In The Middle: The Evolution Revolution
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- Created on Sunday, 12 February 2012 11:09
- Written by Elaine Beth Peresluha
For many thousands of years humanity’s worldview was dominated by the omnipotent presence of deities revered for the creation and control of the natural world. Somewhere around 1600 CE, when Kepler and Galileo started using precision instruments to map the universe, science & religion publicly entered the same room. At Galileo’s trial the scientist agreed to shut his mouth and the church agreed not to burn him. Socially, the atmosphere had improved significantly by the time Darwin returned from his five-year scientific expedition on the HMS Beagle. Charles Robert Darwin internally turned up the gain on the conflict between science and religion. His own life amplified the irresolvable conflicts, as he wrestled between his scientific research and his devotion to his family and friends.
During his voyage Darwin’s search for universal laws developed a rare combination of strengths: a dedication to careful fact gathering and a propensity to theorize about the facts. During those five years Darwin transformed into an independent and adventurous scientist with the courage to embrace the heretical idea of the transmutation of species.
His returned home to the comforts of the society he loved, and his marriage to his cousin Emma Wedgwood. Married in an Anglican service, the couple balanced his freethinking theology with Emma’s strong Unitarian beliefs and concerns that Charles honest doubts might separate them in the afterlife. They both prioritized their love and devotion above science or religion.
Darwin’s family tradition was nonconformist Unitarianism, while his father and grandfather were freethinkers, and his baptism and boarding school were Church of England. When going to Cambridge to become an Anglican clergyman, he did not doubt the literal truth of the Bible, On board the Beagle, Darwin was quite orthodox and would quote the Bible as an authority on morality. By his return he was critical of the Bible as history, and wondered why all religions should not be equally valid. In the next few years, while intensively speculating on geology and transmutation of species, he gave much thought to religion and openly discussed this with Emma. Her beliefs also came from intensive study and questioning. On the Origin of Species reflects Darwin’s evolving theological views. Though he thought of religion as a tribal survival strategy, Darwin still believed that God was the ultimate lawgiver. His work created the place in the middle between religion and science- the law of God and laws of nature. He considered it “absurd to doubt that a man might be an ardent theist and an evolutionist.”
“I have never been an atheist in the sense of denying the existence of a God. … Generally ... an agnostic would be the most correct description of my state of mind.”
Darwin treasured his place in English society. He feared alienating those who he knew would be offended by his theory. His fear of ostracism and his dread of the hurt his ideas would inflict on his close friends and especially on Emma, prevented earlier publishing of his findings. The conflict between his science and his realization of what publication would imply for the society he was so much a part of manifested itself in physical pain. The once adventurous young naturalist was a semi-invalid before his 40th year.
In the middle between his minds that thought, his heart that loved, it took 20 years for Darwin to find his peace. On the Origin of Species proved unexpectedly popular. The Church of England‘s response was mixed. Some dismissed the ideas, while liberal clergymen applauded the scholarship. By the end of the decade most scientists agreed that evolution occurred, and the scope of evolution expanded social, moral and spiritual development.
In The Descent of Man Darwin noted that aiding the weak to survive and have families could undo the benefits of natural selection, while withholding such aid would endanger the instinct of sympathy. “The noblest part of our nature,” and factors such as education could be more important.” Our evolving humanity had the capacity to choose- and modifies the very nature of the natural order he defined.
Soon after the Origin was published in 1859, Darwinism was a term used for the evolutionary ideas of others, including Spencer’s “survival of the fittest“ as free-market progress, and racist ideas of human development. “Eugenics“ led to compulsory sterilization laws in the late 1800’s. Humanity now had the scientific capacity to modify the genetic composition of the population, manipulating human potential. Minds that think- but did we have the equivalent development of our hearts to understand the moral ….the sharper beak, the longer horn, or the brighter feather might have a better chance to survive and reproduce than other individuals. Such advantageous traits would dominate future populations. This also meant that the traits of individuals that were less competitive gradually would disappear from populations. There was no place in Darwin’s world for divine intervention. What then would balance the strength of the mind- the sharpest beak- with the kindest heart?
