Evolution Sunday Critic Rebutted!

Jonathan Wells posted an opinion piece in the Yale Daily News criticizing Evolution Sunday. Michael Zimmerman, the founder of Evolution Sunday, offers a succinct but cogent response in the YDN.

I give you his closing paragraphs and if you have any questions, I suggest you follow his suggestion and check out the Evolution Sunday web site -- www.evolutionsunday.org

He also completely misses the point of Evolution Sunday. He asserts that “it is not evolution in general, but Darwin’s particular theory (Darwinism) that Evolution Sunday celebrates.” The term “Darwinism” has never appeared on any material associated with Evolution Sunday. Indeed, “Darwinism” is a term that is almost exclusively used by creationists to attack evolution. The modern concept of evolution has evolved to an enormous extent since Charles Darwin first
published “On the Origin of Species” that it simply makes no sense to talk of Darwinism, except in a historical setting.

Beyond that, however, the purposes of Evolution Sunday have been absolutely clear from the outset. The event is designed to provide an opportunity for congregations around the world to discuss the compatibility of religion and science, to investigate why religion and modern science need not be at war with one another. The event is designed to demonstrate that those shrill
fundamentalist voices that assert that people must choose between religion and science are simply incorrect, that they are presenting a false dichotomy, that no such choice needs to be made. Indeed, one of the purposes of Evolution Sunday is to help elevate the nature of the debate on this topic from those who simply shout, “Accept evolution and you’ll go to hell.” Finally, one of the purposes of Evolution Sunday is to bring attention to the Clergy Letter, a letter signed by more than 10,500 Christian clergy members. This letter makes it clear that
thousands upon thousands of Christian clergy members have no problem embracing their faith as well as evolution.

But don’t just take my word for Wells’ lapses. Go to the Evolution Sunday Web site and read the original documents for yourself. It’s too bad that Wells apparently didn’t bother to do that.

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