On a recent post (IGNORANCE IS NOT BLISS ) I briefly discussed my views
of evolution. Though my Atheist friend
disagreed with me on most of what I said on this topic, what really seemed to
bother him were the following remarks: "And of the many matters for which it
cannot account, the greatest is the humanity of man – our
uniqueness. We are God’s unique creation.”
My friend took me to task for this statement;
the discussion can be found in the comments following that post. Not satisfied with that however, he published
a post on his blog a few days later, The Need to Feel Superior to Other Forms of Life.
He begins with a picture of a couple of cute
monkeys and the statement, "I find it strange when
people need to feel superior to other forms of life. I recently had a
mini-discussion with a Christian who posted a rather interesting blog post." He follows with my whole brief paragraph on
evolution. After a brief disagreement
with the paragraph, he homes in on the final sentence quoted above.
"
-- the idea that really struck me is the part about how we’re supposedly
‘unique’.
Of
course, Bill isn’t the first one to voice such a sentiment. In fact, he voiced
it in a very polite way. I’ve often run into theists who say something similar.
Some seem to get rather offended because they think evolution means they’re
nothing more than a monkey. A few have said this with a sneer, as if monkey’s
are beneath them.
And
that’s the problem, I think, with some religious thought. It teaches we’re
above the other animals on this planet – that we’re somehow more beloved of a
creator God and are here to use or safe-guard this planet, which we’re doing a
horrendous job of, by the way."
He then follows with a rather interesting set
of data showing our similarities with other creatures, most of which is
well-known by those who read popular journals or watch PBS.
·
We
share a similar genetic makeup with chimpanzees - "a minuscule 1.2%"
difference.· We share much of our genetic makeup with other (dare I say "lower"?) forms of animal life.
· It "isn't even necessarily true" that we are "more intelligent" than other animals. This claim and the data supporting it compose most of the post.
· Monkeys may even "wonder" and "process ideas about self".
The data is interspersed with a few gotcha
remarks and the blog concludes:
"I
think we need to put aside our selfish, egotistical wish to
be superior to other forms of life. We’ve caused enough harm by putting it to
use. Even if we think in terms of sheer dominance, bacteria has us
beat hands down.
It’s
just one more thing the Bible (and other religions) have gotten wrong.
And
if you’re going to insist that we’re unique, special and even made in the image
of some omnipotent deity, at least don’t pretend you’re being humble."
So has my friend refuted my "selfish,
egotistical wish" which I stated above?
Somehow I don't see how he has.
As a matter of fact, I believe that he has confirmed my point. Whatever we make of the idea of evolution, it
cannot account for the vast differences between humans and other creatures
which are composed of the same material.
If we take the position that the material and
physically observable accounts for all of reality, we are left with matters
that cannot be explained - the uniqueness of the human race being one of those
matters. So for the materialist the
simple solution to this dilemma is simply to deny that these inexplicable
matters really exist. The materialist is
forced to deny the humanity of man.
Yes, I do believe that we human beings
"are beloved of a creator God" and that "we're unique, special
and even made in the image of some (the) omnipotent Deity." I also believe that "we are here to use
and safeguard this planet." (I
suspect that my friend believes that
too.) And I hope I will be forgiven for
those times I "pretend (I'm) being humble."
"When I observe
Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and stars
that You set in place --
What is man, that You
take thought of him?
And the son of man,
that You care about him?"
Psalm 8:3, 4
6 comments:
"So has my friend refuted my "selfish, egotistical wish" which I stated above? Somehow I don't see how he has."
But I did. I showed you how we're genetically and functionally not that unique.
"Whatever we make of the idea of evolution, it cannot account for the vast differences between humans and other creatures which are composed of the same material."
That's a nice assertion but to refute something you have to explain why it can't and then provide evidence.
"The materialist is forced to deny the humanity of man."
No. I acknowledge our humanity. I just don't pretend we're as unique as you claim or that we're special based on ancient mythology.
You didn't really refute anything I said, Bill. You just made the same assertion you made before.
If you had read a bit more carefully you would have noticed that I agreed with you that we're not "genetically unique". But if you can't see "functional" differences between humans and apes, then I suspect that you are the one who ignores the evidence.
" But if you can't see "functional" differences between humans and apes, then I suspect that you are the one who ignores the evidence."
You need to come up with examples and evidence when making assertions. Merely claiming something is true, doesn't make it so.
I clearly refuted your stance with clear and concise evidence.
:^)
Does "Canadian Atheist" not acknowledge prima facie evidence of the vast differences between the cognitive abilities of humans and chimpanzees, etc?
An example might be, say, chimpanzees might use leg bones and sticks as primitive tools/weapons, whereas humans have the Internet and CNC machines, spacecraft, SCUBA gear, and so on.
"Does "Canadian Atheist" not acknowledge prima facie evidence of the vast differences between the cognitive abilities of humans and chimpanzees, etc?
An example might be, say, chimpanzees might use leg bones and sticks as primitive tools/weapons, whereas humans have the Internet and CNC machines, spacecraft, SCUBA gear, and so on."
And that refutes what I said...how?
It wasn't long ago our ancestors weren't putting together SCUBA gear either. It wasn't long ago in the big scheme of things that we as humans were using thigh bones and sticks as primitive tools/weapons.
And as I showed you with quotes, the very way we measure intelligence is a question. Under some circumstances, we might not be the most intelligent animal on the planet.
Post a Comment