February 12, 2009 marks the 200th birhtday of Charles Darwin. About three years ago, out of a frustration with the infusion of religious pseudo-science into the classrooms of America's High Schools, a group of people came up with the idea of holding an "Evolution Sabbath" each year to bring into our reliigous communiities, the importance of scientific exploration.
The Evolution vs. Creation debate is often referred to as the "Great Debate." It's the emotion-packed question of "Origins" -- why, how, and where did everything come from? 20th century science has made the compelling discovery that, at some point, the universe began. Both sides of the Great Debate now agree that the universe has not existed eternally. However, this is where the agreement ends. As far as the "why" and "how" of the "origin event," this is where the division and contention begin.
There are two basic theories in this Great Debate. The first is the historical default - the Creation Model of Origins. This theory maintains that the intricate design permeating all things implies a Designer. This model is biblically based. The second theory is a more recent, scientific explanation - the Evolution Model of Origins. This theory postulates that the intricate design permeating all things is a product of random chance and excessive time. Darwin's book on the "Orign of Species" is one of the leading sources on this model.
Evolutionists theorize that the universe, with all that it contains (space, time, matter and energy), exploded from nothing. For Evolutionists, the ultimate question of Origins remains unsolved. Creationists believe the universe was designed to be complex by an Intelligent Designer. Hence the rub and the conflict...
My Torah study "chevre" know that this debate is a "pursuit of wind" in that there is always a before. Even the mystics understand that there was a before moment prior to the "Bereshit" in Genesis. Call it the Designer or the Prime Mover or God...there is a power in the universe that brings forth the universe.
I guess I made my choice...Sorry Darwin...Happy Birthday!
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