Sunday, March 1, 2009

Why an understanding of evolution is a necessary foundation for an environmental ethic

Let's say that rather than "setting the grandeur of life in motion" (Darwin in On the Origin of Species), God built each species with similar building blocks. One could argue against the vast amounts of genetic evidence for human evolution that humans are built with the same pieces as chimps much like a truck and a van share similar engines and frames. Obviously, many species have hearts because they work for circulating blood and who's to say God didn't make each heart based of a central model. Maybe he even got better and better at "building" as He worked up to humans. That then sets humans at the top of Aristotle's ladder. From our view, we are the pinnacle..the most sentient beings with big 4-chambered hearts and bipedal strides. From this haughty spot, we look down to chimps and frogs and emphasize our differences to maintain our perch on the top rung.

But what of the squid's eye and the insects' open circulatory systems. Those work in their own right and are amazingly complex and unique. Each morphotype of fly has a unique arrangement of hairs distinct for that species and lizards form an amazing rainbow from species to species. Are they any less than us? Yes, perhaps, if we view ourselves as the pinnacle of creation, above all else and unconnected to it.

Now assume that all the beauty and diversity we see is created through the process of evolution. Species have diverged and accumulated mutations and new functions over time. We can trace this history through similarity in the structure of four limbs with five digits and the "junk" in our DNA. No one species is superior to another because each is a product of gradual shaping by a different environment. Some survived better small, some big, some with long necks, some with stubby legs. But deep down we're all the same. AGC&T.

With a proper understanding of evolution, we begin to notice our similarities, rather than our differences from other species. We share hundreds of DNA relics with chimpanzees. We have the similar bone structure to fish and frogs and felines. We are not inferior because of these similarities, rather we are one unique strategy to surviving the pressures of being earth-bound.

The very recognition of our ties to this earth and how our species is shaped by millions of years on it, is what we needed to become a heaven-bound society. If we acknowledge, rather than reject, the theory of evolution, we recognize our connectivity to all other living things. The earth becomes not something we own or are entitled to, but a home for life on all scales. When one of our cities impinges on the space of a threatened species, would we not then stop and think about the bit of humanness we displace if we barrel down in the name of progress? If a chamber of my heart ceased to function when I extracted logs from the habitat of a tiny warbler, then would I recognize it's contribution to my existence? What if every time I washed my dishes, my lungs felt a little weak as I lost the evolutionary contribution of the fish who's lake is now damed and oxygen deprived. Maybe if we realized all the earth has done for us beyond providing raw materials and living space, we wouldn't sprawl to our greatest extent just because we are able to.

The earth is and continues to be an experiment of epic proportions. We are only on the edge of understanding how rock and ooze gave way to such diverse life. If we damage the laboratory, where will we find the answers? We not only won't understand the process of speciation, but also the tenets that medicine and agriculture rely on. With the natural laboratory gone (or gone awry), it will be difficult to improve the human condition. On one hand, because we do not reap the benefits of materials and medicine, but even more so because we will sever the connection that makes us human....our origins. The genealogy that is evolution teaches us that we are not alone, that we are indebted to all creatures that came before, that we are delicate and dependent on the natural world, and that something great, even God, is behind the magnificence.

10 comments:

  1. I am really glad that you did this post. For me, the congruency between evolution and the gospel has never been an issue. I believe that evolution is God's mode of creation, and I believe that until we have specific revelation concerning the matter, each person is entitled to his or her own opinion. But I think this entry does a beautiful job of letting us see that we are the "crowning" jewel of creation because we are made in the image of God. If that was through evoltuionary processes (as I believe it was),it makes sense to me. However, all of the other things on this earth were created by the Lord as well, and however they fit in, I appreciate their existence.

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  2. I also believe that God works with natural laws of the universe. Perhaps he used evolution as his motor for the diversity that we see before us. It is true that humans are special and have a special destiny, but we are still connected to all the rest of the creation through our mortal bodies.

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  3. I agree that evolution is a beautiful system, but I do not believe that my ability to feel connected to the or respect the world around me is dependent upon a theory. My respect and honor for the world around me comes from an understanding of who I am.

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  4. I really appreciate it when humans can get together and help an endangered species thrive. Perhaps the way to achieve a global nature ethic is to understand that all of nature is God's creation, and the world as a whole (every species and inanimate object included)is what God declared to be "very good." When we lose one of the species, or when we are negligent in our treatment of the environment, then we are robbing ourselves of what used to be "very good."

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  5. I really enjoyed reading the blog. I too agree that God used the mechanism of evolution in creating this earth. How is to say that on other planets a different mechanism was used to produce diversity. Or it could be that the earth was the crowning world God created after trail and error on others. Regards of the way we came about I think that having the spirit is what truly makes us the higher species not the GCA and T.

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  6. Taking your comment about medicine one step further, think about what evolution helps us to accomplish in terms of healing. Since we evolved along with other species and have common ancestor, it follows that what works for them (medically) will work for us. Aspirin (which is considered to be a "miracle drug" by many) was first derived from Willow trees. What other miracle drugs await us from our cousins on the evolutionary tree?

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  7. I don't know if I would go as far as accepting the current theory of evolution 100%. I also believe that there are natural laws by which God operates but I would not go as far to say that he is bound by any process that we deem unalterable. I think there is a central truth in the theory of evolution and that is one of incorporation and progression. I also think that we can learn a great deal from the example the Lord has shown us of using what was already there and creating a world i.e. making something better by investing in that thing. I believe that is how we need to view the earth, as a place to invest in to become and make things better.

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  8. in my studies of the human body through physiology and anatomy i have come to find out that we are certaily not the pinnacle of the evolutionary chain. we are pretty dang smart but to be honest thats all we've got going for us. for example, the neurological function of the human eye evolved opposite than the rest of the body. if a human can run a marathon in 4 hours they are concidered to be in peak physical condition compared to the rest of society but an antelope can run 50 miles an hour for an entire hour. monkeys have opposible thumbs. a desert tortuise through counter current exchange can condense urin many times greater than humans and then recycle that urin to be condensed again. really besides our uncontested intellectual abilities we are quite inferior.

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  9. Reading this post makes me think about the different conversations I've had among different people. As a biology major everybody you talk to seems to think that evolution is the only logical explanation and creationism seems ridiculous. Then at the end of the week while at church you talk to those who think that the only explanation to how we are here is by God's creation and evolution is a ridiculous notion. I normally find myself defending the other side depending on whom I am talking to, whether I am at school or church. It is just interesting how beliefs among this subject is so diverse among members. I guess it really doesn't matter to us at this moment and we will learn truth when it is necessary for us to know it.

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  10. I thought it was an interesting idea that recognizing the very ties to the earth is what makes us a heaven-bound society. I'm sometimes still not sure how environmentalism fits into LDS theology. There are people who say that the salvation of the earth does not have to do with the salvation of souls, and therefore is not important. But I'm inclined to believe that respect for God's creations is an important part in eternal progression.

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