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Egkioco: Fecie the Proceedings of the South Place Ethical Society Vol EGkioco: FeciE The Proceedings of the South Place Ethical Society Vol. 104 No. 10 £1.50 November, 1999 SCIENTIFIC CREATIONISM IS BOGUS SCIENCE Professor James Birx refers, in his article on Teilhard de Chardin (page 3) to the cautious acceptance by the present Pope of the fact of evolution, at least up to pre- human primates. Even this modest concession is too much for those 'scientific creationists' who affect to find Genesis literally true. A particularly dogmatic concentration of such persons inhabits the State of Kansas where they have recently redrafted the school science curriculum. Discussion of the evidence for the transformation of species is removed, although what the creationists term 'micro-evolution' i.e. changes within species is permitted. Nothing contradictory to their belief in the special creation of each species appears in the syllabus. Thus a teacher attempting to discuss such matters as the molecular . and DNA relation between species as evidence for evolution would presumably leave himself open to criticism by vociferous parents or the local school board as going beyond the syllabus. The creationists maintain that only that can be taught in science lessons which can be demonstrated in the school laboratory, thereby hoping to remove discussion of the 3 billion year process of evolution from the classroom. This is a far too sweeping and totally unnecessary restriction - it would exclude most nuclear physics and astronomy, not to mention most history and geography. It would also exclude the special creation of Tygers by God because teachers do not usually have that 'immortal hand or eye' in their apparatus box. The creationists will insist that evolution is a theory not a fact. O.K. Imbued as they are with the-technique of indoctrination, they are sure that a teacher talking about evolution to his class is bound to assert that 'evolution is true'. However, science teachers are enlightened enough to present the supporting evidence and the difficulties for Darwinian evolution without requiring the class to assent to them. It is knowledge of and understanding about the evidence for important scientific theories which should be the educational aim. Pity poor Dorothy in Kansas who is captivated by the marvels of the world. She can only dream of a giant whirlwind which might carry her beyond the clutches of the curriculum and deposit her on the yellow brick road of natural history. PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN - Dr H. James Birx 3 WHAT'S THE WORLD COMING TO? James Hemming 10 HENRY HETHERINGTON David M Smith 11 THE GEORGIAN HOUSE IN LONDON Oliver Westmoreland 16 LIVING WITH THE ENEMY Barbara Smoker 18 VIEWPOINTS : C. Bondi, A. Williams, P Cadogan, E. Stockton, D. R. Reidy, Barbara Smoker fan letters 20 ETHICAL SOCIETY EVENTS 24 SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY Conway Hall Humanist Centre 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL. Tel: 0171 242 8034 Fax: 0171 242 8036 website: www.ethicalsoc.org.uk email: [email protected] Officers Chairman of the GC: Diane Murray Vice Chairman: John Rayner Hon. Rep of the GC:Don Liversedge Registrar: Terry Mullins Treasurer: Vacancy (Would anyone wishing to volunteer tor this post, please contact the Admin. Secretary) Editor, Ethical Record: Norman Bacrac SPES Staff Administrative Secretary to the Society: Marina Ingham Tel: 0171 242 8034 Librarian/Programme Coordinator: Jennifer Jeynes. Tel: 0171 242 8037 Operations Manager: Frances Hanlon. Tel: 0171 242 8033 Lettings Manager: Peter Vlachos.For Hall bookings: Tel: 0171 242 8032 New Members Valma Cockroft, Barnes, London; Fiona Mathieson, Merton Park, London; Suzi McKenzie, Sydenham, London; Dick Clifford, South Australia. Correction The summary of the lecture on the Baby Milk Scandal (ER, September 1999) was kindly prepared by G.C. member Edmund McArthur. It was delivered by Rosie White and not Patricia Wise. Sunday Concerts For the 1999-2000 season, the concerts are the responsibility of a new charity, London Chamber Music Society (LCMS). Trustees of LCMS are also trustees of the Ethical Society, and for this season at least the name South Place Sunday Concerts is retained but the current view of the Charity Commission is that the concerts are no longer integral to the activities of the Ethical Society. LCMS hires the hall and the piano from SPES (at a considerable discount) for the purpose of providing music. N.B. SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY Registered Charity No. 251396 Founded in 1793, the Society is a progressive movement whose aims are: the study and dissemination of ethical principles based on humanism, the cultivation of a rational and humane way of life, and the advancement of research and education in relevant fields. We invite to membership all those who reject supernatural creeds and find themselves in sympathy with our views. At Conway Hall there are opportunities for participation in cultural activities including discussions, lectures, concerts and socials. The Sunday Evening Chamber Music Concerts founded in 1887 are renowned. We