Darwin and the Art of Deception
by Dave Demmick,
MD
It is an old proverb that the best lie is mostly true. An
effective falsehood needs the fabric of truth to hold it together and make it
credible.
As a classic example of the ancient art of deception, consider
Shakespeare’s tragedy of MacBeth. In an early scene, MacBeth is accosted by
three witches, who greet him with mock courtesy and mysterious words. The first
hails him as “Thane of Glamis,” the second hails him as “Thane of Cawdor,” and
the third tells him that he “shall be king hereafter.” MacBeth is already Thane
of Glamis and he is quickly made Thane of Cawdor. He then reasons (falsely)
that the truth of the first two statements must make the third one true as
well. His friend Banquo tries to warn him with these words: “And oftentimes, to
win us to our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths, win us with
honest trifles, to betray us in deepest consequence.”
In his Origin of Species, Darwin begins with a generous helping of
truth. He describes minor man-made biological changes, like the many pigeon
varieties bred from the common rock pigeon. He argues that if biologists had
not already known that the common pigeon could be bred into so many varieties,
they might have classified each variety as a species of its own.
Secondly, he shows how natural selection can also make similar
small changes, like the Galapagos finches. So far, so good—Darwin’s opening
statements are valid. If Darwin had, at this point, merely called for
refinement of the species concept, with attention to defining God’s original
created kinds (Latin “species” = kind), he might have been remembered as a
great creationist biologist. However, he took a great speculative leap by
saying that these little changes can (and did) add up to really big biological
ones.
This third point, unlike the first two, is unobserved and totally
speculative but it is cleverly made to look like a proper extension of the
first two points. Thus, the pattern of deception used by MacBeth’s three “weird
sisters” is the same as that used by Darwinists to this day.
To illustrate further: If we imagine three biology professors
coming to convince us of the truth of Darwinism, the first would say, “Natural
Selection happens!” Yes, indeed, natural selection does occur in nature. It
slows the degeneration of species by weeding out weaker creatures and mutants.
It also produces minor changes in organisms by “reshuffling” their existing
genes, as would be highlighted by the second professor. He would say, “Microevolution
happens!” Again, this is appropriate — minor variations are produced in nature
as creatures adapt to their ecological niches, and these can be readily shown.
The third professor would then say, with a pretence of scientific precision:
“Natural selection plus microevolution plus millions of years, equals
amoeba-to-man evolution!”
In this way, many are led down MacBeth’s path to tragedy. They
follow a trail of reasoning that appears truthful and sound but they don’t
notice when falsehood is substituted for truth.
There is an important distinction between microevolution and
macroevolution. Like a stage magician using sleight of hand, evolutionists
claim truth for macroevolution, all the while using examples of microevolution
to support their claims. Creationists need to call increasing attention to this
crucial distinction, and use modern genetics to show why macroevolution cannot
occur.
The more we train our minds to stick with what can really be
observed, it becomes clear that Genesis 1 is thoroughly and accurately
scientific, while Darwinian macroevolution is not. More importantly, the
Christian doctrines built upon Genesis are real and trustworthy, while the
humanistic religion built upon Darwinism
is not.