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Social and religious controversies

Since publication of The Origin of Species in 1859, evolution has been a source of nearly constant controversy due to its social, philosophical, and religious implications. Some have embraced its ideas and extended them to support controversial theories such as Social Darwinism and policies such as compulsory sterilization. Others have resisted its perceived conflicts with their religious beliefs, leading in recent years to the growth of the Creation Science and Intelligent Design movements.

Social theories

Evolution has been used to support philosophical and ethical views which most contemporary scientists consider were neither mandated by evolution nor supported by science.^[1] For example, the eugenic ideas of Francis Galton were developed into arguments that the human gene pool should be improved by selective breeding policies, including incentives for reproduction for those of "good stock" and disincentives, such as compulsory sterilization, "euthanasia", and later, prenatal testing, birth control, and genetic engineering, for those of "bad stock". Another example of an extension of evolutionary theory that is now widely regarded as unwarranted is "Social Darwinism", a term given to the 19th century Whig Malthusian theory developed by Herbert Spencer into ideas about "survival of the fittest" in commerce and human societies as a whole, and by others into claims that social inequality, racism, and imperialism were justified.^[2]

Creation-evolution controversy

The creation-evolution controversy (also termed the creation vs. evolution debate or the origins debate) is a recurring political dispute about the origins of the Earth, humanity, life, and the universe,^[3] a debate most prevalent in certain regions of the United States, where it is often portrayed as part of the culture wars.^[4] While the controversy has a long history,^[5] today it is mainly over what constitutes good science,^[6]^[7] with the politics of creationism primarily focusing on the teaching of creation and evolution in public education.^[8]^[9]^[10]^[11]^[12]

Debate on the details of scientific theories and their philosophical or religious implications are often the most intense parts of the controversy. Some participants on both sides believe that the conflict boils down to opposing definitions of all or parts of science, reality, and religion.^[6] Accusations of misleading formulations, incorrect or false statements, and inappropriate mixing of ideas are also fundamental points of disagreement.^{[citation needed]} Some consider the term "creation vs. evolution" itself is misleading, believing it implies a false dichotomy and adds fuel to the debate.

The level of support for evolution is overwhelming in the scientific community and academia,^[13] while support for creation based alternatives where evolution does not take place is minimal among secular scientists.^[14]

Objections to Evolution

There have been numerous objections to evolution since Charles Darwin put forth the theory of evolution by natural selection in his 1859 book The Origin of Species. Although alternative theories were soon proposed, Darwin's theory eventually came to be universally accepted by the scientific community. The existence of evolutionary processes and the current theory explaining them have been considered a fundamental precept of biology amongst scientists for nearly a century.

Since then, most criticisms of evolution have come from religious, rather than scientific, sources. Although most Abrahamic religions do not consider evolution to be in opposition to their beliefs and theology, including those religions that advocate theistic evolution, other religions reject it in favor of creationism, that is, the view that God created the world largely in its current form. The resultant creation-evolution controversy has been a focal point of recent conflict between religion and science.

In contrast to earlier objections to evolution that utilized either strictly scientific or explicitly religious explanations, recent objections to evolution have frequently attempted to blur the distinction between the two. Movements such as Creation Science and Intelligent Design attack the scientific basis of evolution and argue that there is greater scientific evidence for the design of life by God or an intelligent being, although they do not meet the most of the standards of Scientific method. Many of the arguments against evolution have become widespread, including objections to evolution's evidence, methodology, plausibility, morality, and scientific acceptance. However, these arguments have been rejected by biologists and are not accepted by the scientific community in general.^[15]

Footnotes

^ Darwin strongly disagreed with attempts by Herbert Spencer and other to extrapolate evolutionary ideas to all possible subject matters; see Midgley, Mary (2004). The Myths we Live By. Routledge. p. 62. ISBN 978-0415340779.
^ On the history of eugenics and evolution, see: Kevles, Daniel (1985). In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity. Knopf. ISBN 978-0674445574.
^ See Hovind 2006, for example.
^ Larson 2004, p. 247-263 Chapter titled Modern Culture Wars. See also Ruse 1999, p. 26, who writes "One thing that historians delighted in showing is that, contrary to the usually held tale of science and religion being always opposed...religion and theologically inclined philosophy have frequently been very significant factors in the forward movement of science."
^ Numbers 1992, p. 3-240
^ ^a ^b Peters & Hewlett 2005, p. 1
^ v. Dover Area School District, page 20
^ [1]
^ [2]
^ [3]
^ [4]
^ Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District, pages 7-9, also pages 64-90
^ Myers 2006; NSTA 2003; IAP 2006; AAAS 2006; and Pinholster 2006
^ Larson 2004, p. 258 "Virtually no secular scientists accepted the doctrines of creation science; but that did not deter creation scientists from advancing scientific arguments for their position." See also Martz & McDaniel 1987, p. 23, a Newsweek article which states "By one count there are some 700 scientists (out of a total of 480,000 U.S. earth and life scientists) who give credence to creation-science, the general theory that complex life forms did not evolve but appeared 'abruptly'."
^ "Statement on the Teaching of Evolution" (PDF). American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-20.

