Church makes ‘ludicrous’ apology to Charles Darwin – 126 years after his death
Church makes ‘ludicrous’ apology to Charles Darwin – 126 years after his death
The Church of England will tomorrow officially apologise to Charles Darwin for misunderstanding his theory of evolution.
In a bizarre step, the Church will address its contrition directly to the Victorian scientist himself, even though he died 126 years ago.
But the move was greeted with derision last night, with Darwin’s great-great-grandson dismissing it as ‘pointless’ and other critics branding it ‘ludicrous’.
Church officials compared the apology to the late Pope John Paul II’s decision to say sorry for the Vatican’s 1633 trial of Galileo, the astronomer who appalled prelates by declaring that the earth revolved around the sun.
The officials said that senior bishops wanted to atone for the vilification their predecessors heaped on Darwin in the 1860s, when he put forward his theory that man was descended from apes.
The Church is also anxious to counter the view that its teaching is incompatible with science. It wants to distance itself from fundamentalist Christians, who believe in the Biblical account of the creation of the world in seven days.
An article to be posted on the Church’s website will say: ‘Charles Darwin, 200 years from your birth [in 1809], the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still.
‘But the struggle for your reputation is not over yet, and the problem is not just your religious opponents but those who falsely claim you in support of their own interests.’
The article has been written by the Rev Dr Malcolm Brown, the director of mission and public affairs of the Archbishops’ Council, the Church’s managing body, which is headed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams.
Monday September 15th, 2008 @ 8:38am
You know what? I accept. Yes, it’s too little, too late, but it’s something. And, it’s something from the people who started this mess. If they’re willing to change, it’s more leverage that can be used to get the others to change. If they’re willing to admit that the creation myth isn’t a word-for-word, inerrant description of the beginning of life and the universe, there’s a chance the others might eventually, too.
Accept it. It’s not much, but it’s a start. We have to be willing to not denigrate them when they finally admit they’re wrong on things. Otherwise, we’re as bad as they are (you know, without all of the burning of the stake and inquisitions and stuff. :)
Monday September 15th, 2008 @ 11:43am
I would say more than anything this is the Church correcting themselves in order to solidify their stance on various subjects; in the case of evolution, all rational people know evolution is a proven phenomena. The only people who dispute evolution are those who live in willful ignorance. That said, slow progress is still progress.
Monday September 15th, 2008 @ 5:28pm
Nice.
Seeing how Darwin has been dead for over a hundred years now, I assume this appology will be accompanied by some gesture? A vast donation to the national academy of science perhaps? Or some program to correct all the nonsense they’ve been spewing, and continue to spew about evolution? Maybe an admission that the bible (or maybe just Genesis) is full of crap and is a complete frabrication?
No? Well it’s not much of an apology if you continue doing it, is it?
It’s like taking a break from beating someone up to say sorry, and then continue the beating.
Tuesday September 16th, 2008 @ 9:48pm
The trend is growing already:
http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/09/16/211239&from=rss