IN THE BEGINNING…A SCIENTIST SHOWS WHY THE CREATIONISTS ARE WRONG

Say what you will about the creationists, they are a most determined group.  They will not rest until they have the story of creation taught along with, or even in place of, the theory of evolution.  Our politicians respond to pressure, and anyone who has followed the news at all in the last several decades knows just how much pressure these people have exerted.  It is essential, therefore, that freethinkers (and the general public) arm themselves with the facts of evolution and learn of the lies perpetrated by the creationists.

In the Beginning exposes the fraud of creationism for what it is.  The book is a concise yet thorough explanation of what evolutionary theory is and, more importantly, what it is not.  Unlike most other books on the subject, this one seeks to untangle the skein of creationist misinterpretations and set evolution back on solid scientific footing for a too-easily-misled public.

McGowan begins by explaining what a scientific theory is and what it is not.  My own exchange with Duane Gish of the Institute for Creation Research convinced me of the necessity for establishing the criteria and parameters for debate at the outset.

Gish, quoted by McGowan, says the same thing in this book that he told me (creationists rarely change their tune), namely that neither creationism nor evolution qualifies as a scientific theory, since they are not observed.  As McGowan states: “Let there be no doubt that the theory of evolution, that is the theory that living organisms have descended, with modification, from earlier inhabitants of the earth, is a scientific theory in every sense of the word.”  Few legitimate scientists would question the veracity of this assertion.

The patent absurdity of the creationist viewpoint is well illustrated by the fact that creationists must argue that all fossils were living contemporaneously and were formed in a very short time, meaning catastrophically (read; flood).  Those at Gish’s ICR realize this, and so they argue that humans lived at the same time as the dinosaurs.  McGowan is particularly hard-hitting in a chapter called “Noah’s Ark: fact or fable?”  His ready wit servers him well here.  While evolution is based on the life work of many notable scientists, creationism seems to have its foundational theory in The Flintstones.

I did have one problem with this book, and it is the same problem I’ve encountered in many other books of this kind:  Generally those books do not point out the basic absurdities of the creationists’ arguments.  A little satire is sorely needed.  While this book is much better than most, I would still like to see the scientific community go on the offensive more often.  Consider this: Even if evolution were thoroughly discredited, where would that leave us?  What would the creationists offer in its stead?  That some unseen, unknowable being, by unknowable means, created all living and non-living things merely by the power of his will (whatever that means), out of nothing?  Is this good science?  Of course it isn’t, and yet that is all creationism is: evolution bashing.  Clearly it is indefensible.

Some years back, I was invited to debate an “Intelligent Design” advocate at Cal State University Los Angeles.  Every debate I have attended prior to this was done in the same way: the creationist attacked evolutionary theory, and the scientist defended it.  So my opponent set the whole thing set up until I told the organizer what my approach would be.  I told him I would not be defending evolution but instead attacking creationism and Intelligent Design.  Once my opponent heard of this, he backed out of the debate, insisting that he was too busy.  What a surprise!  I ended up giving my presentation with him in attendance (he found the time after all!).  During the question and answer period, I focused on him and asked him to explain the mechanics of Intelligent Design: Exactly how does it work?  Naturally he couldn’t answer, so I asked him, since there is no theory there, why not simply call it “evolution bashing?”  He put down his head and didn’t answer me.

Although this book is now over thirty years old, it still remains valid.  Intelligent Design, the most recent spawn of the Radical Religious Right, is nothing more than creationism with a new name.  This new term has become necessary since the Right has lost case after case whenever they have tried to denigrate science with their anti-rational creation stories.  But whatever they want to call it, it is still the same old nonsense.  In the Beginning remains an excellent introduction to evolutionary theory  and should be required reading for any science student or for anyone interested in how creationism threatens true science.