Paradox

"1. A seemingly contradictory statement that may nonetheless be true. 2. One exhibiting inexplicable or contradictory aspects. 3. An assertion that is essentially self-contradictory, although based on a valid deduction from acceptable premises. 4. A statement contrary to received opinion." (American Heritage Dictionary Second College Edition, 1982)

The crossword puzzle clue was "Darwin word". The answer was "origin". I started thinking about Darwin’s most famous work, On the Origin of Species. Many people object to the theory of evolution because they say it conflicts with their religious belief in creation. I don’t think that’s necessarily so.

Darwin’s book wasn’t titled, On the Origin of All Species. In fact, he wrote it after observing a limited number of species in the very limited Galapagos island chain off the coast of Ecuador. I have not read the book, but the animals I remember being mentioned in biology courses were birds (finches, I think) and lizards. Darwin hypothesized that the various species of finch could have derived from a single species, which, because of physical barriers separating the islands, evolved into several subspecies (exhibiting different phenotypic characteristics but still genotypically able to produce viable offspring), which then evolved into separate species. He said the same for the lizards, and offered that the animals best suited to survive on their given island were the most likely to reproduce. Hence, the best-adapted phenotypes turned into separate genotypes, when they are not allowed to commingle.

Darwin’s argument does not say that humans evolved from, or even alongside of, apes/primates. His argument does not say that God (or your deity of choice) didn’t create the earth. For all we know, God created the earth and a certain number of species, but He allowed for genetic adaptability, so that the species could adapt to changes in their environments. Evolution and creation are not mutually exclusive.

Related arguments are these. 1) Chimpanzees and humans have 98% similarity in DNA; ergo, the species evolved from a common ancestor. I say, "Oh yeah?" Why couldn’t God have seen that He created a perfectly fine animal then just tweaked the genes a little bit, rather than starting from scratch for the next one? 2) There is so much repetition and similarity between species that one must have developed from another (or two developed differently from one). My take on this is similar to my first response: if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

Another paradox that confronts faith with logic is the argument over abortion. The two commonly accepted sides in the disagreement are either pro-life (against abortion) or pro-choice (for abortion). I, however, being a knee-jerk moderate, don’t see the distinction in that way. I see two separate arguments: one about the legality of a medical procedure and one about the sanctity of life (often including a disagreement on when human "life" begins). Someone can be both pro-life and pro-abortion, and someone else can be pro-choice but anti-abortion. Did you see how I switched the words around? One can say that she will never have (or he will never encourage his partner to have) an abortion, while still supporting someone else’s legal opportunity to do so. Similarly, one can support a woman’s legal right to choose but personally oppose the act in one’s own life.

Since I’ve basically mired myself in the quicksand of political and religious arguments -- but without actually advocating one position over another, did you notice? -- let me talk about euthanasia. (This is one I’ve only started pondering, so I definitely have not formed an opinion yet.)

A coworker had her beloved dog of twelve years "put to sleep" because it could no longer stand up and walk properly and, presumably (we can not, strictly speaking, put ourselves inside a dog’s body to feel what it feels), without pain. On the other hand, Dr. Kevorkian (and others) are prosecuted for murdering or enabling the self-elimination (suicide) of gravely ill individuals. Why is it that we appear to have more mercy for "dumb animals" which are suffering than we have for fellow humans facing similar circumstances? (Boy, that one’s liable to keep me up at night.)