Author: Abu Raef
Secularism (Part 20)
Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and Its Effects on European and Western Society
European and Western society experienced significant upheaval due to a series of intellectual and social events that challenged established norms and beliefs. Christianity and its doctrines faced distress from various critiques and changes, including those from Spinoza and Voltaire, who criticized Christianity and the church system. The French Revolution dealt a significant blow to the church’s influence. Furthermore, Newton’s “mechanical” theory contributed to a shift towards natural religion and naturalism, as promoted by rational philosophers.
August Comte’s theory of “intellectual evolution” and the rise of ideologies like agnosticism and secularism also challenged traditional religious beliefs. These movements, along with other intellectual and social changes, eroded the church’s authority and influence. Despite these profound challenges, few could have predicted that Christianity and its values would entirely collapse in this period. The religion’s teachings on the formation of humanity and human nature endured, supported by many good deeds and high moral values cherished by a large number of people.
Although the Europeans’ view of Christianity had changed, they still believed in it to the extent that it was considered a religion. It is a spiritual being; it had not changed. Also, although the view of the European people had changed to the course of life, but no one could believe that values, morals, and customs do not exist, and that everything changes, it is true that the people of Europe say many of the sayings of the enemies of religion, such as Fultier and Hume.
They had acknowledged “Dubbach” but always considered them atheists and atheists and did not consider their views effective in the essence of religion. All this was the case in 1859. British researcher Charles Darwin (1809-1882) published his book, The Origin of Types (origin of species) and made such a noise that no other person in European history has created such an atmosphere and such an impact and consequences in the field of It had an idea and action that could not be measured.
According to Darwin’s theory, the life of the universe has evolved from one state to another, for example, the life of organic beings has evolved from ease and non-complexity and from the lowest to the most advanced state. According to him, the inherent and innate differences of one type of lead to the creation of new types over the centuries. For this reason, Darwin thinks that the principle of organic organisms, which have millions of cells, was just a low creature and had one cell, but according to the law of “natural choice” and the law of “survival of a more appropriate person”, those types that could be compatible with society and the environment Sudden events to fight, have grown and climbed the ladder of progress, while other types that did not have this happiness and prosperity have disappeared and perished.
The reason for this (survival of some types and the destruction of others) according to Mr. Darwin is that: Nature has given some species to some species of creatures, the means and factors of survival and the ability to protect the species and the addition of new organs or features by which they adapt to sudden conditions. The subject resulted in a kind and continuous way from which new and developed types such as monkeys and the higher type that are human were created.
But nature has not given this to some other types and has deprived them of this, so these types have slipped and fallen. Nature does not have a specific and orderly method in this matter, and it does this blindly. This was a summary of Darwin’s theory and thought about the evolution and growth of beings, especially humans.
Certainly, these kinds of ideas and theories originate from not believing in the essence of God Almighty and His Creator and Innovator. Europe, too, had suffered from ideological deviations, atheism, and atheism for various reasons, and the formation and spread of such ideas would not be far-fetched and strange.
Darwin’s theory was just a biological hypothesis and was never a general philosophical theory, and it was far from being a fixed practical truth. Even this theory was not the thought of evolution itself, but its method and law, and the thought of evolution itself had already been discovered by some scientists. As they believed that the life of the universe was not created at Immediately but was created gradually and in historical order.
They also said that the later types of Ibn Jahan are more progressive than the previous ones. People like Ray, Parkinson, and Lino had this theory, but they did not take the results seriously and ignored it; Because they saw the theory of evolution as a pre-drawn map in which there was mercy for the worlds. For this reason, the theory of this group of scientists was known as a divine and “theological” theory, and no one in the material and practical field paid attention to it. But Darwin was able to find the result of this theory from a path far from life and the living; Because he had obtained this result from another science called “demology”. This theory has never been accepted and approved in scientific circles, and even Darwin’s proponents themselves have modified and evaluated it.
Many professors at famous European universities and people who specialize in biology and cello logy have doubted this theory and considered it unscientific and based on superstitions and illusions.
In the next article, we will mention their theories.