Perhaps that question is what kept Darwin involved with the parish work of his church. Even though he would go for a walk on Sundays while his family attended church. Darwin wrestled with the potentials of heart and mind, in the middle between God, creationism, science, and evolution.
In the 1930’s Marie Rainer Rilke wrote:
The hour is striking so close above me
So clear and sharp,
That all my senses ring with it.
I feel it now; there is a power in me
To grasp and give shape to my world.
I know that nothing has ever been real
Without my beholding it.
All becoming has needed me.
My looking ripens things
And they come toward me, to meet and be met.
In 1933, the first Humanist Manifesto was signed.
Forty years later, in 1973, a revised, second Humanist Manifesto II was and signed by thousands. It was the culmination of centuries of words, thoughts, and debates trying to grasp the human/divine connection.
“The world cannot wait for a reconciliation of competing political or economic systems to solve its problems. These are the times for men and women of goodwill to further the building of a peaceful and prosperous world. We urge that parochial loyalties and inflexible moral and religious ideologies be transcended. We urge recognition of the common humanity of all people. We further urge the use of reason and compassion to produce the kind of world we want -- a world in which peace, prosperity, freedom, and happiness are widely shared. Let us not abandon that vision in despair or cowardice. We are responsible for what we are and will be. ... Let us call for an end to terror and hatred. We will survive and prosper only in a world of shared humane values. .... We believe that humankind has the potential, intelligence, goodwill, and cooperative skill to implement this commitment in the decades ahead. ...”
Must we choose between our mind and their hearts? Can we choose? Are the two experiences mutually exclusive?
Human beings are compelled to find value, depth, care, concern, worth and the ultimate significance of our existence. We thirst for meaning as much as truth. For billions of people the basic glue of their existence is provided by a religion. On many levels, religion has claimed to offer this world guidelines about what is good, i.e.: love care compassion and what is not; i.e. lying stealing, cheating killing etc. and ultimately, religion offers the discourse- if only by its own failures, inconstancies and exclusions in adequately defining an ultimate ground of Being. Humanists have chosen to let go of the word God- and all its inherent struggles. They are attempting to uncover truth with reason, meaning, and purpose from the heart and mind, recognizing that they are of equal import to the development of humanity.
In his book, The Marriage of Sense and Soul, Ken Wilber says,
“It is a strange and grotesque coexistence, with value free science and value laden religion deeply distrustful of each other, aggressively attempting to colonize the same small planet. It is a clash of the Titans, to be sure, yet neither seems strong enough to prevail decisively nor gracefully enough to bow out altogether. The trial of Galileo is repeated countless times moment to moment around the world and it is tearing humanity more or less in half.”
We need science and religion- our minds to continually evolve knowledge and its relevance- our hearts to assure the comfort our minds do not offer when we are in pain. We need our hearts to inspire compassion when our technological advances race us into unknown territories of destructive human potential.
Yes, we can clone a sheep and perhaps a human being. We can genetically manipulate human physical and mental potential. We have the technological capacity...but do we comprehend the meaning of our capacity to act? Do we understand the critical ramifications and delicate intricacies of our choices?
We still need a source of morality hearts that love, to keep the sharpest beaks from dominating the laws of natural selection
Using reason to question and spirit to inspire and comfort we can assure that we will not be shackled by exclusive thinking or behaviors which allow domination by the strongest, who reject or bring harm to others.
“.... There is a power in me
To grasp and give shape to my world.
I know that nothing has ever been real
without my beholding it....”
Whether we are humanist, deists or theist is less important than how those beliefs inform our behaviors. We must each ask our own questions and emerge with our own unique answers - then, we must take what we have discovered back into the world – We define the reaches of science and religion- the marriage of sense and soul, the limitations of dualism. We have the potential for thoughtless action with disregard for consequences- and thoughtful understanding with which we grasp and give shape to our world . We are evolving, still, learning to appreciate both time and the timeless. space with infinity, a home that touches each and every soul with grace, goodness and goodwill. We decide our destiny.