Mr Mahinda Weerasingha’s Hallucinations on Darwinism-Rejoinder to article published
Posted on July 24th, 2012

R, Chandrasoma

That Mr Weerasinghe has had bad experiences – with persons and institutions ranging from the Island Newspaper to Dr Carlo Fonseka – is no grounds for making a monkey out of Darwin.

I presume he is a Buddhist but his stance is exactly that taken by Christiaan Fundamentalists in their mindless campaign of vilification against those regarded as the authors of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”infamous ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”doctrine of evolution through descent.

To blame Darwin for all the hideous social evils that followed the publication of his epochal work on the transformation of species by descent is like blaming Neils Bohr for the destruction of Hiroshima by atomic weapons at the close of the Second World War.

To put things straight, a clear distinction must be made between the Darwinian Theory of Descent through mutation and selection from Social Darwinism ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” a spuriousƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ extension of Darwinian ideas to social engineering.

These idealistic extensions were made by Hubert Spencer ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” a leading contemporary philosopher – and were enthusiastically accepted by the literati of the day.

These ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”extensionsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ to social evolution were very popular in an age when humanity was supposed to show clear evidence of racial distinctions ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” the civilized ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”whitesƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ against the feral and uncivilized ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”blacksƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢. To exploit the principle of evolutionary ascent to ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”explainƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ the inequality of human kinds was understandable in an age when social hierarchies were everywhere in existence.

It is a long shot, indeed, to make the rise of Hitler and the horrors of Nazism a direct result of DarwinƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s scientific theories.

Christian Fundamentalist argue in this bizarre way ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” not surprisingly because their hatred is directed at the supposed source of their discontents and the creation of a hate-figure to blame it all on is an easy way to win the support of the foolish.

A fews words about Darwin the man and his work. Contrary to the straw-figure that Mr Weerasinghe attacks, the real Darwin was a humane and truly compassionate human being who felt outraged at the treatment of Slaves that he witnessed in South America in the course of his voyage to the South Seas.

He felt deeply about Nature and his work was a true effort to understand the beauty and diversity of nature that went beyond the foolish religions views of the day. To suggest that he was a racist who sought to uphold the social divisions and injustice that were widespread in his day is a gross travesty of the truth.

The truth he espoused ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” that will surely be held as one of the greatest achievements of Mankind ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…” is the unity of life and the indissoluble links we ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢¢”š¬…”as the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”highestƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢- have with the meanest inhabitants of our Planet. This is DarwinƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Great Idea and it has truly redeemed Mankind from the follies of an earlier age.

A few concluding words abour Richard Dawkins seem appropriate. He is renowned for his secular humanism and his onslaught on religion as practiced by mankind in this day and age of science. He has also made signal contributions to the theoretical aspects of organic evolution including his concept of the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”extended phenotypeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ and the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”¹…”Survival Machine ModelƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ of individuals in evolution.

His transformation into a Satanic Figure by Mr Weerasinghe is a great puzzle to all dispassionate seekers of the truth.

In place of the vitriolic metaphor he employs, his goal (whatever it is) is best reached by using plain and dispassionate language.

One Response to “Mr Mahinda Weerasingha’s Hallucinations on Darwinism-Rejoinder to article published”

  1. Lorenzo Says:

    In an unrelated development Russia sends 3 destroyers and 2 more warships to Syria.

    Now watch how the American funded Turkish terrorists run for cover. Ass-sad is no better but the biggest criminal here is USA. Where is Hilary Lewinsky? Hilary, Hilary where are you? Please open your mouth so Admiral Chabanenko can ejackulate a SS-14 missile in it!! An old rusted ship but it does the job.

    Thank god Russia finally got some guts. It doesn’t matter how bad your friends are. Stand by them or lose all your friends.

    “A Russian naval flotilla of warships destined for the Syrian port of Tartus has entered the Mediterranean, Russia’s defence ministry said Tuesday.

    “The Russian ships today passed the Strait of Gibraltar and entered the Mediterranean at 1200 GMT,” said a defence ministry spokesman, quoted by Itar-Tass agency.

    Led by the Admiral Chabanenko anti-submarine destroyer, the three landing craft left their home port of Severomorsk in the Arctic Circle earlier this month. They are due to be joined in the Mediterranean by the Russian patrol ship Yaroslav Mudry as well as an assistance vessel.

    The ships will perform “planned military manoeuvres”, said the ministry. Earlier in the month a military source said the
    ships would be topping up on supplies of fuel, water and foodstuffs.

    Russia has denied that the deployment is linked to the escalating conflict in Syria.”

    Yahoo news.

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