Creation II Essay Example For Students

Creation II Essay Mrs. Brew 13 May 1996 Intelligent Design of the Universe The search for knowledge about the origin of humanity is as old as its inhabitants. Since the early 1800s mankind has narrowed the debate to creation by a Supreme Being and the theory of evolution. Ever since then, science has been at odds against religion. Now it appears that science is returning to religion. Scientists are finding proof that the universe was created by a Supreme Being. The word evolution refers to the change of something over a period of time(Websters 634). In biology, the theory of evolution is the complex of processes by which living organisms originated on earth and have been diversified and modified through sustained changes in form and function(Valentine). This theory proposes that between 4 million and 10 million years ago, all organisms on earth had a common ancestor and that through a process of evolution, all living organisms descended from this common ancestor(Coyne). Chevalier de Lamarck, a French naturalist proposed a theory of evolution in 1809. His idea did not get much scientific consideration until Charles R. Darwin announced his theory of evolution(Coyne). Darwin published his most famous book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection(Valentine) in 1859. Darwin stated that offspring resemble their parents, yet they are not exactly identical to them. He also noted that some of these differences were not effects of their environment, but actually were passed down from parents to children(Valentine). Darwin is the most well known scientist to write on evolution. There are many different variations on the theory of evolution. Darwin states that natural selection is the main reason for the evolution of life. The fight for food, water and other necessities benefits those creatures who are well adapted for the struggle. Those that cannot survive, die with no offspring to continue their genetic line. Natural selection is also called survival of the fittest. Another related idea to evolution is gradualism. Gradualism is the idea that evolutionary changes do not occur suddenly but over large amounts of time, ranging from decades to millions of years(Coyne). Genetic drift is another way that scientists define evolution. When two of a species mate, their offspring gets 23 chromosomes from both parents. When a gene does not split and combine correctly, a mutation occurs. This mutation will get passed down from the creature to its offspring. In this way a species can permanently be changed(Coyne). Scientists who have accepted the general theory of evolution as fact disagree among themselves about the ratio of importance between natural selection and genetic drift. They also disagree about what caused the apparent gaps in fossil layers. New species abruptly(Valentine) appear in the fossil record with no apparent mutation from another species, then remain unchanged for long periods of time. They do not seem to exhibit the gradual changes that would be expected by modern evolutionists(Valentine).Many people, including those in the scientific community, do not accept the theory of evolution as fact. When Darwin was alive, his theory was attacked by many scientists and religious leaders(Coyne). In the 1900s, United States public high schools began teaching evolution in science classes. By the 1920s, laws in twenty states to ban the teaching of evolution in public schools had been proposed by people who did not want their children being indoctrinated. They considered the teaching of the theory to be part of a dangerous trend toward the separation of religious beliefs from everyday life(Coyne). Several of the proposed laws were passed into effect in states including Arkansas and Tennessee. The ACLU challenged the Tennessee law in 1925 by defending a teacher named John T. Scopes, who had volunteered to stand trial on the charge of teaching evolution(Coyne). The ACLU lost the case but because of bad press, creationists appeared ignorant to science. However, in 1968 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that laws banning the teaching of evolution were unconstitutional because they made religious considerations part of the curriculum(Coyne). The courts continue to give rulings on creation and evolution in schools, some have come as recently as 1987(Coyne). The fight to keep evolution out of the classroom is still persevering. Those who are pushing to keep evolution out of the public schools are primarily creationists. Creation is the belief that a Supreme Being created the universe and all its contents from nothing(Vawter). Bioethics Essay The differences between other animals in nature and humans are vast. However, many evolutionists claim that we are animals ourselves. Jonathan Swift shows the absurdity of this comparison in the fourth book of Gullivers Travels. Guliver is living between two extremes: the reason based Houyhnhms and the savage Yahoos. Gulliver tries so hard to fit in with the Houyhnhms, or horses. They conclude that Gulliver must be a perfect Yahoo'(Suits 116), yet Gulliver believes that he is more Houyhnhm. This struggle can represent the origin struggle.The evolutionists say that humans were once like the Yahoos, but by saying that humanity evolved because of an haphazard accident, they are claiming that humans are now the superior being in the universe. They claim we are like the Houyhnhms(Sagan). Humans are not like that. The Houyhnhms are divorced of passion. They have no shame, no temptations, no conception of sin(Williams 62). Marriage is one of the necessary actions in a reasonable being'(63). These definitely do not identify humanity. Gulliver understands none of this(72). Humans have the ability to use reason and humans have certain inherent desires that cannot be reasonably explained: love, marriage, and a sense of right and wrong. Still the debate continues. It seems the double standard at work here is breathtaking(Glynn 32). Scientists who believe in evolution are free to use detailed accounts of what happened 4 billion years ago and base it on Darwin(Sagan). But the moment scientists begin marshalling rather considerable and persuasive evidence for the opposite case, their speculation risks being branded by colleagues as unscientific'(Glynn 32). This parallels the third book of Gullivers Travels. The ways of the respected Laputan people were very precise, according to Gulliver. All their wise men reject what seems obviously the best way preform a task(Williams 49). Member of the Academy are seen trying to weave with spider web and make ice into gunpowder(Swift 196). Such acts of stupidity are Swifts attack on the Royal Society of England in Swifts time; however the apply perfectly to many of the scientists who reject what they do not want to see. The argument about the origin of the universe will definitely continue. There will be those who argue both sides until this world comes to its end. To what extent people believe the Biblical teachings or what some scientists teach is a personal decision. Darwin concluded his book: There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, from so simple a beginning endless forms most beautiful and most wonderful have been and are being evolved(Miller 32). The more science seems to dig and research about the origins of humanity, the less likely it is that Earth and all the creatures on it were an accident. All the precision, consistency and detail point to an universal architect, a Supreme Being, God.Bibliography (please disreguard my mess for now) Coyne, Jerry A. Evolution. World Book. CD-ROM Eve, Raymond A. Creationism World Book. CD-ROM Glynn, Patrick. Beyond The Death of God. National Review May 6,1996:28-32. Limbaugh, Rush. The Way Things Ought to Be. New York:Pocket Books, 1992. Miller, Kenneth R. Lifes Grand Design. Technology Review. Feb./March 1994:24-32 CD-ROM. 1996 SIRS. SIRS 1994 Life Science. Article 59 Sagan, Carl. Snowflakes Fallen on the Hearth: The Evolution of the Earth. Planetary Report. Jan./Feb. 1993:4-9 CD-ROM. 1996 SIRS. SIRS 1994 Earth Science. Article 53 Schneider, E.D, Kay, J.J. Life as a Manifestation of the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Mathematical and Computer Modelling 1994: 25-48. Suits, Conrad. The Role of the Horsesin A Voyage to the Houyhnhnms. Modern Critical Interpretations, Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York:Chelsea. 116-125 Swift, Jonathan. Gullivers Travels. New York:Penguin,1960. Valentine, James W. Evolution. Encarta. CD-ROM. Microsoft Corp:1994 Vawter, Rev. Bruce. Creation. Encarta. CD-ROM. Microsoft Corp:1994 Websters New Twentieth Century Dictionary. Second Edition. 1983 Williams, Kathleen. Animal Rationis Capax. Modern Critical Interpretations, Jonathan Swifts Gullivers Travels. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York:Chelsea. 37-82