Lincoln vs. Darwin
So read the Newsweek cover that drew my attention this morning at the office, my first day back since June 30, after visiting my parents in Michigan. "Who matters more?" Darwin vs. Lincoln? They were both born on February 19, 1809, so the bicentennial is coming up. The article gives the nod to Lincoln, who waged a war "to ensure that no man shall have dominion over another." Nice try, but it seems to me the issue of treating other humans beings as property is still with us, witness abortion, infanticide, sexual slavery (about which little is written and less is done), the sale of body parts, cloning for parts, and so on. Darwin, the article says, advanced "the idea that we are not over nature but a part of it." Since it is a nature "red in tooth and claw," the issues I just mentioned shouldn't matter, unless we are not only a part of nature but over it as well, having some moral responsibility that is Given, not just up to whatever our feelings and passions are at the moment. Right now, Darwin wins, and we very much need a Lincoln to remind us of our better natures.
Posted by James M. Kushiner at 10:41 AM
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If one would want to read more about Darwin, I highly recommend the book 'Darwin's God', by Cornelieus Hunter. A very good book concerning Lincoln would be "Team of Rivals".
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