have a library on subjects of humanist concern. All members receive the Society's journal, Ethical.Record, eleven times a year. Funerals and Memorial Meetings may be arranged. Please apply to the Admin. Secretary for membership, £18 p.a. Concession* £12 p.a. 2 Ethical Record, November, 2999 PIERRE TEILHARD DE CHARDIN Dr. H. James Bint Professor of Anthropology, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York Are science and theology reconcilable in terms of evolution? As both an eminent scientist and cosmic mystic, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) presented a dynamic worldview. He argued that our species does occupy a special place within a spiritual universe, and that humankind is evolving toward an Omega Point as the end-goal of converging and involuting consciousness on this planet. With his steadfast commitment to the fact of pervasive evolution, Teilhard as geopaleontologist and Jesuit priest became a very controversial figure within the Roman Catholic Church during the first half of this century. Actually, because of his bold interpretation of our species within earth history and this cosmos, he was silenced by his Pierre Teilhard de Chardin By Keith KW. Kersting of Hawai'i Jesuit superiors for taking an evolutionary stance at a time when this scientific theory was a serious threat to an entrenched orthodox theology. Going beyond Charles Darwin, Teilhard even maintained that evolution discloses the meaning, purpose and destiny of our species within life, nature and this universe. As a geopaleontologist, Teilhard was very familiar with the rock and fossil evidence that substantiates the fact of evolution. As a Jesuit priest, he was acutely aware of the need for a meta-Christianity that would contribute to the survival and fulfilment of .humankind in terms of both science and faith. Sensitive to the predicament of our species, with its awareness of endless space and certain death, Teilhard as visionary and futurist ultimately grounded his personal interpretation of evolution in a process philosophy, natural theology and cosmic mysticism that supported panentheism (the belief that God and the World are in a creative relationship of progressive evolution toward a future synthesis in terms of spirit). Galileo Galilei had been put under house arrest, and endured humiliation as a result of his claiming that the earth does in fact move through the universe; a discovery that the aged astronomer was coerced into recanting by his dogmatic persecutor, Pope Urban VIII (formally Cardinal Maffeo Barberini), under the intolerant Jesuit inquisitor, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine. As a direct result of the conservative standpoint taken by his Jesuit superiors, Teilhard will suffer alienation and discouragement because he rightly claimed that species (including our own) evolve throughout geological time, or they become extinct; his daring evolutionism discredited fixity and essentialism. Discovering Evolution As a child, Teilhard showed an interest in both natural science and religious mysticism. Sensitive to his beautiful Auvergne surroundings in France, and Ethical Record, November, 1999 3 particularly drawn to the study of rocks, Teilhard found delight in a plowshare which he supposed was an enduring object free from change and imperfection. However, after a storm, he discovered that his 'genie of iron' had rusted. Teilhard tells us that he then threw himself on the ground and cried with the bitterest tears of his life. As a result of this devastating .experience, he would have to seek his 'one essential thing' beyond this imperfect world of matter and corruption. To be 'most perfect' (as he put it), Teilhard at the age of 17 entered the Jesuit society in order to serve God. Even so, he intensified his interest in geology on the channel island of Jersey. Throughout his entire life, he would never abandon his love for science, concern about human evolution, and devotion to mystical theology (especially eschatology). In 1905, as part of his Jesuit training, Teilhard found himself teaching at the Holy Family College in Cairo. This three-year experience offered him the opportunity to do research in both geology and paleontology, expanding his knowledge of earth history. It also exposed him to a rich multiplicity of cultures, both past and present, that surely jarred him from European ethnocentrism. Following this teaching obligation, he then finished his theology studies at Hastings in England. It was during his stay in England that Teilhard read Henri Bergson's major book, Creative Evolution (1907). This metaphysical work had an enormous influence on the scientist-priest, since it resulted in his lifelong commitment to the brute fact of evolution. It is worth emphasising that it was not Darwin's On the Origin of Species (1859) or The Descent of Man (1871) but rather Bergson's interpretation of evolution that convinced Teilhard that species are mutable, including our own, throughout organic history. While on one of his field trips, Teilhard unfortunately became involved in the discovery of the controversial Piltdown skull (later determined to be a fraud).
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