Why I'm Happy I Evolved (Not!)

The January 1 edition of the NYTimes carried an opinion article by Olivia Judson, identified as an evolutionary biologist at Imperial College in London. Entitled "Why I'm Happy I Evolved", the main body of the article points out some of the strange situations and creatures in nature that are "too wacky to invent." In her concluding paragraphs, the author says,

"Some people want to think of humans as the product of a special creation, separate from other living things. I am not among them; I am glad it is not so. I am proud to be part of the riot of nature, to know that the same forces that produced me also produced bees, giant ferns and microbes that live at the bottom of the sea.
For me, the knowledge that we evolved is a source of solace and hope. I find it a relief that plagues and cancers and wasp larvae that eat caterpillars alive are the result of the impartial - and comprehensible - forces of evolution rather than the caprices of a deity.
More than that, I find that in viewing ourselves as one species out of hundreds of millions, we become more remarkable, not less so. No other animal that I have heard of can live so peaceably in such close quarters with so many individuals that are unrelated. No other animal routinely bothers to help the sick and the dying, or tries to save those hurt in an earthquake or flood.
Which is not to say that we are all we might wish to be. But in putting ourselves into our place in nature, in comparing ourselves with other species, we have a real hope of reaching a better understanding, and appreciation, of ourselves."

Glad not to be a product of special creation? Relieved that plagues are the result of the impartial forces of evolution? Not me. Is it any wonder that many of the great skeptic thinkers were (are)(cannot help but be?) overcome with despair? To think that we are at the "mercy" of blind chance and impartial forces leaves me with the feeling of being aboard an airplane without a pilot, or at best an automatic pilot controlled by commands generated randomly. There's no destination, and there's every chance of being plunged into oblivion by a quirky "impartial" force that has no interest in whether we are well or not, or whether we ever arrive anywhere.

Like another evolutionist of whom I read this week, who argued that the tremendous regularity and predictability of nature is evidence against Intelligent Design, the author here mentions the "remarkable fact...that no other animal routinely helps the sick..." Paul says, "blindness in part has happened to Israel"; this is not blindness in part, these people are "willingly ignorant." Dark is light and light is dark...truth is error and error is truth.

I'm happy I didn't evolve. I'm relieved to know that in spite of all the confusion, violence, pain and distress the passengers on this planetary ship undergo, history does have a destination and we are not adrift without purpose. The seas are often rough, we get tossed from one side to another, but surely and steadily we are steaming ahead to the destination God announced long ago.