The Alliance For Positive Thought

{jcomments on}Karl Giberson, in his recent book, “Saving Darwin,” argues that religion and evolution are compatible, contrary to popular belief. He was asked to comment on Carl Sagan's version of the wonder of the universe, a feeling of wonder which Einstein unfortunately referred to as “God.”

Shermer pushed on, asking Giberson to comment on the following definitional statement from Carl Sagan's "Cosmos:"

"For we are the local embodiment of a Cosmos grown to self awareness. We have begun to contemplate our origins ... Our loyalties are to the species and the planet. We speak for earth. Our obligation to survive is owed not just to ourselves but also to that Cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we sprung."

"What’s wrong with that?" Shermer asked Giberson, with a smile.

This kind of thinking is "hardly going to inspire ordinary people" to be passionate about spirituality, Giberson replied. "I just don’t think it would be a functional religion."

Of course, as Giberson himself notes in another interview, “Virtually all the leading spokespersons for science – the ones on bookstands and public television – are strongly antireligious.”

So his view is a minority view, but it is also the view that eventually will stand in the way of a secular religion. Eventually, we might presume, evolutionary theory will come to dominate the popular conception of the universe, as it now dominates the scientific community's conception of the universe. Heliocentrism eventually won out in the minds of the average person long after scientists could not refute it, and as long as evolution remains the scientific theory of choice, it will follow suit.