“THIS EVOLUTION”

Waikato Times, Volume 105, Issue 17750, 29 June 1929, Page 13 (Supplement)

“THIS EVOLUTION”

(By "M”)

TRULY the subject Of evolution is becoming a most serious business, the very mention of the word being as risky as' the shaking of a red flag under the nose of a bull, a good old tempersome animal too. But maybe there is some excuse for this hostile attitude.

To many, it means nothing more than monkey ancestors, and a cold, ruthless denial of all that is sacred. The theory, barren, comfortless and materialistic, coming to a sort of full stop on completion of this life, seems to threaten their religion and undermine their faith In God, a matter that rouses all the animosity in folk who believe whole-heartedly in the immortality of the soul.

Yet there are many others, peaceful sane-minded folk who quite readily and easily accept the theory of evolution alongside’ their belief in God, and are not a bit disturbed by the scientific working out of different ideas. To them, development of special talents and gifts are merely part of the game, they just do not worry over differences of opinions, and why should anyone else.

The Beginning,

The curiosity of Man over the “Begining” is boundless. It gives many a keen pleasure to speculate over the formations of a bone; whether a well-bleached skull belonged to the man of a million years back, who gently clubbed his naughty wife, or to the monkey that climbed the tree. But surely one may indulge in a gentle pastime of that sort without upsetting the equilibrium of another. Theories are harmless enough if not taken too seriously, and the “beginning” is very far back Indeed. Much too far back for anyone to say exactly what did happen, but we are here, so that’s that 1

Why people flout the Idea of Man being an animal is rather a puzzle. Years ago we learned that he belonged to the animal kingdom, and no one ever got. annoyed Neither was anyone surprised to’ learn that he lived in a cave and was hairy. He would need to be in the prehistoric days of ice and scenery with never a tailor to make him a suit. No towns, streets, shopping centres; no machinery, trams, buses, trains. Fancy this old world—brand new then — lacking the modern comforts that make life worth living. The marvel is that these wild ancestors of ours made so good with nothing to come and go on. It says much for their brains, while we, with much more at our command, mostly make a hash of l ' hmS There Is not the slightest reason for anyone to get uneasy over a professor advocating a certain course of study, be if cvdlution or any other science.

Avoid The Narrow Outlook.

There are many branches of knowledge and at the rate of wmrld progress there may be many trees of knowledge for all we know, and as few, men see things from the same standpoint, the matter of a difference in opinion is hardly likely to upset the fundamentals.

Of course everyone is after the truth, and nothing but the truth—splendid! But that little word, truth, which is used as the foundation for all knowledge is so comprehensive in its meaning, that evolution, creation, development, theology, pantheism biology, astronomy, psychology, and any other doctrine, theory, or science that man grapples with, can, each one, play its part in the tremendous scheme of the universe, and yet be not tangled up with the others. Nature needs the whole lot, and they are absolutely sure to fit in somewhere, but of all things, let us avoid the narrow outlook, and encourage rather than hinder those who spend the best years of their life in patient study and research.

How We Happened.

Quite naturally, everyone wishes to know how we “happened,” and the number of theories regarding our origin in those dim, misty ages of so long ago, is rather bewildering, but as examples of widely different beliefs, the following are hard to beat;

Quite recently a noted biologist stated that Man appeared suddenly in the Pliscene Age, and in the same form as he is to-day. (If that theory does not fit into the old Bible history, where in Heaven's name will it fit.) The other scientist avers that we have our beginning in the Amoeba, a slimy something from the bottom of a stagnant pool. One rather hates to think of starting out as a lump of jelly, but these two extremes of thought make one sit up and take notice. To find out, seems to be the aim in life, but it is a very slow process indeed, for there is so much to discover. The marvels of nature, the magnitude of the universe, with its wealth of wonderful beauty and stores of unseen forces, iof which man sometimes get a glimmer of enlightenment are such as to make him tread softly, very softly, and however much one may theorise, Man himself is a many-sided complexity with a . spiritual strain in his nature that puzzles him when he thinks about it.

A scientist may not agree, maybe he cannot see the hidden psychic forces in humans, but Man being as he is, he will probably continue to upset theories and confound research, as a protest against the filching of his immortal soul. Can one blame him 2