Darwin Day Excerpts

Participating bloggers around the world are celebrating the bicentenary of Charles Darwin's birth (February 12th, 1809) with a BLOG SWARM through February 15th. Participants' posts (submitted via BlogCarnival.com) are being aggregated here (in fits and starts) throughout this 4-day event. After the 15th, they will be categorized for easier reference, and BLOG FOR DARWIN will remain a resource for educators, students, and others. CLICK HERE to learn how you can participate!

Now, what was I doing? thinks young Darwin is way more interesting (and other quibbles).

Google recognizes Charles Darwin 09 with this image. Another reason for some Christians to boycott Google? Speaking of Google, you can use it to put into some context the following two memorable (to me), quasi-anonymous quotes on Darwin and evolution.

The reaction to Darwinism is no less a puzzle. Of course it contradicts the literal account of Genesis, but we have long abandoned Biblical literalism in law and social mores, and it would be impossible anyway due to the internal contradictions generated by a literal reading. Darwinism is eminently compatible with a deistic conception of God. Indeed, a creator operating through a Darwinian mechanism to infuse complex life forms into the universe seems more glorious. He possesses the aesthetic virtue of parsimony, and the elegant avoidance of micro-management. Once again, one is led to the conclusion that Darwin pricked a hole in our ego, not God's.

In any event, a fun perspective for you: I don't know whether you've ever thought enough to encounter it, but abstract truth excites the human sense of beauty very strongly. It's a phenomenon that is most pronounced in mathematics, but evolution is probably the most beautiful truth that I know. It is an astonishing and wonderful thing that such a work of art (I mean all the intellectual labors that expand on the meaning of "evolution") should be more accessible to you than most (say, pure math). If you believe in God, this would be a gift from him to you - the fullest use of your mind to understand his work. Your behavior is sacrilege. (In fairness, I'll state the obvious that I'm an atheist, but I'm not being manipulative here - few things make me empathize more with a religious sense of wonder than contemplation of evolution).