Death, Friend of Evolution

My father died on October 27, right before many countries celebrate Halloween or similar “holidays” that seem to be evermore indulgent of gore and death (and even the occult). As a young woman, I hadn’t really been affected by death much yet. I had lightheartedly looked at graveyard scenes and skeletons on front lawns as just part of the fall scenery. My father’s death changed all that, and I wondered how many others deal with such scenery in light of a personal tragedy, particularly at this time of year.

Death, the Enemy

I’ve always known that death was the enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26) and was caused by mankind’s rejection of God, the author of life, in Genesis 3. I knew that my dad had a heart condition and that he was a believer. None of that helped much that week. On October 30, we passed by all the Halloween scenes on our way to the funeral and graveyard. It was bad enough to be doing what we had to do and seeing what we had to see, but the glorification of death was particularly difficult. I was glad to see many of the decorations finally come down in November, but then we had the empty chair on Thanksgiving and Christmas too.

There have always been “extreme” displays at Halloween, but the number of people displaying the macabre has increased steadily over the years as has the number of “haunted” or “scare” houses and displays. In early October 2024, a movie was released with a medical warning, and on opening night, people got sick, fainted, and walked out!1 Crime stories on podcasts and other media are increasingly common. Why this fascination with death and gore? Some have even said that it’s healthy, and of course, many have tied it to evolutionary survival instincts.

But it’s more than that. If you’ve watched many secular shows about animals from the likes of National Geographic documentaries to Disney’s Lion King, death is the way forward—the “circle of life.” As a child, I was appalled at the scenes on Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom where scientists and film crews were content to film a brutal hunt or death scene when the opportunity presented itself to intervene and reduce the suffering of an animal at least, simply to prove the point of “survival of the fittest.”

As Opposite as It Gets

With a biblical worldview where we’re stewards of creation, isn’t part of our role here on earth to mitigate suffering and preserve life, even in animals, when we can? “Survival of the fittest” in the colloquial sense is indeed what we will observe if we don’t intervene. Who do the fittest tend to be in many cases? The most brutal and “selfish,” as in the lion who kills the young offspring of his competitors.

For many who’ve accepted an evolutionary worldview, this can translate into human society and has, particularly in sanctity of life issues. Abortion is entirely based on this. Who is less “fit” than a baby in the womb, totally dependent upon her mother for the first dozen weeks? And the mother purportedly gains a fitness of sorts by freeing herself from the “tethers” of motherhood, despite biblical commands to be fruitful and multiply and motherhood being something to be honored. And in places like Iceland, where almost every baby diagnosed with Down syndrome is murdered before his or her first breath of air, such decisions are applauded as the eradication of disease (when it’s really the eradication of an entire class of people).

In increasing numbers of countries, assisted suicide is applauded as a merciful means of allowing dignity to the person choosing this drastic action. In Canada, people have chosen this “assistance” for things as “curable” as homelessness. Homeless people are apparently not fit, and rather than seeing them as image bearers of God and offering biblical charity to actually help them find affordable housing, the “better” solution for the “greater good” is to save money by ridding society of them if they’re agreeable—for now.

But what about those who are suffering with an incurable and painful illness or mental anguish? Isn’t it best for them to help them end their life with “dignity”? Well, it’s cheaper than a continued life, but there are means to mitigate their suffering instead—just like there are means to give a person like a veteran with PTSD the dignity of caring enough to help them with medical care and counseling instead of offering to remove the “problem” by death.

The Solution

As death becomes an increasingly common “solution” to the world’s problems, let’s acknowledge those problems and give biblical solutions instead. Suffering is indeed a problem, but death is not the solution to anything. The Bible says it’s an enemy that will ultimately be destroyed, even though it has already been defeated by Christ’s resurrection, praise God! Until that time, don’t buy into treating death as anything but an enemy, yet one the believer has no need to fear.