Radio debate for evolution as an explanation of human nature
Host: Hello. Today I'm hosting a Q and A on evolution as an
explanation of human nature.
Firstly, welcoming on Darwin! Darwin, what is the theory of
evolution?
Darwin: Hello. I
came up with the theory of evolution, and the idea of natural selection. We
evolve through time with the idea of survival of the fittest. Thomas Malthus
realised that the population gradually increases. I realised from his work,
that two organisms compete for food and they evolve in this way.
Host: In what ways, Dawkins, could evolution provide answers for human nature?
Dawkins: Evolution bases itself on the idea that we have changed and improved over time into more specified and skilled beings, hence suggesting that humans have come about naturally from basic single celled organisms and have evolved into what we are today. The theory is based on empirical methods of investigation and research and provides a realistic, tangible explanation as to why and how we are here, it completely disproves the idea that God created us because there is evidence that we have evolved. Can't argue with that!
Darwin: I agree!
Host: I see… So, Swinburne and Behe, what are your
personal theist views on this evolution theory?
Behe: The
evolution theory is too simple, and just plain wrong. Natural selection doesn’t
make sense because the organisms of this planet are irreducibly complex. This
complexity must have been specified by God, so I advocate intelligent design.
Swinburne: Well, I believe that science and religion go hand in hand.
This is because evolution is unexplainable without the help of a deity, who
created the natural laws that surround us daily, and allow evolution to occur.
Host: Dawkins, how would you respond to this?
Dawkins: I'm afraid I completely disagree with the view that everything is too well designed to not have been made deliberately and intentionally by a deity. I mean, we're not talking over 7 days that we all evolved, we're talking about millions and millions of years of progression, of learning from mistakes, of evolving and changing. You simply cannot place humans above it all because we're 'God's chosen people', quite frankly that's ridiculous. We are self-absorbed and self-righteous beings that have created religion to set ourselves far above other beings in this world; and that's all that religion and God is. A human creation used to comfort and control us, not the creator of humans.
Host: Hmm…
interesting… Darwin, would you say this is one of the contributing factors as
to why you rejected your faith?
Darwin: Yes,
because I realised that a God who made humans are we are, could not exist,
because we evolve through time.
Host: To
conclude, Swinburne and Behe, could you outline the weaknesses of this
argument?
Swinburne: We as a race, would not be able to evolve without
the help of natural laws of physics that allow us to evolve, allowing the world
to progress as it is. The evolution theory on its own offers no answer for the
existence of gravitational laws leading to the existence of the universe, and
without this explanation there is no way of answering how the world exists, or
even how evolution occurs. Therefore religion is needed in order to explain
what science cannot.
Behe: Nature
gives us all the answers we need to know this argument is wrong. Just look at
the Fibonacci code! If the world and its laws were even slightly different,
nothing would work properly, so it MUST have been made this way by a God!
Host: Darwin,
would you like to respond to this?
Darwin: Yes. You
can see fossils gradually evolving through time, suggesting that we have
evolved – we’re survived by adapting.
Host: Okay!
That’s it for today. Thank you for listening.
