Imagine your child coming home from school reporting that her teacher told their class that women were too weak to become managers and that people with black skin were inferior to whites. My hope is that you would be alarmed and even outraged by such teachings and contact the teacher to address it. And yet, the man who originally said and wrote such things continues to be presented as a scientific genius in many classrooms.
Charles Darwin made and stood by these and other incredulous statements that would and should never pass muster today. Although his father and grandfather were staunch abolitionists, Darwin fueled the fires of the peculiar institution of slavery by promoting the idea that blacks, aborigines, and other non-whites were less human because they were not “fully evolved.”
Darwin’s ideas were later employed by Adolf Hitler to exterminate Jews, Gypsies, and others deemed inferior. Karl Marx was a huge Darwin fan and incorporated his evolutionary concepts in his writings. More recently, the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 which snuffed out the lives of approximately one million Africans was partially perpetrated on the lie of racial superiority propagated by Evolution.
Just as Jesus should not be blamed for what disobedient Christians do in His name, neither should Darwin bear all the blame for those who acted on his theories. But even his theories and writings overtly suggest many of the atrocities that were committed based on such prejudiced views.
Hitler openly credited Darwin’s Theory for his Nazi eugenics movement to kill, sterilize, and eliminate those considered inferior. Evolution stands in stark contrast to the Biblical truth that all humans are created in God’s image. In spite of his classes at Cambridge, Darwin rejected the Bible and denied that Jesus was God’s Son. When one disbelieves the first chapter of the Bible, all the rest fall as well.
Darwin was deeply troubled by the cruelty of nature which is obvious from even a very basic observation. Tennyson put it succinctly describing, “Nature, red in tooth and claw.” Unfortunately, since Darwin rejected the Bible, he also dismissed the explanation for pain, suffering, and death that are all so prominent throughout creation. These exist not because God created them that way but because humans rejected God and His Word. Their disobedience ushered in all the misery and distress we experience daily and it has cursed all of God’s Creation.
Even more tragically, Darwin missed the Remedy that God provided for this Fall. God sent His Son to live a perfect life, to teach and preach love, truth, and justice, and then to die a sacrificial death to pay for Adam’s sin and that of all his descendants including Darwin. He then rose again to conquer death and suffering and to redeem it. Best of all, He promised to one day restore creation to Eden’s perfection. Because Darwin rejected Jesus he will not enjoy the future that awaits all who do believe.
It’s more than a bit concerning that even though misogyny and racial prejudice are rightly not allowed in public schools, the justification for such teachings continues to be taught with the Theory of Evolution which has been disproven by much evidence. But even more concerning is the fact that teachers are legally prohibited from sharing the antidote to this poison in the form of Biblical truth.
Thankfully, the law does allow release time for religious instruction and Shenandoah County Weekday Religious Education Association offers free Bible classes for any second, third, or fourth grader whose parent provides written permission. Registration can be completed at Biblebreak.org or by calling 540-975-3335. The classes are taught off school grounds and free transportation is provided.
As our children head back to school, let’s pray for them, their teachers, and what they will be taught. And most importantly, be sure to accept Jesus as your Savior in order to one day experience all that Creation was intended to be. Blessings, George