Subject: Draft of a brief essay on Darwin and Lincoln

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 23 Feb 2005 20:34:53 EST

Two Famous Men, Abraham Lincoln and Charles Darwin,  
 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 curiosity and 
ingenuity, from being interpreted independent of  biblical dogma. Likewise this 
unrealistic practice was only resolved  by Charles Darwin, 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 will be of interest  to 
know that both Darwin's paternal and maternal grandparents, Erasmus  Darwin 
and Josiah 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 Josaih Wedgwood through 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 of  
Copernicus, Galilaeo and many others. Even though there are echoes  of superstition 
with us today in the interpretation of the  natural world it is only 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.  
 
Knowledge systems require the acceptance of "postulates" to assist humans  to 
accept the ethical proposition of what should or ought to be. Ancient  Tribal 
Myths (ATM) 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 of the 'central 
tenants' of  the specific ATM to arrive at a "moral" position on the question  of 
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  be or do. Ethical 
behavior for Humanists and Secularists can be  determined with the application of 
these  principles.