November 17, 2004
Inherit the Whirlwind
Have you ever wondered precisely why Biblical literalism is important to so many Americans, precisely why is it important to them to get the teaching of evolution out of the biology textbooks?
Re Creationism, I must point out an unfortunate subtext that's no longer quite so obvious. Having grown up in the previous iteration of the rural American south, I know that what *really* smarted about Darwin, down there, was the logical implication that blacks and whites are descended from a common ancestor. Butt-ugly, but there it is. That was the first objection to evolutionary theory that I ever heard, and it was a very common one, in fact the most common. That it was counter to Genesis seemed merely convenient, in the face of an anthropoid grand-uncle in the woodpile. [Emphasis added – ALB]Posted by abostick at November 17, 2004 10:52 PM
Comments
I don't quite understand this argument. If we are to believe the Adam and Eve story, then black and white people are descended from a common ancestor as well. In fact, it's spelled out quite explicitly in that story that all people descended from one pair of sinners in that silly garden.
Posted by: Here's What's Left at November 26, 2004 04:25 PM