Discussion

Proposing this edit to replace current Controversy section. The goal is to base the section on more detailed sub-articles. Changes are:

Three sub-sections: Social theories, Creation-evolution controversy, Objections to evolution
Social theories: No good sub-article exists. Text taken from a paragraph in previous version
Creation-evolution controversy: text copied from introduction of main article with minor changes
Objections to evolution: text copied from introduction to main article with minor changes

I wish I could find a good sub-article for Social theories. The other two sections have good sub-articles (especially Objections), but there may be some overlap---they probably need some trimming. Gnixon 16:00, 26 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

My thoughts on it:

Please make sure that the references utilize standard formatting. As articles grow, badly formatted references get confusing. Just a retentive point of mine.
I consider the Social theories section to be highly POV. Most of those comments are old canards thrown out, and they have little validity. Social Darwinism and the old "survival of the fittest" stuff doesn't deserve a section.
The other two sections seem to have a POV that the "science" of Evolution is worthy of disrespect. It seems to give a lot of undue weight to the ID/Creationist dogma. It should describe the discussion between the polar opposites without giving weight to the creationists believing that science supports their thoughts.

In the end, I really don't like these sections, never did. Orangemarlin 18:12, 26 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

[1] Darwin strongly disagreed with attempts by Herbert Spencer and other to extrapolate evolutionary ideas to all possible subject matters; see Midgley, Mary (2004). The Myths we Live By. Routledge. p. 62. ISBN 978-0415340779.

[2] On the history of eugenics and evolution, see: Kevles, Daniel (1985). In the Name of Eugenics: Genetics and the Uses of Human Heredity. Knopf. ISBN 978-0674445574.

[3] See Hovind 2006, for example.

[4] Larson 2004, p. 247-263 Chapter titled Modern Culture Wars. See also Ruse 1999, p. 26, who writes "One thing that historians delighted in showing is that, contrary to the usually held tale of science and religion being always opposed...religion and theologically inclined philosophy have frequently been very significant factors in the forward movement of science."

[5] Numbers 1992, p. 3-240

[Peters_and_Hewlett_2005_p1-6] Peters & Hewlett 2005, p. 1

[7] v. Dover Area School District, page 20

[8] [1]

[9] [2]

[10] [3]

[11] [4]

[12] Kitzmiller vs. Dover Area School District, pages 7-9, also pages 64-90

[13] Myers 2006; NSTA 2003; IAP 2006; AAAS 2006; and Pinholster 2006

[14] Larson 2004, p. 258 "Virtually no secular scientists accepted the doctrines of creation science; but that did not deter creation scientists from advancing scientific arguments for their position." See also Martz & McDaniel 1987, p. 23, a Newsweek article which states "By one count there are some 700 scientists (out of a total of 480,000 U.S. earth and life scientists) who give credence to creation-science, the general theory that complex life forms did not evolve but appeared 'abruptly'."

[aaas-15] "Statement on the Teaching of Evolution" (PDF). American Association for the Advancement of Science. 2006. Retrieved 2007-03-20.

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@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 * Objections to evolution: text copied from introduction to main article with minor changes
 I wish I could find a good sub-article for Social theories.  The other two sections have good sub-articles (especially Objections), but there may be some overlap---they probably need some trimming.  [[User:Gnixon|Gnixon]] 16:00, 26 March 2007 (UTC)
+My thoughts on it:
+#Please make sure that the references utilize standard formatting.  As articles grow, badly formatted references get confusing.  Just a retentive point of mine.
+#I consider the Social theories section to be highly POV.  Most of those comments are old canards thrown out, and they have little validity.  Social Darwinism and the old "survival of the fittest" stuff doesn't deserve a section.
+#The other two sections seem to have a POV that the "science" of Evolution is worthy of disrespect.  It seems to give a lot of undue weight to the ID/Creationist dogma.  It should describe the discussion between the polar opposites without giving weight to the creationists believing that science supports their thoughts.
+In the end, I really don't like these sections, never did. [[User:Orangemarlin|Orangemarlin]] 18:12, 26 March 2007 (UTC)