Saturday, December 26, 2009

The 2009-Year of Charles Darwin: No New Ground Broken?

As the 2009-Year of Charles Darwin draws to a close, is religious orthodoxy’s superiority over science the only established certainty in this day and age?


By: Ringo Bones


As our celebration of the 200th Birth Anniversary of Charles Darwin in 2009 draws to a close, it seems as if religious orthodoxy has yet again gained an upper hand despite of being relegated to the sidelines since the Age of Reason. Compared to other great historical figures that were honored in 2009 – like the somewhat polemic reexamination of Abraham Lincoln’s life and politics by Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Charles Darwin and his “radical” Theory of Evolution has been proven yet again as time goes on. None more so than in 2009 when it is clearly self-evident – if you know where to look – that the religious orthodoxy’s opposition and debunking of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is really nothing more than part of a grand scheme / conspiracy of the American crude oil and coal lobby in order to debunk the science behind global warming. But is there more to this science versus religion Kultur Kampf over Darwin’s Theory of Evolution that the religious orthodoxy – especially the American Religious Right – had us believe?

When Charles Darwin’s most famous contemporary disciple – Professor Richard Dawkins – released another one of his literary magnum opus titled The Greatest Show on Earth this 2009 Darwin Year, the timing couldn’t have been more apt. As Dawkins’ latest book is released concerning why Darwin’s Theory of Evolution is the only game in town – i.e. planet Earth and beyond. It started to become more and more self-evident in 2009 that the American crude oil and coal lobbyists on Capitol Hill armed with their almost inexhaustible war chest is busy “influencing” and “convincing” everyone – through cold hard cash – that the science behind global warming / climate change is highly suspect. Even the “foolproof” and infallible “reasoning” of the religious orthodoxy eventually bowed down to the irresistible temptation of fossil fuel industry money, when supposedly the supposed purpose of celebrating 2009-Year of Charles Darwin was supposedly to use Darwin’s scientific voyage into the Galapagos Islands as a rallying cry to better take care of our planet’s life-support system.

So is there a new ground broken during everyone’s celebration of the 2009-Year of Charles Darwin? It depends, though Darwin’s other near contemporaries – the Sierra Club founder John Muir and famed outdoorsman, National Park system supporter, and former US President Theodore Roosevelt – are more famously known for supporting environmentalism than Charles Darwin himself. Darwin’s “radical” Theory of Evolution today only highlights how reason is still vulnerable to the powers-that-be intent to undermine it this day and age. Thus showing us why the 2009 Copenhagen Climate Conference had became an utter failure in terms of a science-based framework of limiting excess industrial greenhouse gas emissions, instead of political and industry-driven cuts.

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