Evolution: Science vs. Religion :: essays research papers fc

"What is the most profound inquiry thathuman beings can ask about themselves?It has to be Where do we roll in the hay from?That leads, of course, to Where does all smell come from?" These questions haveinterested humanity for years. Manydifferent views on the origin of humankindhave been debated and remain in questiontoday. ( Edey, pg.1 )One view is known as "creation-science".It is commonly understood to refer to amovement of Christian fundamentalistsbased upon an extremely literalinterpretation of the Bible.Creation-scientists do not merely insistthat life history was suddenly created they insistthat the job was completed in six days nomore than ten m years ago, andthat all evolution since that time hasinvolved trivial modifications rather thenbasic changes. The organism of fossils,according to a Creation-scientist, isattributed to Noahs flood. ( Johnson,pg.4 )"Creationism", another view on mansorigin, means belief in creation in a moregeneral sense. A Creationist may believethat the earth is billions of years old, andthat simple forms of life evolved graduallyto form more complex forms includinghumans. In addition to that belief,however, is the belief that a supernaturalCreator initiated the life process andcontinues to control it. ( Johnson, pg.4 )The most just view on the origin ofmankind is known as naturalistic evolution.It means a gradual process by which onekind of breathing creature changes intosomething different evolution that is notdirected by any purposeful intelligence.Another part of the idea is that morecomplex forms have arisen from simplerforms. vestige back to the simplest livingthing, a bacterium, scientists may find theorigin of mankind by finding somethingeven simpler, something out of whichbacteria themselves came. Recent work hasrevealed the existence of a group ofbacteria that are as different from otherbacteria as the latter are from plants andanimals. This discovery compels thereorganization of all lif e forms into afamily tree unlike the traditional ones. Outof this reorganization comes a strongsuggestion that there is a single ancestorto all upstart forms of life. ( Edey, pg.297)The abundance of evidence that there waslife much earlier then ten thousand yearsago makes it easy to disprove the view ofthe Creation-scientists. It is punishing todisprove the Creationists view because itis similar to the view of naturalisticevolution. The only difference is simplythat a Creationist believes in a divineCreator as hostile to life beginningnaturally. An argument againstCreationism can be found, however, in theimperfections of nature. "Perfection couldbe imposed by a wise Creator or bynatural selection. Perfection covers thetracks of past history. And past history --the evidence of descent -- is the mark of