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Only religion prevents us from seeing the Darwinian truth about evolution.
Or at least that’s what one would think reading ScienceDaily:
Generally seen as antithetical to one another, evolution and religion can hardly fit in a scientific discourse simultaneously. However, biologist Dr Aldemaro Romero Jr., Baruch College, USA, devotes his latest research article, now published in the open access Research Ideas and Outcomes (RIO), to observing the influences a few major religions have had on evolutionists and their scientific thinking over the centuries.
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“Since the advent of Modern Synthesis we have a pretty consistent set of evidence that evolution is not linear, that there is not such a thing as direction for evolutionary processes, and that nothing is predetermined since natural selection, the main evolutionary mechanism, is a process that is not moved by any mystical force, nor directs beings toward a particular end,” points out Dr Aldemaro Romero Jr..
“Therefore, I hope this paper serves as a warning to scientists that no matter what reductionist view they have in the way they practice their research, if they do not understand the historical roots and the philosophical framework of their research, they are doomed at presenting only a very partial (and many times biased) view of nature,” he concludes. More.
Abstract: Evolution has always been considered a battleground between religion and science. Despite that perception, there are some indications that religious beliefs have influenced and continue to influence some current interpretations in evolutionary biology. To that end I present evidence on how pervasive the theological idea of predestination, which has been long discussed in the the Jewish, Christian and Muslim traditions, has influenced some of the elucidations of the nature of biological evolution. I will concentrate on the history of ideas about the evolution of cave organisms to epitomize the strong influence of religion on some evolutionary ideas as shown not only by some of the interpretations but also by the terminology still used today. I conclude that scientists need to understand the historical and philosophical framework of their research if they really want to claim that their work is really value-free. Paper. (public access) – Aldemaro Romero Jr. The influence of religion on science: the case of the idea of predestination in biospeleology. Research Ideas and Outcomes, 2016; 2: e9015 DOI: 10.3897/rio.2.e9015
It’s as if Dr. Romero has never heard of the possibility that Darwinism (the Modern Synthesis) is under siege from within the academy and—whatever his point is—simply doesn’t deserve to be the scale for values around evolution that he is making it out to be.
See also: How can we believe in naturalism if we have no choice?
If naturalism can explain religion, why does it get so many basic facts wrong?
and
Blind cave fish and devolution (= getting their eyes back)
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