by Jim Reilly
Sayville Books
www.sayvillebooks.com
EVOLUTION
by Jim Reilly
Sayville Books
www.sayvillebooks.com
Copyright © 2012 by Jim Reilly
All rights reserved. Published by Sayville Books. Associated logos are trademarks of Sayville Books.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher. Such actions are illegal and punishable by law. For information regarding permission, contact Sayville Books Permissions Department at
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First published by WordTechs Press 2012
Published in the U.S.A.
Second Edition, May 2014
This work is dedicated to my loving family.
Prologue
“Welcome back from the break, viewers,” the moderator said. “So we are going to continue our conversation here on CNN about religion and science with our guests Reverend Harry Goodwin, author of History Starts with Eden, and Dr. Simon Jorgenson, president of the True History League. Goodwin is an evangelical Christian with strong beliefs that the Bible is a word-for-word written history of the world. Jorgenson does not believe that there is a god or deity that created all things and only believes in scientific fact.”
The two men were polar opposites in appearance as well as beliefs. Jorgenson, in disheveled clothes and uncombed, longish mane, created a sloppy contrast to Goodwin, who had donned a well-kept suit and sported a neatly trimmed haircut. Both glared at each other, ready for battle.
“We will start with you, Dr. Jorgenson. So what is the danger if some of our leaders believe in a higher power? Does this help or hurt them as leaders?”
Jorgenson, a PhD in anthropology, was a steadfast skeptic on the topic of supernatural claims by religion. He said, “Bill, there are examples throughout history where religion has impeded scientific learning and human advancement because its view is stymied by misguided dogma and superstition. Leaders in the past and even today have used it as justification for conflict, terror, and control. The Crusades, the Inquisition, witch burning, the Holocaust, and the conflict in Northern Ireland come to mind. The Religious Right believe that they have cornered morality, but the fact is that many of the most heinous crimes ever committed have been approved and encouraged by leaders who were influenced by crazy religious beliefs. If our leaders were free from religious dogma and governed using reason and critical thinking, then we could see the human race evolve to unlimited heights. Throughout history, religion has impeded human development with a narrow view of how things work in the world.”
The moderator interrupted, “Reverend Goodwin, can you please respond?”
The reverend was a horse chomping at the bit during Dr. Jorgenson’s remarks and appeared relieved to finally have an opportunity to answer. “Of course, Bill. So, Dr. Jorgenson, do you expect the viewers here today to believe that science is the place from which we get our morality? Scientists have given us the atom bomb, germ warfare, and mustard gas, to name a few. It is our belief that leaders with a good Christian base would lead as examples and fight the forces of evil. God has taught us from Adam and Eve to today that those who work as a force for good and follow His words will be led to paradise.”
Jorgenson cut in, “Oh, please. Adam and Eve. It’s a fairytale. Science has uncovered the truth of our origin. We have evolved as a species through natural selection.”
Goodwin glared with derision. “Maybe you believe in evolution, which sounds to me like a fairytale, but the Bible is a historical fact written by the hand of God through our earliest ancestors. And it states that man was formed from the dust of the ground and had life breathed into him by God. Eve was formed from Adam’s rib.”
Jorgenson responded, “Reverend Goodwin, you think the Bible is historical fact? At most, the Bible goes back five thousand years, and our ancestors have been on this planet for millions of years. How on earth could the people of that time possibly know how creation came to be millions of years in the past? It is preposterous to think that an ‘Adam and Eve,’ created by a god, were the first people to walk on this planet. Personally, what scares me the most is how the Religious Right have combined all of Earth’s history to the point that there are so-called museums showing the fictitious Adam and Eve walking the planet with dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures long extinct before man ever walked the Earth. It’s a complete distortion of history, and I, quite frankly, would be more inclined to believe that little green men from outer space are the reason we are here.”
Goodwin said, “That is your point of view, Doctor, but if you had faith, then it would be clear to you that there is not just science in this universe, but also an existence of a higher spiritual level, and that level is where we need to aspire to evolve.”
“Until you and the Religious Right, as well as all promoters of religious superstition, stop infecting the population with these lies, I see it as a barrier for our evolution to continue,” said Jorgenson.
Goodwin countered, “That is your point of view. My faith helps me and all Christians grow as followers of the Lord.”
Jorgenson said, “If by ‘grow’ you mean bring to a standstill.”
“Science is not the only source of knowledge.”
“It’s more in line with truth and --”
“You haven’t convinced me!” Goodwin shouted.
Jorgenson shouted, “You are too infected by your dogma!”
“You’re too --” Goodwin began.
“Gentlemen,” the moderator said, “I want to thank you for this spirited debate that I think will go on as long as we have polar opposite views of the science and religion communities. It would be nice someday if the two opposing communities could see eye-to-eye. I hope to have you both on the show sometime in the future to continue our conversation and look for that elusive middle ground.”
