Hodges- Nadia Yassine’s Intellectual Anti-Intellectualism on Darwin

Adnan Oktar (Harun Yahya) "What those [people] are engaged in is destined for destruction, and worthless is what they have been doing."(Surah al-A’raf, 7: 139) Imagine a religion whose founder claimed to be a scientist, its holy book a treatise with a supposedly scientific message, and its devotees people who think of themselves as learned. This religion has penetrated into almost every civilization, every school of thought and every ideology; its adherents number in the hundreds of millions. In every field of specialization – history, sociology, philosophy, psychology, biology, etc. – it is a basic dogma, the "light that illuminates truth." Actually, every one of you is acquainted with the religion outlined above. You encounter it in your daily life, read its propaganda in newspapers, and see its influence on television. This religion infiltrates your life at every moment; indeed, it is part of your life. Perhaps some of you, knowingly or otherwise, have come under the direct influence of this religion. It is the "religion of Darwinism." You may say to yourselves, "Darwinism is not a religion, it is a scientific theory!" But there are many people in the world who are devoted to it. Some believe that evolution is a scientifically proven fact, and the world lies under the influence of this so-called scientific position. This ideology is founded upon a series of errors. Our purpose in writing this book is to expose these errors and to show those who have fallen prey to them that the facade of scientific positivism is nothing more than an illusion. The theory of evolution, with its scripture, its devotees, its alleged answers and explanations concerning the origins of living things, its idols and beliefs, its closed-mindedness to criticisms and developments in science, is a pagan religion that denies the existence of God. The fact that Darwinism is founded upon the denial of God (Allah) and that it is actually a pagan religion is something that a lot of people – even its followers – have only recently begun to state openly in articles, books and other writings; hence, you might find what you read in this book surprising. When you realize how intricate and widespread this religion is, you will ask yourself why you did not recognize this obvious fact long ago. Darwinism is a false religion; yet, it is one of the largest and most widespread religions in the world. It has forcefully influenced people through its various methods of propaganda and of falsification and obfuscation. Over generations the number of its adherents has been growing. Unconsciously, people have become affected by this false religion and, with time, can become serious Darwinists. But facts are being continually uncovered in the realm of science that this godless religion cannot tolerate. With every new development people are once again coming face to face with the reality of creation. The religion of Darwinism is losing strength before questions about how living things first came into existence, the flawless design and complex structure of living creatures, the variety in species, etc. Every day it loses one more lifeline, for it is a religion that is founded on blind faith and remains impotent in the face of developments in molecular biology, genetics, paleontology and biomathematics. The many recent discoveries in these branches of science show clearly and definitely that evolution is not true.

Darwin's theory of evolution caused considerable controversy among conservative Christians, but his ideas were not immediately available to Muslims. The first Arabic excerpts of Darwin's work were made in 1876 by a Syrian Christian who was influenced by pro-creationist Protestant missionaries. This article provides a brief historical overview of the debate among Muslim scholars about Darwin's theory of evolution. The range of reactions to Darwinian evolution in the Muslim world has included that of traditionalist scholars, who adhere to medieval views of a flat earth, to that of Western-trained Muslim scientists who see no contradiction between Darwinian evolution and Islamic religious beliefs. Since the Qur'ān does not provide as many details regarding theistic or God-guided evolution as appear in the biblical book of Genesis, Muslims can argue that Darwinian evolution does not directly contradict or harm Islamic teachings; nevertheless, " Islamic creationism " is on the rise, especially in cyberspace, particularly on the websites of Harun Yahya, who, in 2007, sent an Atlas of Creation to scientists in the Western world. Available as open access online at http://www.lindenwood.edu/academics/beyond-the-classroom/publications/journal-of-international-global-studies/all-issues/volume-9-number-2/

Faith and Philosophy, 2009

Islam and Science, 2008

Emerging from a particular European context, Darwin’s ideas have influenced all parts of the world. Two hundred years after his birth, Darwin contin ues to cast a long shadow over fundamental beliefs and concepts of a large number of people. Many re ligious scholars have devised ways to accommodate Darwinism into their religious beliefs. These include religious scholars of all three monotheistic religions, for whom the notion of God is a central tenet, even though Darwinism appears to render superfluous the very notion of a Creator as conceived in this tradition. Supported by famous scientists, a multi-million dollar Darwin industry has emerged in the wake of Darwin’s 1859 influential book, On the Origin of Species. Not only modern biology, founded on Darwinian and neo-Darwinian theories, but also several other disci plines—such as anthropology, sociology, anatomy, ge ology, and history—have been affected by Darwinism. This is the first of a three-part article on Darwin, natural selection, neo-Darwinism, and the philo sophical and religious responses to these ideas. It focuses on the emergence of Darwinism and surveys Darwin’s reception in the West. Part II will deal with Darwin’s reception in the Muslim world and part III will examine Darwinism and neo-Darwinism from an Islamic perspective.

Zygon?, 2001

As a young proponent of "creation science," I rejected Darwinian biology as false, bad, and ugly. Now I defend Darwinism as true, good, and beautiful. Moreover, I now see Darwinism as compatible with the natural piety that arises as one moves from nature to nature's God.

2008

Reports of the National Center For Science Education, 2013

2010

In this paper I examine whether or not the International Scientific Series (ISS) disseminated Darwinian views of the relationship between science and religion throughout its existence as a unique experiment in publishing. Initially, the key players were Thomas Henry Huxley, John Tyndall, Herbert Spencer, and Edward Youmans, all evolutionary naturalists, and they shared a complex perspective on the relationship between science and religion. Although the ISS began as a publishing project devoted to the dissemination of evolutionary naturalism, I will argue that by the early 1880’s a new course had been set when the original founders of the series were no longer in control.