Darwin and School Shootings

_{Andrew Sibley

November 12, 2009

Intelligent Design}

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A friend has alerted me to this book and article in The Times online.

Charles Darwin and the children of the evolution

The headline makes the statement “The naturalist outraged the church, prompting a bitter debate that still sets creationists against evolutionists. Now a sinister link has emerged between his work and the recent spate of high-school killings by crazed, nihilistic teenagers.”

Read the article here

The book is available “The Political Gene: How Darwin’s Ideas Changed Politics” (Picador, £18.99) by Dennis Sewell is available at the BooksFirst or at amazon.co.uk

http://science-and-values.blogspot.com/

Comments

"...religious belief has led to plenty of deaths, if not more than atheism." No.Berceuse_{November 12, 2009
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Leviathan at #6, This issue has been brought up before. It isn't just a theory; it has significant ontological implications. The moral reactions DO matter, for if Darwinism were true, these extreme interpretations cannot be justified as immoral, or extreme, for that matter. If Darwinism dictates survival-of-the-fittest, why, in the interest of humanity, should the weak live? Thankfully, we don't feel this way. And the fact that we don't indicates there's something fundamentally broken in the theory.Berceuse_{November 12, 2009
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Frost, You're making some very strong statements that deserve some clarification.
Darwinists are atheists – and atheism is responsible for more deaths than virtually any other psychological belief.
Plenty of Darwinists are not atheists and religious belief has led to plenty of deaths, if not more than atheism.
I personally think that the socialist health care bill and the morality behind it is Dariwnistic. It leads towards a situation where they can deny certain people medical care for the good of the greater whole of society.
What do you think is happening now? Greedy health insurance companies are denying people medical care for the good of their profit. Every year, 45,000 people die in the US due to lack of health insurance. You might want to read this.jitsak_{November 12, 2009
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I personally think that Darwinism almost always leads to this kind of insanity. First of all you have to believe that God is not necessary to act in the world- and hence that there is no evidence that God acts at all at least on the development of life. Hence you think God does not exist and there is no after life repercussions for your behavior to worry about. Darwinists are atheists - and atheism is responsible for more deaths than virtually any other psychological belief. I personally think that the socialist health care bill and the morality behind it is Dariwnistic. It leads towards a situation where they can deny certain people medical care for the good of the greater whole of society. This is completely impersonal and evil- and it fallows from a Darwinistic approach- which views the progress of society as the only good and hence seeks to sacrifice people involuntarily- that is against their will only because they think they can get more milage out of someone else. I heard a guy defending the death care bill who also said his next hope is to eliminate inheritances by making it mandatory that all inheritance goes to the state for the greater good of the whole people. When I aksed him how steeling someone's savings that they are passing on to their kids was moral- he said because their kids did not earn the money. We have already seen where atheistic Darwinism leads in Nazi Germany which their race purification for the greater good- and in soviet Russia where Karl Max's crack pot economic doctrines were forced on the people. Carl Max of course in case you all did not know dedicated one of his books to Charles Darwin- and his great quote on religion was that it was the opiate of the masses. Actually atheism is the opiate of the masses because with it you can behave any way you want without fear of objective immorality. Like with drugs you can dilute yourself out of reality. You can have all of the sexual and physical desires you can think of with out any reason to pause. You make make as much money as you want regardless of how dishonestly you do it or how many people your hurt in the process. Basically Dostoevsky had it right. "If God does not exist, everything is permitted." Darwinism is just the first necessary step to accepting this as one's reality.Frost122585_{November 12, 2009
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Look, school shootings are mostly an American phenomenon, although some European copycats are trying to catch up. Since America is a very Christian nation, should we blame Christianity? Of course not. Somehow, the crazy ideas of these kids went undetected by their parents and their social surroundings. There is the root of the problem I believe. Of course, the easy availability of guns is also a factor.jitsak_{November 12, 2009