The moderator turned to the camera and said, “Now, let’s go to the streets of New York City to our reporter on the scene, Laura Morseman, who is asking New Yorkers whether they side with the scientific or religious version of creation. So, Laura, who do you have with you today?”
“The first person we have is Darlene, an administrative assistant working for a law office in midtown. I pose the question to you: Do you believe in Scripture’s version of how we were created with the story about Adam and Eve, or do you believe that we are a product of evolution, like scientists believe?”
Darlene, a pretty, blond-haired woman, said, “I believe what I have been taught my whole life, that God created us, and we are His chosen people. If we follow what the Lord has taught us, we will be rewarded with eternal life.”
“Thank you, Darlene,” said the reporter. “And now we have Gordon, an investment banker working down on Wall Street. So, Gordon, what do you believe?”
Gordon, a finely dressed businessman, smiled into the camera and said, “I tend to lean toward evolution. There is too much evidence that our species came into existence through survival of the fittest.”
“Thank you, Gordon,” said the reporter, moving to her final person. “And now we are asking Gabriel, a tourist from out of town. So, Gabriel, what do you believe?”
The plainly dressed, nondescript man replied. “I believe that any and all is possible in this universe. It could be that science and religion both happen to be right.”
The reporter said, “Thank you, Gabriel.” She turned to the camera. “And there you have it from the people on the street. This is Laura Morseman, reporting.”
“Thank you,” said the moderator. “It looks like we have one vote for religion, one vote for scienc
e, and one tie. It looks like people are just as divided as our guest panel.”
After a pause, he continued, “Now, to our next segment…”
Chapter 1
Looking down at his watch, he was disappointed that time had not been moving faster, but James Connor, an anthropology doctoral student at Stony Brook University, took solace that this long journey of flight connections, lengthy holdovers, and time-consuming bus rides to a remote location at the Kibish rock formations in southwest Ethiopia would be over in a few hours. As he looked out the dusty windows at the mostly barren landscape of the Ethiopian grasslands, he began to wonder how on earth his father could dig in these godforsaken places, spread out across the globe. He remembered him from his youth, going away for weeks or months, looking for bone and tool fragments of long-dead peoples. But there were the trips to France, to search for Neanderthal bones, on which his dad had brought James and his mother. These excursions gave the young James a taste of his dad’s life, a taste that took a long time for him even to think was the least bit appetizing.
Though early on in his education he would rather have been a literature major, growing up in a house where artifacts and books on anthropology were in every corner, he developed, over time, a vast knowledge that helped him breeze through school and follow in his father’s footsteps. His career goals were clearly not digging holes and searching for fossils, but rather a career in teaching where he could keep his hands clean and someday become a tenured academic.
James was an attractive man with boyish features and a good heart, which usually were drowned out by his craving for recognition and a lofty opinion of himself.
“Hey, I didn’t see you get off the bus at the last stop,” said David Cho, another anthropology doctoral student at Stony Brook who had volunteered to assist in this dig, a project sponsored by the university and the Museum of Natural History with the hope of finding artifacts the museum could add to its Early Man collection. He was of Asian and Caucasian descent; however, what was most noticeable about David was not his appearance but his well thought-out curiosity. “Didn’t you want to eat the local cuisine?”
James looked at David, whose excitement reminded him of his father’s enthusiasm for anthropology and anticipation of what could be discovered, and replied, “No, thank you. I don’t want to set foot in this desolate place any more than I have to.” James looked out the bus window in disgust. Then he confessed, “I can’t believe I actually came here to sift through old dirty rocks all day long. Maybe I should have sifted through the rocks in my head first.”
As he started to laugh, David asked, “Then what the hell are you doing out here? I can’t believe a student with your perfect grades in the anthropology program would not be overjoyed at this chance to discover evidence of our ancestors buried for some 200,000 years.”
The dig, led by esteemed Stony Brook University anthropologists Ronald Gibbs and Roberto Sanchez, was looking for bones and artifacts of the earliest Homo sapiens, or modern man. Famed fossil hunter Richard Leakey and his team of anthropologists discovered the earliest known specimen of modern man in 1967 at the Kibish Formation along the Omo River in Ethiopia, near the town of Kibish. They found part of the skull and a partial skeleton, which they named Omo I. He was believed to have lived about 195,000 years ago. Drs. Gibbs and Sanchez hoped to dig down another 25-50,000 years earlier in the rock formation, where they believed were even earlier samples of modern man.
“Studying anthropology in school was a piece of cake for me because of all the conversations that took place in my house as I grew up, being raised by educators. So the school work didn’t seem so hard, and it helped me get on track for a career in academia,” James said. “I am more comfortable experiencing it in books and in a nice clean lab where I don’t need to spend all night washing all the dust and dirt from my body just to feel clean. If it were my choice, I would be fine just examining and researching the discoveries of others.”
