Groups > Spirituality and Consciousness

1) There is no single recorded piece of evidence in the fossil record that conclusively records a species in the midst of transition, which we certainly would have if it had occurred over a process of billions of years.

2) I wasn't always a Christian, in fact there was a time when I didn't even believe in God. I have actually lived life.

3) The main conclusion arrived at in this work, namely, that man is descended from some lowly organised form, will, I regret to think, be highly distasteful to many. But there can hardly be a doubt that we are descended from barbarians. The astonishment which I felt on first seeing a party of Fuegians on a wild and broken shore will never be forgotten by me, for the reflection at once rushed into my mind- such were our ancestors. These men were absolutely naked and bedaubed with paint, their long hair was tangled, their mouths frothed with excitement, and their expression was wild, startled, and distrustful. They possessed hardly any arts, and like wild animals lived on what they could catch; they had no government, and were merciless to every one not of their own small tribe. He who has seen a savage in his native land will not feel much shame, if forced to acknowledge that the blood of some more humble creature flows in his veins. For my own part I would as soon be descended from that heroic little monkey, who braved his dreaded enemy in order to save the life of his keeper, or from that old baboon, who descending from the mountains, carried away in triumph his young comrade from a crowd of astonished dogs- as from a savage who delights to torture his enemies, offers up bloody sacrifices, practices infanticide without remorse, treats his wives like slaves, knows no decency, and is haunted by the grossest superstitions."

3a) If someone published something like this in this day and age, I would HOPE there would be a public outcry for the obvious racial discrimination Darwin held. Labeling these people as "animals evolved into almost human "our ancestors" - incredible. It's actually worse than the Constitution giving black men 1/2 a vote, if you can believe that.

To me, as a Native American, I take this offensively. I would question, highly, the rantings of a man who thought that indigenous tribes of peoples he encountered were "savages", and preferred to be descended from an ape rather than admit that these people he encountered were human beings.

4) It's weird how Darwin judged so harshly other human beings...but then, he thinks all of us are nothing more than slime anyway.

From Bible.org:

One of the most troubling aspects of evolutionary thought has been its racist implications. The logic is simple enough: If humans evolved from simpler, less intelligent primates, then perhaps some humans are more “evolved” than others. Such racist thinking has accompanied evolutionism from the very beginning, starting with Darwin himself. Darwin visited the South American tribe of the Tierra del Feugians on his journeys and commented that “the difference between a Tierra del Feugian and a European is greater than the difference between a Tierra del Feugian and a beast.” Eventually, Christian missionaries discovered otherwise, living among the Feugians and documenting their rich culture and language.