Evolution is a Religion

Anaximander of Miletus, a Greek philosopher who lived about seven centuries before the birth of Christ, believed that man was generated in primordial waters and crawled out onto the land. His contemporaries pointed out an obvious flaw in his theory. Human babies are helpless, completely unable to care for themselves. If a baby emerged from the water and crawled out on to the land, it could not survive. Anaximander wasn’t discouraged by this criticism but modified his theory to say that humans were conceived in fishlike creatures, where they were fed and protected until they safely reached puberty.

There are several interesting ideas and theories about the origin of man, but the supporters of all these diverse theories have something in common. Whether people believe the story of Anaximander, Darwin, or Moses, they receive the story by faith. People may have many reasons for believing what they do about the origin of humans, but this is only to say they have reasons for their faith. Nobody living today observed the creation of the world or the descent of man. These events cannot be scientifically demonstrated in repeatable experiments. So our view of man’s origin is really a religious view, which we embrace by faith.

Many people have the false impression that science is an objective enterprise which is neutral in the face of the facts. This is simply not the case. Stephen Jay Gould admits that, “The stereotype of a fully rational and objective 'scientific method,' with individual scientists as logical (and interchangeable) robots, is self-serving mythology.” Every scientist enters the lab with a religious perspective that influences his interpretation of the data. Currently, the orthodox religious perspective of modern academia is what philosophers call materialism—a worldview based on the unproven assumption that the only thing that truly exists is matter.

Many evolutionists will vehemently deny the religious nature of evolution, but more honest devotees are not afraid to profess their faith. Michael Ruse, professor of history and philosophy wrote the following in "Saving Darwinism from the Darwinians," National Post (May 13, 2000):

“Evolution is promoted by its practitioners as more than mere science. Evolution is promulgated as an ideology, a secular religion--a full-fledged alternative to Christianity, with meaning and morality. I am an ardent evolutionist and an ex-Christian, but I must admit in this one complaint…the literalists [i.e., creationists] are absolutely right. Evolution is a religion. This was true of evolution in the beginning, and it is true of evolution still today.”

Therefore, the evolution and creation debate is not a debate between religion and science, but a debate between two religions—Materialistic Evolution and Christianity. The dogmas of the Evolutionary faith and the dogmas of the Christian faith serve as the eyeglasses through which respective scientists interpret the empirical data. It’s not a question of whether religion will be permitted in the science lab, but whose religion.

The current scientific priesthood only admits orthodox materialists into their academic ranks, labeling all other religious perspectives as unscientific. Some who have recently dared to challenge the Darwinian dogma have been excommunicated for their heresy. Don’t be fooled. Evolution is a religion.

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