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Religion & Law

: Thoughts in a Haystack

Singing From the Same Song Hymn Book

By John Pieret

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You've probably heard about Canadian Science minister Gary Goodyear's original refusal to respond to a question about whether he "believes" in evolution, saying:

I'm not going to answer that question. I am a Christian, and I don't think anybody asking a question about my religion is appropriate.

The obvious first follow-up question should have been "Why is a question about your understanding of science a question about your religion, unless your religion is against science?"

Be that as it may, Goodyear has now "clarified" his position by saying that he does believe in evolution:

Of course I do. ...
We are evolving every year, every decade. That's a fact, whether it is to the intensity of the sun, whether it is to, as a chiropractor, walking on cement versus anything else, whether it is running shoes or high heels, of course we are evolving to our environment. But that's not relevant and that is why I refused to answer the question. The interview was about our science and tech strategy, which is strong.

Larry Moran correctly points out that these are weasel words of a type well known to those of us who have been fighting the creationism wars for so long. Goodyear was describing exactly the same sort of "evolution" that Ken Mercer, one of the creationist members of the Texas State Board of Education, was referring to when he said:

Most people of faith agree with what is commonly referred to as "micro" evolution, small changes that are clearly visible.

... right before he said:

The controversial "macro" evolution was commonly understood as those major changes that could occur if one species jumped to another.

In other words, it is "evolution" as it is understood by the scientific community that they deny; namely, common descent.

As if to specifically point out Goodyear's evasion, Ken Ham's Creation "Museum" has announced that it is opening an exhibit that affirms the correctness of Darwin's theory of natural selection:

The exhibit, entitled "Natural Selection is Not Evolution" features a cave aquarium with blind cavefish to show how organisms possess traits specific to their environment. It also features a "Creation Orchard" that shows the family tree of each original kind of created plant or animal as described in Genesis.
Ham believes creatures can gain new traits to fit their surroundings within their own families. He asserts, however, that changing from one organism to another, such as an ape evolving into a human, does not occur.
"Darwin was right about natural selection, right about different species forming and species changing, but wrong that such changes are a mechanism to change one kind of animal into a totally different kind," Ham said.

The only question here is whether Goodyear was reading over Ham's shoulder or was Ham reading over Goodyear's.
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Full post as published by Thoughts in a Haystack on March 19, 2009 (boomark / email).