Temporal Convection

Recently, the media has occasionally reported on a school board or home school group who have elected to use creationism or intelligent design (not the same thing unless you're dishonest) materials in their lessons. Naturally, in our secular society, this sort of learning is frowned upon in favor of solid scientific theory and evidence. The court cases brought by concerned parents become media frenzies as each publication attempts to accurately report on the proceedings without devolving into a fit of giggles. The local atheists grin from ear to ear when the courts inevitably rule that intelligent design does not belong in the science classroom. Despite this, school districts continue to defy the courts, instituting intelligent design curriculums in such distant places as California, Pennsylvania, and Kansas. But all of these pale before one episode of forgotten courtroom drama.

The time is 1871. The place is England. It's been twelve years since Charles Darwin's publication of his revolutionary Origin of Species. The book has enjoyed considerable success, as a philosophical viewpoint, as a science, and as a way for atheists to bash those silly religious people once and for all. Darwin is primed to be hailed as a genius and a hero for the next 140 years. Earlier in the year, he released his seminal work on the evolution of human beings, The Descent of Man. In this book, he suggested that all creatures, including humans, were ultimately descended from a slug-like sea creature called an ascidian.

But humanity wasn't about to take this sitting down. Descended from an ascidian? Oh no! Oh shocking! Those darn atheists and heathens were just trying to ruin the Christian faith! Preachers railed against the theory from the pulpit. In the end, humanity was offended enough to file a lawsuit against Darwin in the British court. The court case was called "Homo vs Darwin", and it was momentous enough to warrant publication of the transcript in the United States.

The arguments presented in this court case are the predecessors of modern creationism. Occasionally, Darwin appears the fool and the court official criticizes his logic on several occasions. Even if none of the arguments are new, it's still a fairly entertaining read!