The Age of the World Argument: An Alternative – 7

Real and Philosophic Consequences of Evolutionism

Though it is not my main thrust in this article, I want to make a brief aside to demonstrate that the presumptions of evolutionism have had significant impact on life and living in the 20^th and 21^st centuries.  Sir Arthur Keith (referenced above) was one of the first to recognize that the policies of Adolf Hitler were impacted by evolutionism,

“The German Führer, as I have consistently maintained, is an evolutionist; he has consciously sought to make the practice of Germany conform to the theory of evolution.”  – Keith, A., Evolution and Ethics, Putnam, NY, USA, p. 230, 1947.

Richard Weikart’s academic historical exploration of evolutionary concepts in Germany from last quarter of 19^th century and first quarter of 20^th century (From Darwin to Hitler: Evolutionary Ethics, Eugenics and Racism in Germany, 2004) showed that Hitler and the German academic, medical and cultural establishment were following Darwinian concepts in their primitive crude attempts to develop what they considered to be the best genetic stocks of the human race.  Although academic evolutionists objected vigorously to Weikart’s association of evolution with Nazi policies, the fact remains that survival and propagation of supposedly “fittest” people requires management and elimination of the less fit.  This fact remains a cornerstone of eugenics today, now that the entire human genome has been mapped.

Weikart’s thesis receives support from an account of Josef Stalin’s life by E. Yaroslavsky.  At a very early age, while still a pupil in the ecclesiastical school, Stalin developed a critical mind and revolutionary sentiments. He began to read Darwin and became an atheist.  G. Glurdjidze, a boyhood friend of Stalin’s, relates:

“I began to speak of God, Joseph heard me out, and after a moment’s silence, said:
‘You know, they are fooling us, there is no God. . . .’
‘I was astonished at these words, I had never heard anything like it before.
‘How can you say such things, Soso?’ I exclaimed.
‘I’ll lend you a book to read; it will show you that the world and all living things are quite different from what you imagine, and all this talk about God is sheer nonsense,’ Joseph said.
‘What book is that?’ I enquired.
‘Darwin. You must read it,’ Joseph impressed on me” [1]

A few pages later, another individual—also reflecting on Stalin’s youthful pursuits, added the following:

“. . . in order to disabuse the minds of our seminary students of the myth that the world was created in six days, we had to acquaint ourselves with the geological origin and age of the earth, and be able to prove them in argument; we had to familiarize ourselves with Darwin’s teachings.”[1] –  E. Yaroslavsky, Landmarks in the Life of Stalin (Moscow: Foreign Languages Publishing house, 1940), pp. 8-12.  Found online at: http://www.mandley.com/advdemo/mod07/adv7324.htm#note1

This evolutionary mindset leads to the heady wine of atheistic human presumption and arrogance, extolled by Jeremy Rifkin, American economist, speaker and activist who opines:

“We no longer feel ourselves to be guests in someone else’s home and therefore obliged to make our behavior conform with a set of pre-existing cosmic rules. It is our creation now. We make the rules. We establish the parameters of reality. We create the world, and because we do, we no longer feel beholden to outside forces. We no longer have to justify our behavior, for we are now the architects of the universe. We are responsible to nothing outside ourselves, for we are the kingdom, the power, and the glory for ever and ever.”

Contemporary events of mass murders support the chilling consequences of evolution’s ethics, as graphically illustrated by the facts surrounding the Columbine school shootings.  Columbine killers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 people and themselves in what was the worst school shooting in U.S. history at the time it occurred in 1999.  Their goal was to bring death to more than 500.  The autopsy report for Harris revealed that on the day of the attack, he wore a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Natural Selection.”

Harris and Klebold, who planned their rampage for a year, paid homage to their hero, Adolph Hitler by carrying out their killing spree on April 20, Hitler’s birthday.  Harris wrote on his website, “YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE???  NATURAL SELECTION.  It’s the best thing that ever happened to the Earth.  Getting rid of all the stupid and weak organisms.”  The outworking of evolution by natural selection in human cultures is violent and disruptive as those who consider themselves the fittest attempt to exert their dominance over those they consider less fit.  History is full of the practices of “social Darwinists” and their murderous politics, and school shootings reminiscent of the Columbine incident have continued to occur.

If biologic evolution by natural selection is the plain fact its proponents proclaim it to be, why is all the pseudo-religious rhetoric necessary to justify it?  Why are there no simple scientific demonstrations that confirm the theory?   I think it is because there is no legitimate science, but only “politically correct” enforcement of Darwinist views of survival of the fittest.  Irrational and fanatical rhetoric is evolution’s only defense.  In other words, evolution is clearly not a compelling proposal in the scientific sense.  But, as Huxley, Wald, and Keith noted, if you don’t accept evolution, what else have you, other than special creation by God?  Rejection of the Creator of the Bible removes the constraints of Christian morality and has desperate consequences.