I wish I could devote more time to this discussion as even though comments were non-existent, I have had hundreds of readers during this series. I may look to continue this at a later day.
For now, I close with one last question. It’s not from both perspectives as previous posts, but this is my formerly-atheist-now-Christian perspective as a final (two-part) question for atheists.
Question: If Darwin’s evolution encompasses constantly evolving in order for the survival of the fittest to be true, where does that leave us as human beings and at the top of the food chain? Why are those creatures at the bottom of the food chain not evolving to move up the ladder still?
As an atheist, I truly believed that science pointed to proof that we are a part of an evolutionary cycle. We started from a primordial soup and from cellular growth have become who we are today. Even if science supports this in your mind, is it reasonable?
We as humans are the top of the food chain. We are the most intelligent of beings on this earth. However, once we die we do nothing to contribute back to the cycle. We are either cremated and put into urns or buried in caskets protecting us from the elements. With us, the cycle stops. Everywhere else in creation, creatures have more purpose other than being takers of the land. For example, a bat eats mosquitoes. It helps to control the mosquito population. It drops feces on the ground which helps fertilize it for sustaining plant life. When the bat dies, it either temporarily becomes food for another creature, or it’s remains decompose and fertilize the ground. Birds eat fruit and carry the seeds of that fruit to other areas and deposits them through their droppings so that the trees can continue growing. As with the bat, when the bird dies it either gets eaten by another creature or decomposes and acts as fertilizer.
A humans, we eat plants and animals and it is just to sustain ourselves. We don’t pass seeds along and our waste isn’t used as fertilizer. When we die we serve no additional purpose.
As I think about this cycle, it really makes no sense. We, the most intelligent creation on earth live a life pleasing to us, robbing our environment of life and dumping back into it pollutants and toxins which could possible wipe us out in the future through depletion of the ozone layer, and then we die. Seriously, that is a depressing thought!
Additionally, if evolution was about our survival and our continuation to be the fittest creatures we can be, why do we have such individualized things as fingerprints? Fingerprints are not things that we share with other creatures. It is not part of an evolutionary process as it started with us and ends with us. Even amongst us as human beings, no two individuals can possible have the same fingerprints. As random as you want to make the odds to be, we have had enough people on the face of the earth over time that statistically it should be possible to find two people with the same fingerprints. However, it hasn’t happened and it never will!
Darwin couldn’t explain our unique fingerprints, but as a species, why must we be unique? In the animal kingdom, there are many animals that look identical and the only differentiator is there scent. For us, even identical twins will have some attribute that allows us to tell them apart. If God created us uniquely as individuals with an individual purpose and an individual journey, being able to see that through identifying factors such as our appearance, our unique fingerprints and irises helps us understand that. There is no scientific or evolutionary basis for why we always have individual fingerprints or irises. These serve no purpose to help us propagate our species for survival.
Another thing is that for as advanced as we are, we are some of the most helpless of all creatures at birth. When a horse gives birth, the colt comes out of the womb and shortly thereafter stands on it’s own and walks/runs. When a whale gives birth the calf comes out being able to swim and recognize the language of it’s mother. However, for us our babies come out of the womb totally helpless. They can’t talk or understand language, they can’t walk or run. If left to their own devices, they would just stay in one place and cry continuously. Anyone could come and snatch them away. How does having such helpless offspring confirm our standing as the most-fit creatures for survival on earth?
If God wants us to know him and share that love with others, when we have children we are forced to be in that position whether we like it or not. I’m sure momma horses love their colts and momma whales love their calves, but their offspring are fairly self-sufficient upon arriving into this world, while our babies don’t walk or communicate until after their first twelve months of existence. They are completely dependent upon their mothers to be nurtured. Without the love of others, our babies would not make it in this world.
If you are an atheist and love your children the way I love my daughters, then we have a common bond. Our only difference is that I believe God called me to love him and that he loves me unconditionally. If you could love and be loved more profoundly through a relationship with God and know that you have a greater purpose than just to take from the world and then die and be cremated or buried, isn’t it worth doing what you can to find out if that is the design of this life? I did, and I am eternally grateful for knowing that it’s not just about about me and my meaningless life.
