Evolution is a word that seems to make some in religious circles squirm, and it’s easy to understand why. Those who take religion at its word simply can’t get their heads around the explanation that the most complex forms of earth-life all started out as the simplest organisms.
Some of the evolution nay-sayers like to point out the metaphor that embracing evolutionary science is like accepting that a Boeing 747 somehow materialized from hundreds of thousands of individual parts—all independently formed and readied—into a functional aircraft. That, of course, is an idea that would be difficult for even the most objective observers to fathom. It just doesn’t seem like a rational belief, even when the evolutionary process has continued for eons.
And yet, exhaustive scientific research and archeological digs through the world’s topsy-turvy sediments and metamorphic conversions has determined that most plant and animal species have gone through continuous changes, in which the most durable and resilient forms of life continued forward, edging out the competition and creating progressively stronger adaptations of each organism. Those species that failed to adapt became extinct.
Forced by scientific evidence to acknowledge the reality of adaptive evolution in other forms of life, the religious point of view is mostly unwavering—stubbornly maintaining that, through some miraculous process, God placed mankind on earth in its present, more-or-less perfect form.
Whatever the origin of man, there’s no question that one principle is paramount: No different than other lifeforms, humans have learned from their mistakes, perfected many of their skills and armed themselves with the necessary implements of survival. That said, today’s humans should be better equipped for both survival and success than their ancestors.
The remnants of prehistoric man are ever-present in our DNA, particularly the long-surviving Neanderthals, who essentially ruled the earth for some 400,000 years. That DNA represents between 1% and 4% of the genome of today’s human beings.
Though much of human experience is a matter of hit-and-miss, today’s humans would not be here if their forebears hadn’t been able to process failure, re-strategize and make the best of conditions over which they had little control.
Even the most devout believers can understand the essential principle, which is simply that we must learn from our mistakes, or our own survival will be at risk.
Somehow Utah, great state that it is, has more than its share of people who are unable to learn and grow from experience, who shut their eyes to the facts and insist on taking, once again, the wrong turns of the past. Sadly, that includes a Trump following that insists on trying to recreate what can only be described as the Trump debacle, and that grasps at a twisted delusion that somehow a second term can be better.
Now we’re talking about the very survival of our system of government, because Trump is challenging our future with dreams of authoritarian rule and carry-backs of fascism and the Third Reich. We’re very much at an intersection, and the wrong choice could plunge our nation into the worst crisis in its history.
Trump did plenty of damage the first time around, and he’s now made it clear that the next time will be even worse—dismantling a justice system for his own nefarious use, working ceaselessly to destroy all those who had the courage to call him on his bad behavior, and deporting millions of people who are essential to keeping the U.S. economy afloat.
Puzzlingly, there are some who will extol the virtues of Trump’s first term, totally missing the fact that presidents don’t control the economy, have little power over the persistent problem of monitoring and controlling the influx of immigrants and can’t control the weather. Each president, whether good or bad, is most of all a victim of the circumstances that existed, or arose, before and during his/her tenure.
That said, though good conditions persisted through most of Trump’s presidency, his direct actions as POTUS were a series of disasters endangering our country—and particularly damaging to the poor and middle class.
In short, the Neanderthals disappeared from our earth. We don’t know why, but natural selection, coupled with adverse conditions, likely led to their extinction. Just a thought: maybe their skulls were too thick to learn from experience and make the necessary adaptations for survival.
If you’re a MAGA Republican, you need to spend an extra minute in front of your bathroom mirror. Look for the accentuated features, the prominent brow-line, the heavy nose and exaggerated cheeks, and consider this:
There are only two possibilities—a handful of super-race Republicans who don’t care about anyone else’s survival, or the imminent extinction that’s the natural consequence of being too thick-skulled to avoid the impending disaster.
The author is a retired businessman, novelist, columnist and former Vietnam-era Army assistant public information officer. He resides in Riverton with his wife, Carol, and their adorable and ferocious dog “Poppy.” comments@cityweekly.net
