2008 Woodie Awards
Proof always trumps faith
ryan buckley
Issue date: 4/25/08 Section: Pro Con
Many of the social issues that float in and out of America's scope of consciousness seem to involve complex existential quandaries.
The issues of abortion and euthanasia force us to define what it is to be a human being and what it means to be alive. Gay marriage raises questions about the purpose of wedded unions and the "family unit," love, social equality, lifestyles, and social values. But the weightiest question of all rests in the crux of the debate between Darwinism and Creationism: How did we get here?
For thousands of years people of all cultures attributed their existence and that of their reality to the will of a higher power(s). It was not until the time of the Industrial Revolution when members of the scientific community, including the famous Charles Darwin, started to examine biological and ecological systems much more in-depth. In his landmark book "Origin of the Species," published in 1859, Darwin controversially claimed that all life as we know it is not the product of an omnipotent force but of a natural process of life known as evolution. This theory asserted that in a natural environment the organisms that are most well adapted to survive would do so while those that are weaker are usually eliminated. Thus the most optimally suited individuals live and proliferate, passing on their advantageous traits and establishing their species in that ecosystem.
Today, Darwin's work serves as the platform on which the scientific community bases its theories regarding the development of life on Earth. While the explanations these provide are far from being flawless, they are the most logical in relation to the evidence available to researchers. However, there remains a section of the population that maintains the belief in an all-powerful force responsible for creating the world. These people are the proponents of a theory known as Intelligent Design, or the idea that a higher consciousness constructed the universe.
Starting with the Scope's Trials in the 1920s the issue over which should be taught in public schools is still an item of debate.
The issues of abortion and euthanasia force us to define what it is to be a human being and what it means to be alive. Gay marriage raises questions about the purpose of wedded unions and the "family unit," love, social equality, lifestyles, and social values. But the weightiest question of all rests in the crux of the debate between Darwinism and Creationism: How did we get here?
For thousands of years people of all cultures attributed their existence and that of their reality to the will of a higher power(s). It was not until the time of the Industrial Revolution when members of the scientific community, including the famous Charles Darwin, started to examine biological and ecological systems much more in-depth. In his landmark book "Origin of the Species," published in 1859, Darwin controversially claimed that all life as we know it is not the product of an omnipotent force but of a natural process of life known as evolution. This theory asserted that in a natural environment the organisms that are most well adapted to survive would do so while those that are weaker are usually eliminated. Thus the most optimally suited individuals live and proliferate, passing on their advantageous traits and establishing their species in that ecosystem.
Today, Darwin's work serves as the platform on which the scientific community bases its theories regarding the development of life on Earth. While the explanations these provide are far from being flawless, they are the most logical in relation to the evidence available to researchers. However, there remains a section of the population that maintains the belief in an all-powerful force responsible for creating the world. These people are the proponents of a theory known as Intelligent Design, or the idea that a higher consciousness constructed the universe.
Starting with the Scope's Trials in the 1920s the issue over which should be taught in public schools is still an item of debate.
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