“I’m confused,” said a puzzled David. “Aren’t you the son of Patrick Connor? He is one of the most famous and respected anthropologists in the world. His work with the discovery and documentation of early man is remarkable. I have been to a couple of his presentations, and although you can tell he is uncomfortable speaking in public, he has the ability to describe the most mundane topic and make you feel you are on the adventure of a lifetime. His writings on early man are on every anthropologist’s laptop without question, and every anthropology student has cited his thoughts at least once in almost every paper they’ve written. I can tell you that I learned more about the evolution of early man in one sitting of reading his work than all of --”
“Yeah, yeah,” James said, seeming annoyed by David’s insistence to speak about his father. “Please don’t. I…I have to hear this from every student, professor, and museum curator that I happen to meet. His accomplishments are well documented, and let’s leave it at that.”
But David looked even more puzzled. “I thought that it would be an advantage for you to be his son, yet you seem angry about it. Why?”
James answered, “Let’s just say it is a large shadow to get out from under. Is it an advantage? I don’t know, maybe, maybe not. All right, maybe there are some positives. I have access to professors, museum personnel, and university events that many don’t have. I am easily progressing through the doctorate program because of all the knowledge I accumulated from all the conversations I heard from my dad through the years whether I wanted to or not.
“But it is a large shadow he casts, and it consumes my identity. Case in point, when I was a high school junior I won the prestigious National Science Foundation Award of Excellence without too much effort. A chosen few students from around the country are nominated and to win it as a senior is an honor but as a junior, it is a tremendous honor. You would think that such an award would have set me apart from his legacy, but no. It was spoken about as ‘Patrick Connor’s son won an award,’ not James Connor won it. Even at the awards banquet, most of the congratulations went to him from the scientists, students, and the newspaper reporters in the hall. Also, much of the conversations around my banquet table were not about my project that won the award, they were about his exploits and vast knowledge about early man. It was certainly deflating to my self-esteem. You probably think I’m angry with him. No, he has no desire for fame, or fortune, or to overshadow anyone, but people seem to gather around him because he is naturally a people magnet. On the other hand, I don’t have that natural magnetism. I have to find ways to seize people’s attention before I disappear under his shadow and I’m still waiting for my own time to shine.
“Let me tell you, though, it wasn’t all roses having the great Patrick Connor as a dad. He was always traveling, going to digs or being in demand on the lecture circuit. As a kid, I never went to Disneyland. No, I was on a dig in Kenya or in Israel or in France as my dad looked for bone fragments. It was just my mom and I holed up in a dusty tent or rundown local hotel in the middle of nowhere. She was my anti-dad. You wouldn’t believe it, but she is just as well respected as a professor of theology. She is also wanted on the lecture tour and has been published for her writings, but she just loves walking the halls of Saint John’s University’s Theology Department speaking to students and faculty alike about religious topics. She has a strong faith from a strict Roman Catholic upbringing and believes it is her purpose in life to help people strengthen their religious beliefs with knowledge.”
James’ mother was Ann Marie Connor, renowned for her insightful interpretations of the intent of the writers of biblical texts.
“Wow,” David said. “You grew up in a household with a strong background in religion and science. It must have made for some lively discussions around the dinner table. Your dad believes in evolution, and your mom, I assume, believes God had a hand in human development. There must have been a lot of conflict between their beliefs.”
As the bus driver let the passengers know that they would be in Kibish in about t
wenty minutes, James thought back, saying, “They did have some very vigorous discussions early in my childhood, where both passionately defended their sides to the point of walking out of the room as the talks became heated, and then became arguments. They even look like polar opposites. My dad always looks like he just crawled out of an archeological dig site, whereas my mom is always in her meticulous best. I think now there is a detente between the two, though, with each holding firm to their own beliefs and at least showing that they respect the other’s position. I guess that mutual respect helps them stay totally devoted to each other, and they don’t let their differences get between them.”
“Then what about you?” David said. “What do you believe? Obviously, you’re studying anthropology, but you must have heard both sides your whole life.”
James took a few seconds, then responded, “David, when I am just with my dad, I lean towards evolution, and when I am with my mom, creation sounds like the right thing. I don’t know. Maybe I still need to think about it some more to come to any solid conclusion.”
A few moments later, the bus pulled up to the town of Kibish, where James saw through the dusty bus windshield fellow doctorate student Jennifer La Mont there to greet them. She was standing next to the Land Rovers that would take them to the rock formations and on to the campsite. “Besides, I have other things on my mind.”
An alert David, seeing how James looked at Jennifer, said, “Don’t tell me you came thousands of miles to a dig, which, to say the least, you are not enthusiastic about doing, to be at the side of another student you have feelings for? The more we spoke the more I was wondering why you came here, and now I know. But the question is, will she be as happy to see you as you are to see her?”
