Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon

Digression: This is a sticking point for those who don’t yet appreciate just how well established the theory of evolution by natural selection is. According to a recent survey, only about a quarter of the population of the United States understands that evolution is about as well established as the fact that water is H₂O. This embarrassing statistic requires some explanation, since other scientifically advanced nations don’t show the same pattern. Could so many people be wrong? Well, there was a time not so long ago when only a small minority of Earth’s inhabitants believed that it was round and that it traveled around the sun, so we know that majorities can be flat wrong. But how, in the face of so much striking confirmation and massive scientific evidence, could so many Americans disbelieve in evolution? It is simple: they have been solemnly told that the theory of evolution is false (or at least unproven) by people they trust more than they trust scientists. Here is an interesting question: who is to blame for this widespread misinforming of the population? Suppose the ministers of your faith, who are wise and good people, assure you that evolution is a false and dangerous theory. If you are a layperson, you may be innocent in taking them at their authoritative word and then passing it on, authoritatively, to your children. We all trust the experts about many things, and these are your experts. But where, then, did your ministers get this misinformation? If they claim to have gotten it from scientists, they have been duped, since there are no reputable scientists who claim this. Not a one. There are plenty of frauds and charlatans, though. As you see, I will not mince words. What about the Scientific Creationists and Intelligent Design proponents who are so vocal and visible in well-publicized campaigns? They have all been carefully and patiently rebutted by conscientious scientists who have taken the trouble to penetrate their smoke screens of propaganda and expose both their shoddy arguments and their apparently deliberate misrepresentations and evasions.³ If you disagree heartily with this flat dismissal, you have two good choices to consider at this point:

Educate yourself in evolutionary theory and its critics and see for yourself whether what I say is true before proceeding. (The endnotes to this chapter provide all the references you will need to get going, and it should take only a few months of hard work.)

Suspend disbelief temporarily in order to learn what an evolutionist makes of religion as a natural phenomenon. (Perhaps your time and energy as a skeptic would be better spent trying to get to the heart of this evolutionist’s perspective in search of a fatal flaw.)

Alternatively, you may believe that you don’t need to consider the scientific evidence at all, since “the Bible says” that evolution is false, and that’s all there is to it. This is a more extreme position than is sometimes recognized. Even if you believe that the Bible is the last and perfect word on every topic, you must recognize that there are people in the world who do not share your interpretation of the Bible. For instance, many take the Bible to be the Word of God but don’t read it to rule out evolution, so it is just a plain everyday fact that the Bible does not speak clearly and unmistakably to all. Since that is so, the Bible is not a plausible candidate as common ground to be shared without further discussion in a reasonable conversation. If you insist it is, you are thumbing your nose at the whole inquiry. (Good-bye, and I hope to see you back again someday.)

But isn’t there an unjustified asymmetry here, with me refusing to defend my anticreationism here and now, while sending the biblical inerrantist off for not playing by the rules of rational discussion? No, because I have directed everyone to the literature that defends the dismissal of creationism against all objections, whereas the inerrantist is refusing to take on even that obligation. To be symmetrical, the inerrantist should encourage me to consult the literature, if it exists, that purports to demonstrate, against all objections, that the Bible is indeed the Word of God and that it rules out evolution. I haven’t yet been directed to any such literature, and haven’t found it on any Web site, but if it exists, it would indeed warrant consideration as a topic for another day and another project—just like creationism and its critics. Those readers who remain will not demand any further consideration by me of creationism and its variants, since I have told them where to find the answers I endorse, for better or for worse. End of Digression.