Friday, June 01, 2007

Creationism vs Evolutionism, even in the Muslim world

One wonders what the world is coming to when even in the Islamic world there is a debate over "evolution" and "creation". As in the United States "evolution" is being blamed for the ills of the world: The creationists in Turkey "blame evolutionary principles for Communism, Nazism and – under an A3 photo of the Twin Towers in flames – Islamic radicalism and the September 11 terrorist tragedy. 'Darwinism is the only philosophy which values conflict', the text says."
In all these debates, it seems evident that "evolution" means something
different from what the every-day evolutionary biologists and paleontologists actually do, and assume in what they do. We are a long way from having even a clear agreement on what we are talking about when we use the terms. The debate conflicts with the assumptions of most of those who formulated the case for a secular science, namely, that an empirical enquiry of material processes can make no claims as to how "the providence of God" works (Voltaire). Folks seem to have forgotten that in the Judeo-Christian conception God works through means -- that is, material means. Which may be one reason that a "secular" science developed (but even then through much tribulation) within that social context.

To read the whole article click on the title above.

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