Most of us would agree that it is wrong to kill a newborn child, but there is tremendous disagreement about whether abortion is acceptable and if so up to what age of the foetus (Johnson, 1995). We agree in general about the sanctity of human life post birth, even if there is disagreement about the sanctity of life prior to birth.

Our belief systems, values and perceptions of life do affect how we behave. Apartheid was instigated by those who believed that white people were superior to black people , and as a consequence untold suffering was caused. During the second World war there were those who believed one race was superior to others with horrendous consequences. In more recent years there has been ethnic cleansing in Countries where one race or people group has considered itself superior to another.

What does this have to do with the theory of Evolution? The theory of Evolution is a belief system. Science can prove that gravity exists so it can be referred to as a law of physics. However, Science does not prove the theory of Evolution. If anything, Science can disprove the theory of Evolution (see Conclusions).

The theory of Evolution is a belief system that is so widely accepted around the world that is molds our thinking and redefines our values. The theory of Evolution implies that:-

1. All life on Earth arose as a result of random mutations and hence the existence of God is not required for life as we know it.

2. If all life arose by random chance, then the value of a human life is diminished compared to if that life was in specially created by God.

3. In the absence of God, man as one of the most complex results of evolution should look to no higher authority than himself in matters of morality.

4. If Science has proved Evolution to be true, then those who hold to an supposedly unscientific belief in Creation must be irrational or feeble minded or bigoted or narrow minded or all of these!

5. For those who have a Christian faith, the Bible says God created man in his own image. If man was actually a result of a series of chance mutations and is in the image of God, then this implies that God is a result of a series of chance mutations.

Dr Colin Brown who researched nineteenth-century theology stated that "By far the most potent single factor to undermine belief in the existence of God in modern times is the evolutionary theory of Charles Darwin" (Ankerberg, 1998b).

Below are a couple of examples of how the theory of Evolution can be so universally accepted that it begins to affect laws concerned with teaching about creation and the freedom to think differently:-

National Academy of Sciences:- "Teaching creation Science would be contrary to the Nation's need for a scientifically literate citizenry and for a large, well-informed pool of Scientific and technical personnel ..... Special Creation is neither a successful theory nor a testable hypothesis for the origin of the universe, the earth, or life thereon (The National Center for Science Education)".

The National Committee for Public Education and religious liberties:- "Teaching Creationism is impermissible as a matter of law, either in lieu of scientific Evolution or as a companion theory (The National Center for Science Education)".

Suggested reading

Darwin's Leap of Faith, by John Ankerberg and John Weldon.

Reason in the balance, by P. E. Johnson.

The long war against God, by H. Morris and D. Jeremiah.       

           BOOKS SCIENCE            BOOKS CHRISTIAN

Suggested video (see Videos):-

The education debate

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