"One was a self-made American politico who freed the slaves; the other was a silver-spooned British naturalist who observed finches. So what’s the connection?
Newsweek in “Who Was More Important: Lincoln or Darwin?”
Malcolm Jones takes a look at two of the nineteenth century’s most remembered and, in many circles, respected figures: Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin.
Jones writes, is that they “each touched off a revolution that changed the world.”
Lincoln’s most significant accomplishment, Jones explains, was defining and reasserting the very foundation of America. Centering on the Gettysburg Address, Jones writes, “People in the North were wondering aloud just what it was they were fighting for. Was it to preserve the Union, or was it to abolish slavery? Lincoln was keenly aware that he needed to clarify the issue. The Northern victory at Gettysburg in early July gave him the occasion he was seeking.”
In that short speech at Gettysburg, Lincoln reminded his audience of the democratic origin of the United States in an unvarnished, color-blind statement—“Our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” This Biblically based creed, that those of all “colors” are equal in God’s sight and should be treated equally by the law, became the basis for the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the US Constitution, which together uphold the rights of all US citizens regardless of skin shade.
Compared to that legacy, it seems almost foolish at first to even try to compare Darwin’s influence. Academia and the educational system are obviously the prime domains of Darwin’s work, and in these areas, Darwin’s influence is strong.
Darwinian thought has been far more insidious, as it reshapes basic values and beliefs. Darwinism has stretched its tentacles outside the academic realm on more than one nasty occasion, but the nastiest is almost undoubtedly the Darwinism–Nazi connection. In a similar macabre connection, examine what serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer’s words say about the influence of Darwin:
"If a person doesn’t think there is a God to be accountable to, then—then what’s the point of trying to modify your behavior to keep it within acceptable ranges? That’s how I thought anyway. I always believed the theory of evolution as truth, that we all just came from the slime."
In the church, Darwinian theory has contributed greatly to demeaning the Word of God, justifying willful ignorance of Scripture, and fueling a steady exodus of Christians into the clutches of humanism and atheism." AIG
