Richard Dawkins Chides a Real Scientist

Dawkins particularly disparaged Dr. Ben Carson, running for US President. In this interview, Dawkins made the false claim (that he’s made many times) that “evolution is the bedrock of biology and biology is the bedrock of medicine.” He went on to say this about Dr. Carson: “He clearly doesn’t understand the fundamental theorem of his own subject. That is a terrible indictment.”

Actually, by making such an ignorant and nonsensical statement, Dawkins is disproving his own accusation! Obviously, Dr. Carson didn’t need to believe in evolution to become a world-renowned pediatric neurosurgeon with sophisticated skills at age 33, receive 67 honorary doctorate degrees, separate conjoined twins, become a member of the Alpha Honor Medical Society, be named to the Horatio Alger Society of Distinguished Americans, be picked by Time magazine as one of the nation's 20 foremost physicians and scientists, for the Library of Congress to select him as one of 89 "Living Legends,” receive the Spingarn Medal (the highest honor bestowed by the NAACP), be awarded in 2008 the Ford's Theater Lincoln Medal and the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bush (the United States’ highest civilian honors), and for actor Cuba Gooding Jr. to portray Carson in the TNN television production Gifted Hands in 2009—along with many other accomplishments.

How does that impressive list line up with what Richard Dawkins has accomplished in this world?

And if Dr. Carson can achieve all these accomplishments without believing in evolution, what then does evolution have to do with medicine? As I challenged TV’s Bill Nye “the Science Guy” (and I have also challenged Dawkins), name one technological advancement (including one medical advancement) that could not have come about without a belief in evolution? Well, there are no such examples. Evolution is not the “bedrock” of biology or medicine! Evolution is a fairy tale, akin to reading children the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs or of Cinderella and her pumpkin coach!

Dr. Carson is a real scientist. What are Dawkins’ accomplishments for the advancement of medicine or biology? While Dawkins is one of the world’s most ardent evolutionary zealots and claims that evolution is the “bedrock” of medicine and biology, is he known for technological advances that have been world shattering? His claim to fame is that he continues to travel the world to disparage Christians, mock God, and bully people into believing his fairy tale about the origin of life! If evolution were such a “bedrock” as he claims, he should be helping lead the way in making great technological achievements!

In this interview, Dawkins claimed that molecular genetics was the best evidence for evolution. He compared the DNA of humans and chimps as an example. But Dr. Dawkins is not telling the public the truth about this comparison. I discussed Dr. Dawkins’ claim with Dr. Georgia Purdom, a researcher, writer, and speaker with Answers in Genesis. Dr. Purdom received a PhD in molecular genetics from Ohio State University. Now Dr. Purdom is a biblical creationist, yet a secular university agreed that she understood the science of genetics and awarded her a PhD. Dr. Purdom (along with other creation scientists) has conducted research in molecular genetics in regard to the supposed relationship between humans and chimps. Here is what she states about the true nature of this comparison:

Dawkins stated in the interview that scientists can compare the DNA of humans and chimps and count the differences. I would agree the problem is that many evolutionists don’t count all the differences in their final numbers resulting in 98–99% similarity. They have concluded that either these differences aren’t important (based on absolutely no experimental evidence) or they just ignore the differences because they are so numerous that they don’t fit the evolutionary paradigm of common ancestry. The most recent paper counting all the differences between human and chimp genomes only gives 88% similarity which translates to 360 million base differences! This does not include the fact that the chimp genome is 8% larger than the human genome and epigenetic differences (differences in expression of the DNA). Counting all those differences would make the similarity even lower. Just the opposite of what Dawkins states, molecular genetics is absolutely consistent with biblical creation and absolutely inconsistent with molecules-to-man evolution.

Dawkins reminds me of another religious zealot. It’s one described in the Bible. This man was well known for persecuting Christians. He was extremely zealous in his opposition to Christianity. But God opened Saul’s heart, and he fell on his knees before His Creator and was renamed Paul. He became the greatest missionary (other than the Lord Jesus) the world has ever known. I pray that Richard Dawkins has a similar conversion experience—what a missionary this well-known man could become if he repented of his sin of rebellion and bowed the knee to the One he is going to meet one day. My prayer is that he does meet and acknowledge his Creator before he leaves this earth.

There are verses of Scripture, including one about non-believers, that describe Richard Dawkins and his present spiritual state: Dawkins is “willingly” ignorant: “For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men” (2 Peter 3:5–7).

Dawkins suppresses the truth: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them” (Romans 1:18–19).

Dawkins is without excuse: “For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20).

Dawkins is very foolish: “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1).

In some ways, however, Richard Dawkins and I are alike. He is zealous for his beliefs about atheism; I am zealous for my beliefs concerning the truth of God’s Word and the gospel. He wants to reach as many people as he can with his message of atheism; I want to go into all the world and preach the gospel to as many people as I can.

But I do acknowledge that atheists can conduct real science and make advancements in technology. For instance, Dr. Venter, the leader of the Human Genome Project that determined there is only one biological race of humans, is an atheist. His approach toward historical science (i.e., his views on the unobservable past regarding origins) did not stop him from doing observational science (the Human Genome Project). However, Richard Dawkins refuses to acknowledge his beliefs and lumps historical science and observational science together and calls it “science.” This approach is all part of his attempt to indoctrinate and brainwash people into believing in his hopeless, purposeless, meaningless worldview of atheism.

I often ponder why Dawkins even cares what others believe, given that his belief is that people cease to exist when they die, and so no one will ultimately know anything—they won’t know why they ever existed. It’s really a spiritual issue, and Dawkins has to aggressively suppress the truth to try to convince himself that what is obvious to all is not true!

Replace the name Saul with Richard, and this passage forms part of my prayer for Dr. Dawkins:

. . . suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” (Acts 9:3–6)

You can watch the interview (if you think you can get through the arrogance of a man who derides anyone who believes in creation) on YouTube.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

*The worldview of atheism is a religion; see “Feedback: Is Atheism a Religion?”