So You Are an Evolutionist? Why Can’t You Think Like One?

It’s safe to say from reading my previous posts you can infer that I am definitely not an evolutionist. I am a proponent of Intelligent Design through a theory called Irreducible Complexity. In a very broad sense, Irreducible Complexity is the theory that many aspects of life are far too complex to have originated by chance through natural selection; and, therefore, show evidence of a designer. As a Christian, I believe this Designer to be God Almighty and He has shown Himself in creation. Romans 1:19-20, “Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:” Sounds like the typical atheist is out of excuses, doesn’t it?

Now to the topic at hand, which is the inability of evolutionists to think like evolutionists should think. I thought about this topic when reminiscing about a debate I had with an evolutionist which culminated in the person quoting a heralded supporter of the cause. The quote was something along the lines of, “Well, the first thing we need to realize is, we are not starting from scratch.” The sheer ridiculousness of this quote in light of abiogenesis and a lack of irony detection from my opponent’s mind took me aback for a little bit. I answered with an obvious, “Of course you’re starting from scratch, you’re an atheistic evolutionist. Where else would you start?” Unsurprisingly, he failed to see my point. This individual debate brings to light a huge problem in evolutionary thinking: evolutionists rarely ever start from scratch.

Rarely do you ever hear an evolutionist who goes all the way back to the beginning; but if we are to discuss the origin of anything attaining to life through an evolutionary lens, then it must go back to the first proteins and how those developed. The problem is that we can’t explain how proteins developed and how they started forming complex structures. One prevailing view is that certain proteins are just attracted to other certain proteins and thus stick together. However, advances in biochemistry have shown that DNA is needed to build protein structures which leads to another issue of where DNA has come from. This, in turn, leads all the way back to questions about the big bang.

Inability to start from scratch is the least of evolutionist worries. Have you ever wondered about the list of endangered species? Most of the animals on the list are said to be almost driven extinct because of human expansion. What’s funny is that a majority of the people who maintain this list are most likely evolutionists. If we were to really follow evolutionary thought to its logical conclusion shouldn’t we realize natural selection is running its course? These species are not able to survive the apparent rise of human evolution and thus are not adapting quick enough to be deemed strong. Shouldn’t we let natural selection follow through?
A common answer to this point is mentioning that man’s actions against nature are contrary to evolution, speeding up the process, and therefore must be stopped. This thinking is not conducive to a Godless origin because isn’t man a product of mutation just like the rest of the species on this planet? If we are nothing special as a species, then our actions should just be part of the natural order of things.

I believe the reason people don’t follow this train of thought is due to three reasons. The first reason is the fact that man was created with a conscience or ability know right from wrong, however skewed it may become. Number two would be historical precedent in the views of Social Darwinists. Social Darwinism gave rise to eugenics which viewed many human actions of preserving life as blight to evolution. Eugenicists wanted to help natural selection along by eliminating “weak” individuals and groups of people from the human gene pool. This type of thinking is well demonstrated in the Holocaust and the Tuskegee Syphilis Study.

Reason number three is that if we really are nothing special then what’s the point to human life? The extreme of pointless random life is Nihilism which can be very depressing indeed. Nobody, including the evolutionist, wants to believe that life is meaningless. However, if we were to really think in a totally evolutionary vein then, essentially, life has no point because we are just another species on this planet in a stage of perpetual progression toward a random end.

Paul, In 1 Corinthians 15:32, describes the very sentiment of pointless life, “If after the manner of men I have fought with beasts at Ephesus, what advantageth it me, if the dead rise not? Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die.”