Excerpt: Biodesign Out For A Walk:
In the mid-fifties, a team of scientists from Cornell University filled a glass globe with ammonia gas, zapped it with a simulated lightning bolt, and created some simple amino acids. They boldly proclaimed that they were on the verge of proving how life was created.
Since that time discoveries in cellular/molecular biology have revealed that a single cell is exceedingly more complex than man has ever guessed. This has led to a growing number of biologists who appreciate the “intelligent design†of cells and that man may never be able to create one. Even if he does, however, he would merely be a “copyist.â€
Rattlesnakes are occasional visitors to our property and so when I heard a buzzing sound on our back porch, I approached cautiously. Instead of a snake, however, I found a small marble-sized ball, whirling wildly and lurching out of control. I had never seen anything like it, but guessed what it was. Two of our grandchildren were working nearby on art projects and I called them to witness the drama. Their collective question was, “What is it?†I responded that I wasn’t sure, but I suspected that we were about to find out. A minute or so later, the whirling stopped and we could clearly see two yellow jackets viciously attacking each other. Yellow jackets are capable of both biting and stinging multiple times and this is exactly what these two were up to. In a few moments, however, the buzzing ceased. There was an obvious winner and loser. The winner proceeded to bite the losers head off, pick up the headless body and take flight. The corpse weighed almost as much as the victor and so she struggled a bit to gain altitude before zipping back to her underground nest to feed the others.
The little death-drama left all of us stunned. At ages 6 and 9, the kids were not quite ready to process the utter brutality of the event. I had long known that honey bees vigorously defend their hives (and beekeeper’s boxes) either killing or driving away alien visitors, however, this fight-to-death encounter was over a bit of cat food!!!
What the bees were doing is known as exerting “territorial imperative.†We don’t know what bees know, but we do know that in the mysterious world known as instinct, the bees were programmed to defend the foraging area necessary to keep their respective nests alive. There was no right or wrong, good or evil, or moral parameters to observe. It involves Darwin’s law of survival of the fittest and it is behavior like this that deeply troubled the famous naturalist. He was not alone. Their behavior deeply troubled my grandchildren too.
In light of the recent accounts of people being beheaded in the Middle East, it makes me wonder if the perpetrators have regressed back to a soulless, animalistic form of behavior.However, before waxing too elitist, I am reminded that not too long ago, Native Americans and Caucasian immigrants were involved in the brutal, heartless act of “scalping.â€
I suspect that, although millions of people profess to believe in “Darwinism,†only a small percentage of them have thoroughly studied his life and work. It is tragic and unconscionable that many “scientists†have twisted his work to match their personal myopic, soulless view. Darwin not only clearly admitted the shortcomings of his theory, he was deeply disturbed that “survival of the fittest†often involved death, destruction and a “dripping-in-blood†process.
In a profound and stunning irony, Darwin wondered; what was God’s role in all of this? It is a question that every human being has the privilege of answering.