Why Darwin, and Not Einstein? Or Newton?

Superstitionists really, really don't like Charles Darwin. I sometimes find this odd.

Darwin is generally regarded as the father of evolutionary biology, a field that has become the central point of all modern biological thought. Remove evolution from the sciences and lots of things don't make sense.

Things unavailable to Darwin when he was alive, like a massive (and ever-increasing) fossil record and the discovery of DNA, have independently shown the brilliance of Darwin's ideas. In fact, it can be argued that Darwin predicted the discovery of DNA, which happened about a hundred years after he published On The Origin Of Species.

Einstein and Newton, however, somehow escape the wrath of the supernaturalists. This despite the fact that their work, especially with regard to gravity, is much more assailable than Darwin's. Gravity is a problem. Newton's calculations have proven to be only estimates (this was verified by the work of the Apollo missions, which showed that the moon was not where Newton's equations said it should be). Einstein's General Relativity, which is essentially a theory of gravity, does not fit in with the Standard Model of physics, which has proiven to be quite accurate (if not yet complete). Einstein spent the last thirty of years of his life unsuccessfully trying to get gravity to make sense in a quantum world. The greatest physicists of all time have yet to crack this one (although string theory MAY be on the right path, but it requires a bunch more dimensions than written in any scripture).

Wouldn't the work of Einstein and Newton be easier targets for religious fundamentalists? You bet it would. Especially since "gravity is just a theory" and is not something you can see. Gravity could easily be dimsissed by these people as their god just putting things where it wants them. So why not tackle Einstein and Newton, two of the biggest names in the history of science, in the name of their god? Why Darwin? I have two suspicions:

1. Elitism. Religionists have a proven track record of thinking that they are better than others (and killing millions to prove it, if necessary). Sure, their god is better than other gods, and their culture is superior to other cultures, and their race is superior to other races, and their myths are true while other myths are just stories. It is all part of the tribal ideology. But tell them that their species isn't really that miraculous, and that it fits right in with the rest of life on earth, and you hit at the core of their arrogance. They freak out. Of course they are special: Their mommies told them so, and so did Jesus, and Jesus' invisible daddy in the sky. Darwin's work, and the mass of evidence since discovered to support it, shows that we are a part -- a twig at the end of a nondescript branch -- of the tree of life, not its Johnny Appleseed. While we have great abilities, we owe them to the work of the life that has come before us and around us.

2. It is precisely the ridiculous amount of confirmation of Darwin's work and its centrality in modern science that makes it a target. If you can convince the masses, in an Orwellian manner, that there is some sort of controversy or question about the most successful theory in science, then you can use that as a keystone to discredit scientific thought as a whole. If you can persuade people that gravity is wrong, no big deal. It doesn't fit anyway. But if you convince people that evolution is wrong, you crack the foundation of science (and the progress of mankind, while you are at it). Aim big.

The hideously dishonest irrationalists would have you believe that evolution somehow tarnishes the nobility of life; that it makes it less special. Well, I can't scream "bullshit" loud enough to express my disagreement.

For the last 36-or-so hours, I have been spending lots of time with a cat and her newborn kitten. When I look at them, or hold that kitten, I see grandeur and awesomeness that those xenophobic freaks will never allow themselves to experience (lest they become -- gasp -- compassionate to all living beings). I don't see these two felines as lesser animals. I see them as other animals: Fellow mammalian travelers through space and time who are able to experience much of what I do and have the ability to teach me about the important things in life. I am not better than them; I am different than them and have the ability to make decisions that greatly affect their lives.

If we want to progress as a species, we would do well to accept the facts of life, even if they don't massage our egos. We should continue to encourage critical thought and compassion. We should encourage people to be nice AND to constantly ask questions about the world around them.

Take a little time and think about what that would be like. I'm going to go hold a kitten. If we were keeping him, I'd name him Darwin, just to remind me how special life is.