Response to response re "How different from Creationism?"

Submitted by Rob (Australia), Jul 2, 2007 at 07:04

I only partly agree with Tom. Yes, Islamists pose an current threat and they do appear to be the most militant and dangerous people around at the moment.

But there are other people who are more worried about the rise of neo-paganism or any number of other beliefs that ultimately cause people to harm others for whatever reason.

Unfortunately, when Tom equates creationism and evolution he is really missing that point. Even as far back as the Scopes Trial, the connection between teaching kids that they have no intrinsic value because they essentially happened by a colossal (and implausible) accident of history and violence and other destructive behaviour was recognised.

One of the guys at Columbine was wearing a Natural Selection T-Shirt and made a point of killing a girl who was known to be Christian. And leaving aside examples like that, you need only look at Hitler's Aryan ideas and the philosophy of Stalin to see that evolutionary thinking influenced the greatest atrocities in history. More people were killed by evolutionary and atheistic regimes in the 20th century than in the entire history of mankind before 1900. Many people have died in wars fought under the banner of religion as well, however, when you look at the words if Jesus, it is hard to reconcile the atrocities which have sometimes been committed in His Name.

On the other hand, it is perfectly acceptable in an Islamic or evolutionary worldview to kill those who disagree/stand in your way.

People get carried away in hyperbole about the "threat" of creationism. If evolution is so solid, proven and established, after a hundred and fifty years in the mainstream of science it should have sufficient supporting evidence to be unassailable.

Unless maybe the case isn't as good as some people want us to think. I say let the science speak for itself and stop trying to stifle debate/critiques of the ruling paradigm.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".