There are three specific discoveries that prove Darwin’s theory. The first discovery is natural selection. This “demands that evolution must occur in circumstances where organisms compete for limited resources” (89). The second is the massive amount of data accumulated over two decades that “demonstrates how evolution is an actual description of the past history of life on earth” (89). The third discovery is that human beings “were no different from any other species in their evolution from simpler living things” (90). This relates back to the theory that humans are related to apes. This theory isn’t as outrageous as it sounds considering that our DNA and a chimp’s DNA is “about 99 percent the same” (85).
I have brought up the topic of evolution to my family and from their reaction I have learned to keep my beliefs to myself. My family is a very traditional, devout Roman Catholic family and I don’t think that there is any way to convince them of evolution. They strongly believe in the story of Adam and Eve and that they were, in fact, the first man and woman. However, according to Darwin there was never a first human. Instead, there were “an interminable number of intermediate forms” (91). No species originated at a single moment in time. Everything came from some form of evolution. This is quite the opposite of the Catholic belief that the universe and everything in it has “been produced by God from nothing” (“Adam, Eve, and Evolution”). The Catholic Church has stated that it “permits belief in either special creation or developmental creation on certain questions, it in no circumstances permits belief in atheistic evolution” (“Adam, Eve, and Evolution”). This shows that the church has come to accept certain aspects of evolution but they will always believe that everything is part of God’s plan.
From my perspective, I believe that each generation will become more and more open minded. However, I do not believe that science will ever completely replace religion. Religion is something that is passed down from one generation to the next and science can never take that away from people. Science has come such a far way within the last couple decades and there are still just as many people that practice a religion. Darwin’s theory of evolution is not a new discovery by any means and it obviously hasn’t had that much of an impact of religion. There are people that will never accept evolution and people that will, but religion will never become extinct.
Works Cited
"Adam, Eve, and Evolution." Catholic Answers. 10 Aug. 2004. 1 Feb. 2009
3 comments:
I thought that your essay was good in that it was very personable. I just feel like there are parts of the paper where you could elaborate more on, such as in the second paragraph where you say that there are massive amounts of data supporting evolution. You could possibly state some of the data.
Your essay is personable, and is shown through you discussing your beliefs. I liked how you shared your family's reaction to you saying that you believe in evolution, I thought that kinda showed to what degree your family is religious.
Overall, I thought it was a solid effort. There are a few grammatical errors, but mostly just elaborate on what you have already written.
I was raised as a Roman Catholic and even though I am not an extremely religious person I will always consider myself a Roman Catholic. I go to church, I believe in God, and I enjoy taking part in the Catholic traditions. However, there is one thing that sets me apart from many other Catholics; I believe in evolution. I am the type of person that has to see something to believe it and that often leads me to question my religious beliefs. Because there is actually evidence that can support evolution, it is obviously the more practical theory that explains our existence. In my opinion, there’s no denying the “massive amount of observational and experimental data” that Darwin accumulated during his research (89).
There are three specific discoveries that prove Darwin’s theory. The first discovery is natural selection. This “demands that evolution must occur in circumstances where organisms compete for limited resources” (89). The second is the massive amount of data accumulated over two decades that “demonstrates how evolution is an actual description of the past history of life on earth” (89). The third discovery is that human beings “were no different from any other species in their evolution from simpler living things” (90). This relates back to the theory that humans are related to apes. This theory isn’t as outrageous as it sounds considering that our DNA and a chimp’s DNA is “about 99 percent the same” (85). However, even though there is countless data that proves evolution, people will continue to look towards religion for an answer.
I have brought up the topic of evolution to my family and from their reaction I have learned to keep my beliefs to myself. My family is a very traditional, devout Roman Catholic family and I don’t think that there is any way to convince them of evolution. They strongly believe in the story of Adam and Eve and that they were, in fact, the first man and woman. However, according to Darwin, there was never a first human. Instead, there were “an interminable number of intermediate forms” (91). No species originated at a single moment in time. Everything came from some form of evolution. This is quite the opposite of the Catholic belief that the universe and everything in it has “been produced by God from nothing” (“Adam, Eve, and Evolution”). The Catholic Church has stated that it “permits belief in either special creation or developmental creation on certain questions, it in no circumstances permits belief in atheistic evolution” (“Adam, Eve, and Evolution”). This shows that the church has come to accept certain aspects of evolution, but they will always believe that everything is part of God’s plan and that He is our ultimate creator.
I believe that each generation will become more open minded to new theories and ideas. However, I do not believe that science will ever supersede religion. Religion often holds an extremely special meaning to people and it is not something that can be easily substituted. Religion and science are two very different subjects and should be kept separate. It is not necessary to replace religion with science or science with religion. Science has come such a far way within the past few decades and there are still just as many people that practice a religion. Darwin’s theory of evolution is not a new discovery by any means and from my perspective, it hasn’t had too much of a negative impact on religion. There are people that will never accept evolution and people that will, but religion will never be completely replaced.
Ryan - this was a vague and unhelpful response, which says nothing substantive about the actual argument.
jmv31 - Each paragraph reads like a separate paper (only a slight exaggeration). In one, you describe yourself; in another, you justify Darwinism (using one page from Silver); in the third, you contrast your belief to the Church (although Pope John Paul believed in Evolution!!!); in the final one, you actually assert the total separation of religion and science.
The real argument is in the fourth paragraph - but because it wasn't clearly stated at the beginning, and because you aren't developing the paper as evidence (because of x, y, and z you should believe a) it's hard to see why we should, in any way, accept that religion and science both are and should be separate.
You do eventually provide an argument, but there is no real evidence here to support it - moreover, the paper is very short, with much of it being essentially filler (all those quotations from one page in Silver? why?).
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