"The evolutionary explanation for origins, although impossible either to prove or to test scientifically, is nevertheless defended by its proponents on the basis that it is the only explanation which is naturalistic, not involving the 'supernatural' element of a divine Creator"
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Morris builds his case by smuggling a courtroom standard into a laboratory argument: if evolution is "impossible either to prove or to test scientifically", then it belongs in the realm of belief, not evidence. The sentence is engineered to make the reader feel hoodwinked by experts. By framing evolutionary biology as an article of faith "defended by its proponents", he casts scientists as a self-interested tribe, motivated less by data than by allegiance to "naturalistic" rules.
The subtext is where the real work happens. Morris doesn't just challenge a theory; he challenges the legitimacy of methodological naturalism itself - the basic scientific habit of explaining phenomena without invoking miracles. In his telling, that restraint becomes an ideological blindfold. If the only reason evolution persists is that it avoids "a divine Creator", then the debate shifts from fossils and genetics to cultural authority: who gets to define what counts as knowledge, and whose metaphysics are being privileged.
Context matters. Morris was a leading architect of modern creationism and a key figure in the late-20th-century creation-evolution fights that weren’t only about biology curricula, but about identity, governance, and moral order. The quote aims to recode the public meaning of "science": not as a method that tests natural causes, but as a secular philosophy policing God out of the story. It's a persuasive move because it reframes complexity as conspiracy and turns a technical boundary into a spiritual exclusion.
The subtext is where the real work happens. Morris doesn't just challenge a theory; he challenges the legitimacy of methodological naturalism itself - the basic scientific habit of explaining phenomena without invoking miracles. In his telling, that restraint becomes an ideological blindfold. If the only reason evolution persists is that it avoids "a divine Creator", then the debate shifts from fossils and genetics to cultural authority: who gets to define what counts as knowledge, and whose metaphysics are being privileged.
Context matters. Morris was a leading architect of modern creationism and a key figure in the late-20th-century creation-evolution fights that weren’t only about biology curricula, but about identity, governance, and moral order. The quote aims to recode the public meaning of "science": not as a method that tests natural causes, but as a secular philosophy policing God out of the story. It's a persuasive move because it reframes complexity as conspiracy and turns a technical boundary into a spiritual exclusion.
Quote Details
| Topic | God |
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