come off and the reptilian parts of their brains to kick in (22 Jan 2019).

A recent case in point is Ray Simpson, a student at Yale earning a PhD in Ecology & Evolutionary Biology, who is also an illustrator of Fishes of the Western Atlantic. Illustrating beautifully-designed fish is a worthy enterprise, and it appears from his website and Twitter page that he does great work. Something in his background or education, however, triggers wrath when Darwinism is questioned. Here’s how he responded to our 9 November 2019 article, “Shoving Fossils onto Darwin’s Timeline,” which we tweeted as:

CEH: Darwinists shove fossils onto the geologic column kicking and screaming. We show examples from dinosaurs and mammals. Because of the poor fit, the Darwinians have to make up just-so stories of elaborate credulity, like the “pecan pie period.”

We backed up that tweet with specific examples in the article. Here is the Twitter dialogue that ensued:

Simpson: Please identify the modern kinds of organism found in the Cambrian Explosion, or explain using the creation model why we find no modern kinds of marine organisms in this typical shallow water fauna. No fossil is “forced” in to the column. All Cambrian creatures are BASAL taxa!

CEH: Did you read the article? The rules require addressing questions or comments to the contents of a specific article [rules posted]. Please read: [link to article].

The article contains nothing about the Cambrian explosion, so his first tweet was not related to the article. There was also nothing about “kinds” as opposed to phyla. He smells a creationist. The mask starts coming off. He continued:

Simpson: Maybe answer my question, which was nowhere in that pseudoscience article. WHAT kinds of life living today were alive in the Cambrian? Remember you don’t believe in evolution so kinds can’t be phylum!

CEH: That article was not about the Cambrian explosion, but I’m not sure you, an evolutionist, want to go there! 20 phyla appearing suddenly w/o ancestors? I suppose you know about sponges, ctenophores, corals, tardigrades, annelids? Not to mention arthropods, mollusks and chordates.

Simpson: They were PHYLA (not kind), and the STEM members of each phylum. Do you know what the stem member of Chordata looks like? It looks like a lancelet, which is a primitive chordate. I certainly DO want to go there, as the primitive life of the Cambrian fits perfectly into evolution

Simpson: Actually there are as many phyla originating in the Cambrian as there are after the Cambrian, and lots of phyla that originate in the Precambrian. There are many phyla that arise in the Cambrian and go extinct soon after. Not sure how this fits creationism???

CEH: So you believe in miracles. Instant complex body plans with organs, systems, eyes, articulating limbs, digestive systems, central nervous systems. I don’t have enough faith to believe in your miracles. Neither did atheist Lee Strobel. [Link to episode from The Case for a Creator about the Cambrian explosion.]

Simpson mischaracterized the Cambrian explosion, which world experts since Darwin still agree is a major problem for evolutionary theory. But all arguments about the facts of the Cambrian explosion are now fruitless. Simpson goes into attack mode against his hated foes, creationism and the Bible. In violation of the rules, he is way off topic from the original article, and is forcing the discussion toward his preferred direction (see Shifting the Burden of Proof). One clever propaganda ploy is to accuse your opponent of propaganda. Nothing in our tweets so far constitutes a Straw Man fallacy.

Simpson: Strawman… none of those are miracles. None of those body plans were “instant”, nor just popped out of nowhere. You believe in lots of miracles, like how freshwater life survived your magic flood or how giant waves didn’t capsize a rudderless barge, or removing all the heat

Simpson: You didn’t address my question AGAIN. Why are you creationists so quick to change the subject and post videos. Do your own talking you fraud. Can you please identify ANY modern KIND of organism in the Cambrian Explosion? Where are all the fish, crab, snails, whales, starfish?

CEH: strike one

Simpson: No answer huh? You have no idea where all the fish, crabs, lobsters, clams, gastropods, and corals are in the Cambrian, because the Cambrian was 500 million years ago and those creatures didn’t exist yet! What’s your magic flood‘s explanation? Typical creationist threats to ban

He has now broken all three rules for dialogue with CEH. He didn’t read the article; he didn’t mention anything from the article, and he calls his opponent a fraud. The mask is off, and the hate appears.

CEH: strike two.

Simpson: Strike 3, you’re a coward who knows nothing about evolution.

We get that response often. When trying to mention facts that contradict Darwinism, mockers respond that we “know nothing about evolution” (see Ridicule, Generalities, Ad Hominem in the Baloney Detector). Since one cannot have a dialogue with a blowtorch, we have to block Mr. Simpson, wishing there had been an opportunity for civil discourse with an expert on Atlantic fish.

CEH: Well, you were warned. I hope you can get some therapy for your irrational hatred. Jesus Christ said, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Peace.

This kind of Twitter interaction could be illustrated with many instances.

We were able to print this thread because it did not contain the profanity often included in similar dead-end discussions. What is it that makes Darwinists so full of hate, pride and arrogance? Try as we might to have a respectful conversation about facts, many pro-Darwinism responders cannot abide by common rules of civility.

Perhaps it is the nature of social media to make people write with more ferocity against faceless opponents. But we do give fair warning that only civil dialogue will be permitted. And it has to be about something specific in one of our articles. We try to hold them to the rules, asking sometimes repeatedly if they actually read the article under consideration. It’s often doubtful from their tweets that they did read it, and if they did, that they understood it. Their tweets, rather, show that pre-existent hatred was triggered by the mere existence of a voice skeptical of Darwin. Is it surprising that Darwinism produces irrational hate? How could a godless belief in an amoral, unguided process that celebrates ‘fitness’ do otherwise? Darwinism gives license to the worst instincts of man, because it appears to remove all responsibility to a just and moral Creator.

Jesus said you would “know them by their fruits.”  The Apostle Paul listed the fruit of the Spirit as love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). He contrasted these with with the works of the flesh, which include not only sexual sins, but also “enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions” which have roots in pride. He warned Timothy that in the last days, “people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” as well as sexually immoral (II Timothy 3:1-4).

While it is not pleasant to face the ongoing wrath of Darwinists, in a way it is very satisfying. The righteous are known not only by the friends they keep, but also by those who hate them. Paul saw his persecutors as haters who would have been shouting “Crucify him!” at Jesus. He was grateful to God to take some blows in his stead, because of the greater good that God was accomplishing through him (Colossians 1:24ff):

Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery hidden for ages and generations but now revealed to his saints. To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.

 

 

 

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Comments

  • Insectman says:

    Over the years evolutionists have called me a liar, buffoon, stooge, idiot, and nutcase (among other things).** Anonymous letters and phone calls were placed to my colleagues and administrators attempting to ruin me professionally. A prominent liberal tried to use her power and connections with the board of education to silence me. I was even threatened with arrest. Now, I receive (usually anonymous) hate emails including veiled threats of bodily harm.

    I thank God I was counted worthy to be used to declare the truth of His Creation.

  • Sal Cordova says:

    I’d be willing to debate Ray Simpson in a live internet ZOOM debate. The rules: Equal time, he says what he wants, I say what I want. Simple.

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