Evolution not 'just' a theory

Galileo Galilei was an Italian astronomer who strongly supported the idea that the Earth went around the sun, and not the other way around.

This view was seen as strongly heretical by some Christians, since the Bible is very clear that the Earth does not move, but the sun does (1 Chronicles 16:30, Psalm 93:1, Psalm 96:10, Psalm 104:5, Ecclesiastes 1:5).

However, many Christians did accept the science and do not see this concept as detrimental to their faith. Unfortunately, Galileo was still put under house arrest for the rest of his life for teaching this heresy.

We are repeating history with the theory of evolution. Many Christians see the teaching as heretical and believe it must be false because it contradicts the Bible. Evolution is targeted by conservative Christianity as something that must be defeated, which has created a battle between science and religion similar to those fought in the past.

Evolution is by no means an atheist belief. Ironically, the largest group of people who support evolution in the United States are Christians. It is one of the most successful theories in science, supported by observation and testing. And it does not have to destroy one’s faith.

Some of the weapons used against evolution are lies and misconceptions. Let’s clear up a quick few:

Evolution has been observed. It does not violate the second law of thermodynamics. There are many transitional fossils. Evolution is not just about blind chance. It is not just a theory — it is as close to a fact as science will allow.

Evolution represents more than just an interesting theory to scientists. The acceptance of it reveals the strength of dogma and blind belief over evidence and reason. It indicates that the U.S. could lose its scientific advantage if facts take a back seat to faith.

Beyond the science-versus-religion issue, evolution can reveal so much about the world around us. Biologists use evolution to understand drug-resistant diseases and genetic diseases. Evolution presents a great explanation for why we sometimes find whales and snakes with legs and humans with tails.

We can understand human origins in a factual way without having to rationalize away the concepts that go against a Creation story. We can humbly accept that humans are classified as apes and understand the story of our lineage as it is, not as we would like to make it. We can appreciate our history by studying fossils to understand how and why we developed.

For example, humans can almost make vitamin C, except for a few broken genetic codes. There is no need to explain why an intelligent designer would do such an odd thing. Evolution easily shows that in our ancient past, we made vitamin C, but we lost the ability because we no longer needed it due to our diet.

We can appreciate that a child has about 50 to 100 mutations that makes him or her different from each parent. Of these mutations, only a few actually result in a measurable change. By understanding how children are different from their parents, we can understand how different species develop.

For those who are sitting on the fence on this issue, I encourage you to learn more about evolution. If you approach it with an open mind, the facts will speak for themselves. There are many resources aimed at teaching evolution, such as University of California, Berkeley’s Web page (http://evolution.berkeley.edu/) or Richard Dawkins’ new book, “The Greatest Show on Earth.”

• Perspectives is a slightly whimsical look at life, philosophy, religion and politics that runs occasionally on the Irrigator Voice page. Scott McKinley is a scientist and a local Patterson resident. He may be reached by email at msmperspectives@gmail.com.