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scrofulous, I have personally proven parts of the "official" report to be not only wrong but wildly inaccurate. Thus, a statement in the report does not settle the matter as you seem to imply.Barry Arrington_{November 12, 2009
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bornagain77, The martyrdom of Cassie Bernall is a myth. The official Columbine report reveals that there was no exchange at all between Bernall and her killer:
Harris walked over to table 19 where he bent down and saw two frightened girls. He slapped the table top twice, said, Peek-a-boo, and fired, killing Cassie Bernall. After shooting Cassie, Harris made a comment about hitting himself in the face. Investigators believe Harris broke his nose as a result of the kick from the shotgun when he bent to fire under the table.
scrofulous_{November 12, 2009
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I'm not sure what the purpose of this article is. Is the writer saying that a modern scientific theory, evolution, is the cause of death and destruction perpetrated by angsty teenagers around the globe? Would it be fair to say that intelligent design as a theory is invalid simply because of the moral behavior of some of its proponents? Or, conversely, because one adherent drew unnecessary conclusions from the intelligent design mindset and was set off on a killing rampage? I would hope not. A theory, whether it be intelligent design, evolution, young-earth creationism, etc. should rest on its own merits, not on the moral behavior of those who do not properly understand it.Leviathan_{November 12, 2009
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You can bet your bottom dollar that had the assailants claimed they were killing in the name of Christ, that would be all over the news. In fact, it wasn't long ago a mother in Texas said she killed her children to save them from the devil, and that was all over the news, including discussion about whether or not religious beliefs led to increased levels of psychopathic behavior. Hmm. I wonder where all the commentary is in the mainstream media about whether or not Darwinism leads believers to increased psychopathic behavior?William J. Murray_{November 12, 2009
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Chilling Article: Here is a music video commemorating Cassie Bernall of the Columbine Massacre: Do You Believe In God? - Tribute To Cassie Bernall - She Said Yes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dl3-CdeU3fo Do You Believe In God? She Said Yes: The Unlikely Martyrdom of Cassie Bernall http://www.cassiebernall.com/ "Cassie" Lyrics The question asked in order To save her life or take it The answer no to avoid death The answer yes would make it Make it Do you believe in God Written on the bullet Say yes to pull the trigger Do you believe in God Written on the bullet And Cassie pulled the trigger All heads are bowed in silence To remember her last sentence She answered him knowing what would happen Her last words still hanging in the air In the air Do you believe in God Written on the bullet Say yes to pull the trigger Do you believe in God Written on the bullet And Cassie/Rachel pulled the trigger How many will die I will die I, I will say yes Do you believe in God Written on the bullet Say yes to pull the trigger Do you believe in God Written on the bullet And Cassie pulled the trigger (Do you believe) Do you believe in God (Do you believe) Do you believe in God (Do you believe) Do you believe in God And I will pull the triggerbornagain77_{November 12, 2009
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Andrew, If the theory of evolution had never been proposed do you believe these individuals would have had normal lives, or would they have adopted another idea or personality to help justify their nihilism? From the article:
The Chicago spree-killers Leopold and Loeb (the models for Hitchcock’s 1948 film, Rope) claimed Friedrich Nietzsche as their muse, as did the Moors murderer Ian Brady. Other deranged misfits have nominated Albert Camus, Jean Genet and André Gide. But it may take a keener intellect than was possessed by Harris, Klebold or Auvinen to negotiate such a reading list. The basics of evolution are much more accessible and are taught in every high school, so it should not be surprising that Darwin seems to be emerging as the inspiration for the more dim-witted schoolboy sociopath.
Of course the article seems to miss the point that the modern evolutionary theory is descriptive - it describes processes observed in nature. It is not prescriptive and it does not, unlike religion, prescribe how people ought to behave. Unfortunately this is lost on some people.BillB_{November 12, 2009
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Wow. That was in the Times of London? They even quote Barry.tribune7_{November 12, 2009
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What impact should the ravings of lunatics have on evolutionary biology? These are not rational people. This seems no different than the numerous criminals who claim God told them to do it. And again, so what? Even if there was a causal connection, this would not constitute a proof against evolution. http://www.tylerpaper.com/article/20080107/NEWS08/986513661RobertC_{November 12, 2009
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