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I’ve been told time and time again, by people all over this nation, that something horrifying, repulsive, utterly unacceptable is happening: Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is being taught as fact!
Personally, I can’t imagine a worse thing to happen, and I’m a proponent of evolution. Why? Simply because evolution, as an explanation for how we all got here, is a theory. In order for it to be taught as fact, someone must seriously not understand science, or have redefined the theory to make it work… in this case, it would have to be those terrible teachers imparting their satanic beliefs.
So, I am personally setting out to find all of the undereducated, misinformed teachers who are promoting evolution as fact! That’s right, I have made it my mission. However, I’m not quite sure where to start, so maybe someone more familiar with the issue could help me with one simple question:
Where, exactly, is evolution being taught as fact?
I can’t find it! I don’t know the name of the science textbook that says “evolution is fact.” Honestly, I can’t even find one that calls it anything other than “Darwin’s Theory of Evolution.” Not a single reference, anywhere, to it being anything other than a theory…. odd.
Considering how many people are upset by the phenomenon of evolution taught as fact, you’d think there would be examples of it everywhere, but there’s not a single thing out there… not one scanned page, not one science textbook title, nothing. There’s more evidence for the existence of UFOs!
I did, however, find one theory of how we all came to be that is unequivocally taught (or should I say “preached”) as absolutely fact, without allowing any room for speculation… You guessed it: Creationism.
Creationism is taught as fact in every context I have ever found… from the Bible to CreationWiki. (Note: For an interesting read, check out their comparison between Biological Evolution and The Theory of Evolution… bet you didn’t know they were two different things!). Oh, screw it… I’ll save you the click:
Some evolutionists have been known to commit a logical fallacy by conflating biological evolution and the general theory of evolution. The argument goes like this: “There is a great deal of evidence for biological evolution. Therefore the general theory of evolution is true.” This argument is fallacious, because while biological evolution makes no claim as to the origin of life and allows for the possibility that it was originally created, the general theory of evolution claims that life originated by chance through abiogenesis, a speculation for which there is neither evidence nor comprehensive explanation. Further, while biological evolution says only that life changes over time, but allows that some biological diversity may be the result of creation, the general theory of evolution holds that this change occurs without limits, and that all biological diversity is due to evolution, another speculation for which there is neither evidence nor comprehensive explanation.
Well, at least they used sciency sounding words. So… now we have two different kinds of evolution (echoed by science out of necessity): biological evolution and the theory of evolution. Biological evolution isn’t even argued as not being science, and actually is observable fact. We can witness small-scale evolution taking place. However, this concept appears to be the result of a reconciliation between the overwhelming evidence for Darwin’s Theory of Evolution (notice, I used the ‘T’ word) and the fact that it disrupts religious ideas of creation. Interestingly enough, something exactly like this has happened before.
When Galileo Galilei first wrote that the world revolved around the sun, the Catholic Church almost shit itself… but why? Quite simply, the Biblical story of creation says that God created the Earth then the heavens (Sun and Moon). It wouldn’t make much sense if the Earth came first, but wasn’t the center of everything. Eventually though, astronomical observation won out over a 5,000 year old story, which begs the question: if the Catholic Church believed that the revelation of a non geo-centric universe would disprove their entire religion…. why didn’t it? Answer: rationalization.
Someone decided that it would still be OK if the Earth went around the Sun, simply because it would have to be. So, the geo-centric universe stopped being taught by the Church. Not the whole religion… just the conflicting idea. Everything else was still assumed to be correct. We’re now seeing a very similar thing with evolution:
Evolution as a short-term explanation for intra-species variations = OK
Evolution as the driving force that took us from proto-cells to people = NOT OK
What, may you ask, is the difference? Answer: Idiocy. We’re at that tiny point in history where religion has admitted a large defeat, but still isn’t sure how it can continue to exist while doing so. Thus: Darwin’s Theory of Evolution has become something different from biological evolution. Weird, since Darwin would disagree, and it’s his theory.
But the question still remains, where exactly does it say that evolution (the whole theory, as posited by Darwin) is a fact?
Encyclopedia Britannica?
Theory in biology postulating that the various types of plants, animals, and other living things on Earth have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations. The theory of evolution is one of the fundamental keystones of modern biological theory.
Merriam-Webster?
A theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations; also : the process described by this theory
Wikipedia?
This powerful explanatory and predictive theory has become the central organizing principle of modern biology, providing a unifying explanation for the diversity of life on Earth.
Darwin’s On The Origin of Species?
Well, here’s a link: the full text But suffice it to say, a search reveals he uses the word “theory” 138 times.
Ok… so, nowhere. Aside from this new, identical-but-with-a-twist “biological evolution” (which religious Christians now concede as fact), Darwin’s actual theory of evolution is never called anything but a theory. For more information, read this Wikipedia entry entitled Evolution as Theory and Fact:
The point of this statement is to differentiate the concept of the “fact of evolution,” namely the observed changes in populations of organisms over time, with the “theory of evolution,” namely the current scientific explanation of how those changes came about.
And because it will need some perspective, here is the distinction between a common theory and a scientific one. Note that this article has been pondering evolution with the scientific definition of “theory.”
In common usage, “theory” often refers to conjectures, hypotheses, and unproven assumptions. However, in science, “theory” usually means “a plausible or scientifically acceptable general principle or body of principles offered to explain phenomena.”
So what are we left with? A concession by the “creationists” that biological evolution is both something factual and something different from Darwin’s evolution. The only difference between the two is what happens in the very beginning, and that’s not what proponents of Intelligent Design have been saying!
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