Defender's Guide to Science and Creationism

Assertion: It is no surprise that people behave like animals, since they are taught that they come from animals.

Mark I. Vuletic

Last updated 21 March 2008

Analysis

(i) Consider two analogous claims:

It is no surprise that creationists treat everyone like dirt, since they are taught they were created from dirt.
It is no surprise that adults behave like children, since they are taught they developed from children.

If a creationist decides to treat others like dirt because Genesis says they were created from dirt, that is an indictment of him, not of Genesis. If an adult decides to behave like a child because he used to be one, that is an indictment of him, not of the stages of life. Likewise, if a person chooses to behave like an animal or treat others like animals, simply because his remote ancestors were animals, that is an indictment of him, not of evolution or science education.

The first example above is especially telling: how would a creationist react to such a claim? Surely by pointing out that there is more to Genesis than creation from dirt. Likewise, there is more to evolution than our having evolved from other animals. The fact that we came from other animals does not mean that we are "just" animals.

(ii) The argument suggests that there was no immorality before people were taught about evolution. A glance at a history book should be sufficient to dispel that absurd suggestion, since history is full of examples of die-hard creationists murdering one another and those unfortunate enough to get in their way. Either that, or so great must the nefarious power of evolution be that its evil influence reaches even backwards in time to compel creationists to behave like animals long before Darwin walked the Earth.

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