I'm a biologist, B.S. from MIT. I don't believe in evolution. Don't get me wrong, though. I think that the theory of evolution is correct, and there is more than sufficient evidence to back it up. I don't believe in creationism either.
You shouldn't believe in evolution either. In fact, you probably don't. It is not a religion or something to be taken on faith. When you look at the facts, weigh the evidence, and do all of that other stuff that you do to decide something, you will almost certainly come to the conclusion that the theory of evolution is correct.
At this point, you might be starting to get what I'm trying to say in an annoyingly round-about way: the theory of evolution is a scientific theory, not a religion or life philosophy-- though it is natural philosophy about life, but that's just confusing. The distinction here is very important.
Having just recently finished George Lakoff's "Don't Think of an Elephant," I wanted to approach the evolution/creationism debate from an amateur framing perspective. In what ways have the religious right managed to discredit scientists when talking about evolution?
Hypothetical situation: you're at the mall, and a high school student approaches you for a survey that she's doing for a class. Smacking the bubblegum in her mouth, she asks, "Do you believe in evolution or creationism?" What do you say? Most readers of this blog would probably just respond with "evolution." Religious readers of this blog might respond with "both" or even "neither." You would probably let the poor student go and do her homework. The problem is that the question sets up the frame that some people believe in evolution. They're godless heathens, accepting the fallible reason of man over the perfect truth of God. Or something to that effect.
We scientists are trained to look at every problem by reducing it to its simplist observable elements and testing those elements one by one. We learn not to take anything for granted. Quite often, we relearn this lesson the hard way. Many, many scientists are agnostic, because they can't just accept God on faith, and they can't disprove His existance. Science, however, is not a religion. You can believe in God and be an effective scientist. You should never include Him in your theories, unless you can somehow prove that He exists. Still, when we come home from our day job, we can believe whatever we want. Unfortuneately, the religious right has painted us as being godless. We won't back up their claims that the earth was made meer millenia ago. We won't back up their claims that the whole place was flooded once and that all of the land animals today are descended from a select few animals that Noah carried around with him. No. We look for evidence and try to make sense of the evidence. We are taught that it is bad science to have a conclusion and look for the evidence to support it.
We don't believe in evolution. A lot of scientists have spent their lives gathering data about the natural history of the world. They analyzed that data. They applied it to the theory of evolution that Darwin proposed, and it fits. Occassionally, the theory is adjusted to make room for new theories and data, but the essence-- survival of the fittest leading to adaptation of a species and the eventual arrival of new species. We find the theory convincing, not some dogma to live our lives by.
Thus, I propose that all of the readers of this diary cease believing in evolution and only accept it as fact. If you manage to get into a conversation with an opponent of the theory of evolution, you should make sure never to state that you believe in it, and emphatically tell how it is not a religion, not an -ism. In the end, my goal is to make it clear that science is different from religion. If this frame leaks into the American consciousness, we will be better off.