I've been reading A. C. Grayling's most excellent book titled The GOD Argument -- after all, I don't have to agree with the man's opinions to admire his talent as a writer -- and a realization suddenly struck me, sort of like a bolt of lightning. Another article I've been working on and will publish soon discusses the some of the more interesting topics in Grayling's book, in much greater detail. For the remainder of this article, I'd like to focus attention on just one particular thing Grayling said in his book that I found to be very questionable. Then I plan to connect my observations on this comment to my own personal moment of revelation, that "lightning bolt" moment I mentioned in the first paragraph. Beginning on page 108, Professor Grayling wrote: Since the humiliating defeat of the literal six-day creationist lobby in the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925 in Tennessee, religious groups have become increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to promote the idea that the universe and life in it were made by an intelligent agency, just as a carpenter makes a table; except that whereas a carpenter has his planks and nails to hand when he starts, the mega-carpenter did not have any materials ready beforehand, but made them too, from nothing. When I first read the passage above, I thought, huh? That paragraph is clearly giving the reader the distinct impression that the Scopes Monkey trial was an overwhelming victory for the Darwinian theory of evolution, and nothing less than a crushing defeat for young earth creationism. The problem with the impression … [Read more...]