Reading the results of the survey linked in my previous article I was astounded with the apparent lack of understanding of the validity of science and the discoveries and theories that have resulted. The survey showed that there were not only a significant number of people that believed that evolution hadn’t been proved beyond a reasonable doubt, but there were also some who believed that the evidence had in fact disproved evolution.My own personal position is that of an evidence based realist. If you provide me with a claim, and the evidence to back it up then I’ll tend to believe you. The more extraordinary the claim, the more extraordinary the evidence needs to be. Tell me you have a tyre and car jack in the boot (trunk to our US cousins) of your car, and I’ll probably accept your word. Tell me you have a the dead body of Elvis, and I’ll tend to want to see it along with proof it’s Elvis before I’ll even begin to accept your claims.
Now, science does make many extraordinary claims. It doesn’t take much reading on the subject of Quantum Theory for the average Joe to come to the conclusion that more than a few scientists might need to check their medication. However, if you persist, and continue reading, and follow the evidence you begin to understand that the whole framework hangs together. The big ideas like Quantum Theory and Evolution have mounds and mounds of independent evidence that corroborates the central theory. They are so far beyond the point where unpicking a single small thread would cause the whole fabric to collapse.
There are many theists that do accept the findings of science, and they believe that religion and science are not mutually exclusive. I can respect their views because they at least think with their minds as well as their hearts. However I can offer no respect for those that simply reject science because they feel that it attempts to undermine their beliefs. There are those that say that there are questions that science can never answer. Well, never is an incredibly long time. Just look at the things that science has pretty much completely explained in just the last 100 years that were completely unknown before that and you should come to understand that such a position is untenable. It may take a long time, it may be that an answer doesn’t come in the lifetime of anyone alive today, but surely an answer will come eventually. If we can ask the question, then that question falls within the remit of science, and it can be investigated.
Darwins theory of Evolution is not just a best guess. It is a theory that has been subject to investigation for 150 years of investigation. It has seen the discovery of whole new areas of biology (genetics and DNA for example) that have done nothing but support the theory. Sure, Darwin got some details wrong, but scientists have modified the theory as new evidence required they do. The central idea however remains, and just gets stronger and stronger as time goes by.