Does The Theory of Evolution Lead to Immorality? (choice, faith)

[Father Heathen]

Originally Posted by Storm

It's not a wacky non-sequitur, evolution was part of the justification for all of those. And yes, the Bible was a justification for slavery, too, but that doesn't negate the fact that evolution was as well.

Sure they did, but do you believe the ToE itself lead to these atrocities? So otherwise moral people, after studying the theory, felt compelled to do immoral things? Also, the bible speaks explicitly about slavery, evolution does not.

[Storm]

Originally Posted by Father Heathen

Sure they did, but do you believe the ToE itself lead to these atrocities? So otherwise moral people, after studying the theory, felt compelled to do immoral things? Also, the bible speaks explicitly about slavery, evolution does not.

Of course not.

However, pretending that eugenics, especially, wasn't influenced by ToE is just stupid.

[Father Heathen]

Originally Posted by Storm

However, pretending that eugenics, especially, wasn't influenced by ToE is just stupid.

I never said it didn't. I said it wasn't a part of the theory itself. And the OP asked if ToE *causes* immorality.

[camanintx]

Originally Posted by Storm

It's not a wacky non-sequitur, evolution was part of the justification for all of those. And yes, the Bible was a justification for slavery, too, but that doesn't negate the fact that evolution was as well.

Any justification of slavery based on one race being inferior to another is more a product of the Bible than the Theory of Evolution. Besides, Darwin's "Origin of Species" was published in 1859, long after most of Europe had abolished the practice and just as it was ending in the USA.

[thorman]

I feel like I'm jumping in a little late, but since i'm a bit of an insomniac i figure what hell. The belief in the theory of evolution does not neccessarily lead to immorality. It is the strict adherence to some of the points of TE that could cause a problem. For instance just because I might adhere to the survival of the fittest does not give me the right to whack grandma if she slows me down on a road trip. On a more serious note, I just had a hideously serious conversation with a perfectly sane man in downtown Boston who believed that all newborns who showed any signs of serious mental or physical disabilities should be "destroyed" was the word he used. I firmly believe that if evolution is allowed to be treated more and more as a scientific fact and less as the THEORY that it actually is than society will eventually come to a place where moral standards are no longer recognizable-- there will only be what is positive or negative for the nation/community/people.

[Father Heathen]

I think survival of the fittest is more about surviving your enviroment to pass on your genes, not just some mindless deathmatch for giggles. It should be in nature's hands, not mans. Some people falsely believe they can artifically accelerate evolution through selective breeding. That's *not* evolution, and shrinking your own gene pool will do more harm than good. I don't know if this is a good analogy, but look at pure breed dogs, who tend to have more health problems than mutts. Evolution is biology, not ethics, and should have no baring on human values. We as humans are more than our genetic code.

Did you know gravity is also a theory, too?

[camanintx]

Originally Posted by Father Heathen

Did you know gravity is also a theory, too?

Certainly, and we should be teaching the controversy there to!

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