Last week's review of Richard Dawkins' new book in the Economist hit all the usual chords. Dawkins' purpose is to demonstrate that evolution is a fact--as incontrovertible a fact as any in science, and the Economist is only too happy to propagate the absurdity. First, there are the usual silly evidential arguments that only work with the uninformed, of which there are apparently many. True, species appear abruptly in the fossil record but, explains the Economist, "That any traces at all remain from so long ago is astounding, and anyway it is not the completeness of the fossil record but its consistency that matters." After all, there are no fossil rabbits in the ancient strata. That's right, no rabbits before the Cambrian era. Astonishing, evolution must be true.
After this extreme example of the fallacy of affirming the consequent, the review next explains that:
The mammalian skeleton is consistently recognisable in creatures as various as bats, monkeys, horses and humans. Vestiges such as the stumpy wings of flightless birds, and the hairs that prickle on human skin just like the rising hackles on furry mammals, are further testimony to our shared origins. ... At the microscopic scale, molecular genetics connects the various parts of the grand family tree with fantastic detail and accuracy.
Testimony to our shared origins? Grand family tree? Evolutionists in the know are abandoning the venerable evolutionary tree, but don't tell the people. Here we have the fallacy of confirmation bias. There are multitudes of examples of similarities amongst the species that do not fit the evolutionary pattern. It is a glaring example of selecting the evidences that fit the theory, and ignoring the plethora of contradictions.
But the best is saved until last. As always, the real proof is the religious evidence. As the review proclaims:
Glitches, like the laryngeal nerves that are so neatly laid out in fish but that must detour in animals with necks—by a crazy 15 feet (4.6m) in the case of giraffes—demonstrate the incremental, undirected business of evolution in touching detail.
... among the many puzzles that evolution explains so well are the futility and suffering that are ubiquitous in the natural world. All trees would benefit from sticking to a pact to stay small, but natural selection drives them ever upward in search of the light that their competitors also seek. Surely an intelligent designer would have put the rainforest canopy somewhat lower, and saved on tree trunks? The cheetah is perfectly honed to hunt gazelles—but the gazelle is equally well equipped to escape cheetahs. So whose side is the designer on?
The ichneumon wasp paralyses its prey without killing it and lays its larva inside this convenient source of fresh meat, to eat it slowly alive. This is just one striking instance of the immensity of pain in the animal kingdom, which defies explanation except via the unyielding calculus of competitive survival.
With religious arguments like these who needs scientific evidence? But wait, evolution is supposed to be a fact of science. This is where the lie enters in.
It is fine for evolutionists to proclaim their silly idea a fact--it must be for anyone holding their religious dogma. Such religion trumps science, no matter how compelling. The science consistently goes against evolution, but it doesn't matter. Evolution must be true.
The point here is not whether the evolutionists' religious beliefs are right or wrong. If right, then evolution is no doubt true. The point, rather, is that evolution is driven by such arcane religious beliefs that cannot adjust to modern science.
These seventeenth century Enlightenment arguments laid the foundation for Darwin's religious tome, and evolutionists have applied those doctrines ever since. The sentiment of Dawkins and the Economist come right out of this Enlightenment piety. The evidences have been updated and the language has changed but what's important--the ideas--is still the same.
