50 Reasons People Give for Believing in a God by Guy P. Harrison Page B

world.
    This charge by believers that understanding and accepting evolution incites immorality, crime, or anarchy is nonsensical. Recognizing
that an overwhelming amount of fossil and genetic evidence shows that life-forms have changed over millions of years does not give
anyone the green light to hurt people. Believers who think that we
cannot be moral without creationism are sadly misled by the idea that
we need to have threatening gods standing over us with lightning bolts
ready to strike us down if we misbehave. People are capable of moral
behavior based on natural reasons alone. Scientists have observed apes
demonstrating sympathy and sharing in the wild. That sounds like
moral behavior to me. These "lowly animals" share and help one
another because it is natural for them to do so, because they have
learned to do so, and because it helps the group to survive. It is
unlikely that chimpanzees exhibit what appears to be moral behavior
because they believe in an ape god. If they can do it, we can do it. In
fact, humans behave morally without gods every day all around the
world. Remember, many millions of nonbelievers are alive and well
today, leading quiet, peaceful, and positive lives.

    The fear and loathing of evolution by so many believers is tragic
because the story of human evolution and of all life is exciting,
inspiring, and important. We can't ever really understand ourselves or
the world around us without understanding evolution. It thrills me to
think about the long line of life that led to me. I'm uplifted by it. I certainly don't feel degraded because I came from an Australopithecus
instead of magic dirt. I am also confident that my acceptance of evolution will never lead me to kill a fellow human in order to get ahead
in life.
    I once spent a couple of weeks out in the east African bush. Not a
day went by that I didn't think about the possibility that a Homo
erectus or Homo ergaster may once have stood on the same spot I was
on. I would squat down and scan the horizon, listen to the insects, and
feel the wind-maybe exactly as my distant ancestors once did. I tried
to imagine their rugged lives, their ingenious use of fire and stone
tools. I was not ashamed, diminished, or immoral. I felt proud to be
related to such fine people who did so much with so little. It is sad that
so many people never think about such things because they know so
little of the human story.

    Evolution is not string theory or calculus. It is a relatively simple
concept that anyone can grasp. Evolution simply describes how life
changes over time. Contrary to creationist propaganda, evolution says
nothing directly about how life began, only how life changes. These
changes happen primarily due to (1) genetic mutation and (2) natural
selection. Genetic mutation is just a fancy phrase for little surprises
that turn up in genes. These mutations don't mean anything most of
the time. Sometimes they are bad. Occasionally, however, they give
the animal or plant a tiny advantage over others in the environment
they currently inhabit. When this happens, natural selection can occur.
Those who inherit this advantage from their parents are a little more
likely to survive, prosper, and have more offspring than those who
lack it. It might be a case where an animal is a little bit faster, a little
bit taller, longer-legged, shorter-legged, smaller, bigger, whatever is
significant in the given environment. Eventually, over many generations, individuals with this advantage could come to dominate the
species. When this goes on for millions of years it is easy to see how
gradual changes can add up to dramatic transformations.
    Now, why would understanding this make anyone immoral? Who
in their right mind would see this as justification for genocide or discrimination? Evolution is not bad. It may be nature's harsh, cruel, and
indifferent way, but it's not the formula for human destruction that
misguided or