Subject: Two famous Men

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 20:59:03 EDT

Two Famous Men, Charles Darwin and Abraham  Lincoln, 
              Born in the same year, on the same day 
                           -- and  their Legacies
                             By Robert J. Stephens Ph. D.
 
In America we are aware that both Abraham Lincoln and Charles  Darwin were 
born on the same day, in the same year -- February 12, 1809. As a  result of 
this coincidence I was asked the following question during an  interview on BBC 
in Shrewsbury England (Darwin's birth place) on July  30, 2003. Quote, "Since 
Lincoln and Darwin were born on the same day  how do you deal with this obvious 
problem, when you're celebrating science and  humanity on Darwin's birthday?" 
I said, "In my view, Feb. 12, 1809 was a very  good day for our planet 
because Lincoln eventually became the great  emancipator of the slaves in America 
and Darwin became the great emancipator of  the human mind, and so, they both 
deserved to be celebrated!" As I thought about  this reply after the broadcast 
it seemed to me that there was  something particularly poignant about Darwin's 
theory of evolution by  natural selection, (published on November 24, 1859) 
freeing the human mind  from superstition (i., e., permitting the interpretation 
of scientific data  through the lens of naturalism instead of through the 
lens of theology) and  the signing of the emancipation proclamation on January 1, 
1863 by  Lincoln that abolished slavery, freeing humans from physical  
servitude in the United States of America. Together their actions represent a  major 
step forward in the acquisition of freedoms for the entire  human family. The 
magnitude of these accomplishments, by visionary  men, born on the same day, 
in the same year, gives  their achievements a unique resonance, and enormous 
benefits have  accrued to all human kind ever since. Today both men are  
recognized around the world for the ongoing positive effect their efforts  have had 
on developing the ethics of progressive thought.

Unfortunately, the role of religion had been instrumental in perpetuating  
slavery for centuries in America at the time of the revolutionary  war against 
England. The fact that slavery was condoned in both the Old and  New Testaments 
resulted in fierce debates that accused those who were against  slavery as 
being against the Bible. On this basis the slave-holder States were  able to 
force a compromise that resulted in the retention of slavery and in  addition, 
each slave was to be counted as 3/5th of a vote to southern slave  holders. This 
untenable situation was only resolved by the civil war  lead by Abraham 
Lincoln, born on February 12, 1809! By the same token  religion for centuries 
prevented empirical data, obtained by scientists through  their human curiosity and 
ingenuity, from being interpreted independent of  biblical dogma. Likewise 
this unrealistic practice was only resolved  by Charles Darwin, who was also 
born on February 12, 1809. His  scientific theory of evolution by natural 
selection has permitted  scientists ever since to interpret their findings in 
congruency with the natural  laws that govern the universe.
 
Perhaps for those celebrating science and humanity it would be of  interest 
to know that both Darwin's paternal and maternal grandparents,  Erasmus and 
Mary Darwin, and Josiah and Sarah Wedgwood respectively, were  also against 
slavery that was so prevalent in the British, West Indies. In fact  an anti slavery 
medallion made by Wedgwood in large numbers was  used in the campaign against 
slavery in both England and  America. Benjamin Franklin, an acquaintance of 
both Erasmus Darwin and  Josiah Wedgwood through his 'corresponding membership' 
in the  Lunar Society, was given a medallion while he was in England and was  
also the recipient of a shipment of these medallions in Philadelphia.
 
Clearly, Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection presented an  
intellectually acceptable alternative to supernaturalism and freed the  minds of 
modern humans in a significant way, so  that we now understand our existence in 
an entirely new  light. For instance, this theory, freed scientific 
investigators  from the need to interpret their empirical data through a thick lens  of 
theology, so prevalent at the time as they remembered the fates  (treatment?) 
of Copernicus, Galileo and many others. Even though there are  echoes of 
superstition with us today in the interpretation of the  natural world it is 
almost exclusively from those that deal in  pseudo-science or mythology. 
 
We, particularly in the West, where knowledge acquired through  science has 
advanced rapidly during the past 150 years, began to think in  terms of the 
separation that exists between the natural  world interpreted through the secular 
scientific enterprise, wholly  developed through human curiosity and 
ingenuity, and the natural world  interpreted through the supernatural or theological 
enterprise,  supported by superstition. In retrospect, Darwin developed a 
distinction  between the "foundational-knowledge" required to support the 
philosophy of  Humanism, namely verifiable scientific knowledge from that of  the 
"foundational-knowledge" required to support the philosophy  of supernaturalism, 
which is based on the imaginary idea of revealed  and/or prophetic knowledge.  
It is important that a majority in world  community become aquatinted with the 
benefits of this complete shift  in our understanding of reliable knowledge.  
 
In conclusion, knowledge systems require the acceptance of "postulates" to  
assist humans to accept the ethical proposition of what should or ought to be  
acceptable actions (behavior?). Ancient Tribal Myths (ATMs) that  rely on 
revealed and/or prophetic knowledge, first require the  postulate of 'faith' in 
the authority of the source of the 'so-called'  knowledge, because it is not 
verifiable through the acquisition  of reproducible empirical data. It also 
require the postulate  of 'belief' in order to accept the idea that this system  
actually represents knowledge, and not simply imagination. In  addition, one 
needs to accept the postulates or the 'central tenants'  of the specific ATM to 
arrive at a position, thought to be moral,  on the question of what should or 
ought to be ethical behavior. As a result of  the fact that ATMs cannot verify 
the source of their knowledge they are reduced  to making unsubstantiated 
CLAIMS about what should or ought to be. On  the other hand Humanism relies on  
scientifically verifiable knowledge and the postulates of  'intellectual 
maturity' and 'rational thought' to establish what humans,  should or ought to do, to 
be ethical. Ethical behavior for Humanists  and Secularists are determined 
with the application of these  principles.