“Conservatives Shouldn’t Fear Evolutionary Theory,” writes Razib Khan for National Review, as noted already. Interesting about the title of the piece: conservatives shouldn’t “fear evolution.” I don’t fear evolution. I’ve studied it professionally for nearly forty years, and regard large parts of the theory as generally sound.
I am skeptical of many claims of evolutionary theory, however. Ironically, the sound or well-supported parts of evolutionary theory are readily incorporated into a design perspective, and really only make sense from that perspective (see Michael Behe’s new book, Darwin Devolves).
What’s worrisome to me about Khan’s article is its quasi-hagiographical tone: evolution, he writes, is “a crowning achievement of Western civilization.” The unspoken corollary: anyone who expresses skepticism about evolution is an enemy of civilization.
Khan wants sensible conservatives to get on board with evolution. The problem is, unanswered questions, such as the origin of adaptive complexity, will NOT go away because everyone is “on board.”
As I said 11 years ago, in my interview with Ben Stein for the movie Expelled, the funny thing about scientific questions that haven’t been properly answered is they refuse to go away. Nature herself will not cooperate, and it doesn’t matter what WE think. She will continue to talk back to us, until we learn to listen to her.
Photo credit: Dušan Smetana via Unsplash.