This debate has been around for a long time. For hundreds of years, people from both sides have been bitterly squabbling about the origins of human existence, with no end in site. The Internet is full with people's strong, heavily biased opinions on the matter, often with no neutral view point. This is why this article was written!
The following article will try to explore the differences between the two viewpoints, whilst trying to remain unbiased. But ultimately only you know what you believe. Evolution or Creationism?
You are probably reading this article with one of these conflicting viewpoints. I advise for the next few minutes that you put your biased opinions to one side so that we can make a more informed analysis of this debate. By doing this, it will allow you to see the point of view from the other side, perhaps not agreeing, but ultimately understanding how and why they have come to their opinions.
Opposing views between people that support evolution and people that support creationism have raged over the last hundred years, becoming more heated within the last few years. Internet forums are full of people squabbling between the two, but what exactly are they squabbling about?
Evolution and Creationism have different standpoints about the emergence of us, human beings. This could even be expanded to the emergence of the universe in it's entirety. So, how exactly do they differ? Well simply, evolution tries to explain our origins through scientific method, coming to the conclusion that we and everything else evolved over time, to become who and what we are today. Creationism tries to explain our origins through religious beliefs, concluding that we and everything else was created by God. It's clear to see why these contrasting viewpoints are so passionately debated, so let's look at each perspective a little closer.
Evolution
The Theory of Evolution was originally suggested by Charles Darwin in 1859 when his book 'The Origin of Species' was first published. This book challenged the fundamental belief that God created everything as it was stated in the Bible. Darwin himself was deeply religious, with his own work going against everything that he believed in, so much so that it took him 20 years of inner turmoil to build up enough courage to publish.
Darwin's life work led him to the conclusion that all life evolved over time gradually. During his many years travelling the world, he found evidence that suggested this theory. His visits to remote and isolated islands, like the Galapagos Islands, were of particular interest to him. These 'geologically new' islands were full of interesting and diverse sets of animals that seemed to branch off from much older forms of wildlife found elsewhere. More so, this was evident when he visited Australia, where kangaroo's and platypus's seemed so different, that it was as though two different creators had been at work. He began to conclude that the isolation of these groups of animals was a contributing factor in the development of these diverse creatures.
Darwin was also a keen geologist and fossil collector. During his travels, he found many new fossils of long extinct creatures, that were unknown at the time. A lot of people were excited at these new discoveries of unusual creatures that had died long ago, but Darwin was more interested in 'why' they had become extinct. He suggested that these animals had died off due to competition for natural resources like food, from better adapted animals. This was the initial idea that, over time, resulted in Darwin coining the phrase "Survival of the Fittest".
Darwin began to see the connection between creatures evolving over time and "Survival of the Fittest". If a species can't adapt to it's changing environment adequately, then it will begin to die out due to competition from other species. This all seemed very logical, however he then began to ask how we, 'human beings' fit into this theory.
As stated previously, Darwin was a deeply religious man. It is with no surprise then, that Darwin struggled to come to terms with the notion that Humans could have evolved. This went against everything that he believed in, yet he wanted to see how, and indeed if, his theory applied to humans. Darwin began to gather evidence from numerous sources that humans are just another form of animal. It had already been shown that anatomically, humans are almost identical to apes and other forms of primate, so Darwin suggested that with the addition of sexual selection and a large amount of time, it could be traced back that the two had a common ancestor.
Darwin is famous for first suggesting the 'Theory of Evolution', but it was at the time mainly just a theory. In science, a theory will only ever be theory until it is proved with overwhelming evidence. So since Darwin died, many scientists have set out to seek evidence that either proves or disproves this. This is why today, evolution is not seen to be a theory anymore. Mountains of evidence that proves this has been found in every corner of the world. Scientists from all countries and religious backgrounds have been able to find evidence that supports evolution, and with the continuing improvement of technology, this has been shown to be true at genetic levels.
Creationism
Creationism is probably most closely linked to Christians, but other forms of religion do have their own interpretations of creation. The Bible clearly states that God created the world and everything in it. We are created in Gods image, not that of an ape.
Many creationists find it hard to comprehend the idea of evolution, particularly the evolution of humans. The belief in God and the spirituality that they hold in high regard help to shape their world and philosophy. To divert against this could be seen as loosing faith, faith that encourages a person to live a morally good life by teaching them to be good.
Some argue that science doesn't have, and can never answer certain questions, therefore a higher power must be responsible. This, to a certain extent, is a valid point. Some questions, especially philosophical questions, will never be answered because there is no right or wrong answer. One question that has nagged human kind is that of "Why are we here?" or "What is the meaning of life?". A scientist may approach this in a scientific way, but it would seem to be impossible to prove. You yourself can only answer these questions, as these questions are of a very personal nature. However, just because science can't answer certain questions, doesn't mean it never will be able to.
Conclusion
This debate will continue for a long time to come. However I do believe that some people purposely add fuel to the fire and total dismiss another persons point of view. If you support evolution, you shouldn't dismiss someone's religious views, as that is totally disrespectful. However, this can be be applied the other way, that if you believe in creationism, you shouldn't just dismiss scientific evidence because you don't agree with it.
Science has played a huge part in shaping our modern world and will continue to do so in the future. Scientists don't claim to know everything and often do get things wrong. Perhaps evolution will be proved to be incorrect in the future, but if it is, it will be proven with vast amounts of scientific evidence to support it.
Religion has also helped create our modern society in which we live in. It has given us a moral code in which to live our lives by and can be argued that a lack of it could lead us to lead immoral lives. In certain circles atheists are seen to be evil, whereas in reality just because you may not believe in a higher power, doesn't mean that you are going to live a life without any morals.
I personally support evolution because this gives us a scientific understanding of who we are and where we have come from. I personally find that more spectacular than having been created. To have evolved from being an animal to being the custodians of our planet and everything on it. To gaze into the night sky and look forward to the future of the human race that spans the stars. I also believe that a higher power may have been responsible for creating the big bang, which could be seen to support a creation viewpoint. I like to think that if God created us, he chose to give us an inquisitive mind. It is this mind that fuels our curiosity to seek out and understand the world around us. But that is my opinion, what is yours? Do you believe in creationism or evolution?
My name is Matt and I am a writer for http://www.TheSquabble.com a great website that lets people discuss and debate over a wide variety of topics. Currently we have articles added regularly covering products/brands, politics, sport, people and many others. If you have something to squabble about, then we are the place to do it.
So check out http://www.TheSquabble.com - Because everyone has something to squabble about!
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