Evolution versus Creation II

The two books commented on are:-

The Extended Phenotype

Unweaving the Rainbow

As to the first: one would make the point that my earlier thought that from its title it

looked as if it would be too technical for me, proved to be about right, and as Dr. Dawkins says, it

was written for professionals. However, most of what is in the book as far as I can see would be

acceptable to both creationists and evolutionists. The use of the word evolution from time to time

seems to reflect the fact that the subject of evolution has such a hold on Dr. Dawkins mind that it

crops up in his writings in apparently unnecessary places (see for instance the preface to the

Extended Phenotype).

As to the second book one notices that Dr. Dawkins quite clearly does not accept that

there is any spiritual sphere and forces which are beyond the reach of man’s scientific

investigations. I do not know what the Loch Ness monster is, but one does not rule out the

possibility that it is a psychic phenomenon, in fact, one favours that explanation.

One notices that Dr. Dawkins thinks that people are gullible if they accept things such as

the story of “the baby Jesus and the Three Wise Men” which only happened a couple of

thousand years ago. However, he himself is quite prepared to assert without qualification that

such and such things happened umpteen million years ago !

Further, Dr. Dawkins treats the baby Jesus as one of the imaginary things like the tooth

fairy. Whatever Dr. Dawkins may think as to the Three Wise Men he can hardly doubt that there

was a baby Jesus, for the death of Jesus has been announced by a memorial service ever since he

died. Maybe Christ knew when he instituted the Supper that there would be those in later

centuries that would deny his very existence and for this reason a memorial should be instituted

to demonstrate that he was not a figment of someone’s imagination. (1 Corinthians 11:26). It is

similarly true of the Jewish Passover. It is a memorial of an actual event (Exodus 12:24-28) (see

Unweaving page 142)

As to coincidences: an office colleague (my boss) heard in the night a big thump as of

someone falling. It transpired that a relative had killed himself (or perhaps herself) by falling or

jumping out of a window at the time my colleague heard the thump. My colleague was an honest

man. If there was no connection between the two events it was a very remarkable coincidence.

Another colleague told us after another employee had pushed his bride over a cliff on his

honeymoon and then taken an overdose, that he rushed down on the Monday morning to look at

the newspaper saying before he looked at it “Something’s happened to X”. Mercifully, both X

and his bride survived, though X was found guilty but insane and sent to Broadmoor . What

happened to him eventually I do not know, though if he is alive today he would be circa 80. Was

my colleague’s story just a coincidence ? He told us about it the same day that it happened. He

was not someone given to making up stories. Another colleague told me (an honest man) that he

had the notion at one time that he had a spirit and if he asked his garage doors to open of their

own accord they would (this was before the age of automatically opening doors when someone

crosses a beam or whatever. They did. In this case it is possible to say that what he thought

happened in fact was really something that only happened in a dream. However, these are only

some things that have been told me first hand. However, there are plenty more anecdotes that I

have heard relayed by others. I have never as far as I am aware had a psychic experience myself.

I did however have a remarkable experience back in the 1950’s in Beckenham, Kent. I

was looking out of the window of the upstairs flat in which I was then living around the middle of

the day when I noticed that it was getting very dark for the time of day. As I continued standing

before the window what looked like waves of darkness swept down the street until the whole area

was as dark as midnight. As I continued standing and wondering what was going to happen, it

began to get lighter until normal conditions were restored. The condition of pitch darkness as far

as I can remember lasted for no more than a minute and the whole episode no more than fifteen.

Very little was said about the matter in the newspapers I recollect. The explanation for the

phenomenon by the weather men was that there was a build up of cloud cover over the South

London area (one layer of cloud upon another) and this caused it. We were told that foreign

newspapers had more about the event, saying that many people were falling on their knees in the

street confessing their sins thinking the end of the world had come ! One couldn't help thinking of

the phenomenon of darkness that covered the land when Christ was on the cross though that

darkness lasted much longer and was over a wider area.

Talking of handwriting (see Unweaving page 168): I once marked some exam papers and

it was usually clear which examinees were Indian and took there exams in India by the usually

poor handwriting (often illegible, or almost so) and the poor quality of the exam paper. I

mentioned this phenomenon to the examining authority because it was clear to me that marks

were being lost because the answers were not readable. The point was noted, but nothing was

done about it because it would probably hurt student’s racial feelings or something like that.

Dr. Dawkins speaks about economy in the set up in nature (see Unweaving page 261).

This is really only what Christians have always held: that God acts economically and what he sets

up is economical in operation. In other words wisdom is involved and without mind you cannot

have wisdom.

One of the main reasons that I think the evolutionary scheme is wrong is that human

characteristics are spread over the whole animal creation and though chimps have a lot in

common with us there are plenty of other features in the animal world that we have but chimps

do not have; for instance, the suppleness of our spines is more like the spines of otters than

chimps, at least, so we are told (see Unweaving page 212).

That people have delusions and make mistakes no one would doubt. Those suffering from

senile dementia often see things that aren't there. I have known at least one such case. She saw

unpleasant figures, prayed about it and then the visions changed and she saw nice things!

However, one can’t put everything down to delusions. What Paul experienced on the Damascus

road (Acts 9) cannot be easily dismissed as a delusion as those travelling with Paul heard the

voice speaking to Paul though they did not understand the words (see Unweaving page 282).

Most of us get tunes and other things stuck in our heads and we either repeat them again

and again verbally or at least we repeat them over and over again in our minds. When I was a

child I used to repeat a rather daft rhyme that I had made up when I was bored: “I don’t know

what to do, so a boo woo woo. A trace mat not, with a polly parrotte , so a boo woo woo” ! (see

Unweaving page 303).

One tiny point: at the foot of page 305 of Unweaving we have the words west Africa.

Should not west have a capital W ? Perhaps I am wrong, but it struck me that it should.

Finally, I would say that I have to date read none of the Harry Potter books. Children

usually like them, but their supernatural content is not acceptable to many Biblical

fundamentalists and presumably not to Dr. Dawkins. Maybe Dr. Dawkins has something in

common with Biblical fundamentalists (see what he says about Tolkien on pages 28/29)!

August 2004