Evolution

A senior cleric of the Church of England wants his church to apologize to Charles Darwin in time for the observance of the 200th anniversary of Darwin's birth next year. The Rev. Dr. Malcolm Brown, Director of Mission and Public Affairs for the church, made his case in an article entitled, "Good Religion Needs Good Science," published in a special new section of the Church of England's official Web site.

"Charles Darwin: 200 years from your birth, the Church of England owes you an apology for misunderstanding you and, by getting our first reaction wrong, encouraging others to misunderstand you still," Brown wrote. "We try to practice the old virtues of 'faith seeking understanding' and hope that makes some amends."

Apologize to Charles Darwin? The Church of England may well need to apologize, but not to Charles Darwin. If anything, the church needs to apologize for its rightful embarrassment in considering an apology to Darwin. But, it seems, this church is not embarrassed. more >>

In a bold move, the Church of England launched on Monday a new section of its Web site dedicated to the naturalist Charles Darwin to mark the approaching bicentenary of his birth.

The Church even offers a posthumous apology to the late scientist, best known for his theory of evolution.

One UK blogger believes such a move makes the Church of England look "ridiculous," as stated on the well-known conservative blog named after Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. more >>

While the latest video-game craze, “Spore,” touts the theory of evolution, taking gamers from a single-celled organism to complex civilizations, some say it also promotes God and intelligent design.

The traditionally contrasted themes are both represented in the game, according to game innovator Will Wright, the creator of the wildly popular "Sims" game.

"In Spore, basically, the theme of it is the complete view of life – from its early origins through evolution. But at every level, the player is creating something," Wright told ABC News. more >>

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — As a candidate for governor, Sarah Palin called for teaching creationism alongside evolution in public schools. But after Alaska voters elected her, Palin, now Republican John McCain's presidential running mate, kept her campaign pledge to not push the idea in the schools.

As for her personal views on evolution, Palin has said, "I believe we have a creator." But she has not made clear whether her belief also allowed her to accept the theory of evolution as fact.

"I'm not going to pretend I know how all this came to be," she has been quoted as saying. more >>

A former science curriculum director for the Texas Education Agency, who lost her job for violating a policy that required employees to be neutral on creationism, has filed a federal lawsuit to have the policy declared unconstitutional.

Christina Comer alleges in the suit that she was forced to resign last year after forwarding an e-mail that promoted a lecture by a speaker who opposed intelligent design. She is suing the TEA and Education Commissioner Robert Scott to overturn the “neutral” policy and be reinstated to her old job.

The suit contends that the policy violates the Constitution because it amounts to an endorsement of religion. more >>