Charles Darwin The Bicentennial

So today is Charles Darwin Day.

I like Chuck–great ideas that stuck.

Wouldn’t it be something to leave behind a legacy that still had people talking hundreds of years after you were gone?

If you don’t know who Charles Darwin is–his most popular work is On the Origin of Species which he wrote at 51 years of age.

Darwin was a student at Cambridge–which incidentally is celebrating its 800th anniversary.

Anyway, he set sail on the HMS Beagle as a naturalist and is credited with developing the theory of natural selection which combined with other science (such as mendelism) resulted in the theory of evolution.

After he wrote The Descent of Man things got a bit more interesting.

In fact, the Freedom from Religion Foundation has placed Darwin posters in key locations (like in Dayton, Tennessee where the Scopes Monkey Trial took place in 1925).

As for me, I like the humor that Terrierman exhibits with his Jesus Celebrates the 200th Birthday of Darwin.

Check out the Gallup Poll percentages related to the belief in evolution…anyone else find it weird that so many people are “undecided?”

There is the Christian uproar over the theory of evolution versus the theory of intelligent design but some people don’t see the conflict:

Today’s conservative Christian efforts to force school systems to teach “Intelligent Design,” a form of creationism, reveals the same kind of political and social ideology as in Darwin’s time. Creationism goes hand-in-hand with efforts to claim the United States is a Christian nation. Creationists posit a God who controls the creation; this ideology reinforces political ideas of control of society. This “Christian politics” is sometimes called “dominionism.”

Darwin’s ideas are considered controversial by these Christian conservatives precisely because they are freeing for democratic process and they are freeing for theological reflection. I have found dialogue with the newer genetics, the astonishing leap forward beyond Darwin, to be particularly thought-provoking.

*snip*

…Evolutionary biology also teaches us species solidarity.

Read the entire article: A Christian Progressive Happy Birthday to Darwin by Susan Brooks at the Washington Post.

We need more solidarity…

Now if you are into more scholarly or comprehensive knowledge about Charles Darwin check out AboutDarwin.com.

Anyway, Happy BD to Darwin–since he can’t get any gifts (other than flowers at Darwin’s gravesite at Westminster Abbey) here is a gift to you–download audio or text versions of the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin or download the complete works of Charles Darwin.

Charles Darwin fans can locate events near them over at Darwin Day Celebrations while bloggers can join in the Blog for Darwin project that will go on until Monday.