Stick to politics, Charles!

Charles Krauthammer, columnist for the Washington Post and contributor to the Fox News Network, is one of the more intelligent, politically savvy journalists in Washington. His conservative positions are strongly and eloquently stated, both in print and on air. But recently, in his newspaper column, he ventured away from Washington politics and into science and religion, revealing his ignorance and confusion concerning both.

The subject was—what else these days—the Intelligent Design court case just concluded in Pennsylvania. But he was aiming at a broader target: any thought that there is a conflict between “science”—especially evolution—and “religion.” He starts by saying that neither Newton nor Einstein saw any conflict with science and their particular views of deity, then proceeds to describe the God of the Bible as a “crude and willful God who pushes and pulls and does things according to whim.”

We’re beginning to see that Mr. Krauthammer’s theology is somewhat suspect. Now what about his science and his opinion of Intelligent Design theory? In the column’s headline he calls ID a fraud; in the column he calls it “today’s tarted-up—or warmed-over—version of creationism” and an “insult both to religion and to science.”

The 800-word slam continues with too many errors and misrepresentations concerning science, ID, creationism, the Dover PA and Kansas School Board situations and God to remark on here. But the final paragraph is a corker. This man is obviously passionately in love with goo-to-you evolution. Here it is, in full:

How ridiculous to make evolution the enemy of God. What could be more elegant, more simple, more brilliant, more economical, more creative, indeed more divine than a planet with millions of life forms, distinct and yet interactive, all ultimately derived from accumulated variations in a single double-stranded molecule, pliable and fecund enough to give us mollusks and mice, Newton and Einstein?

Well, isn’t that precious (as the Church Lady used to say.) Here’s MY version:

How ridiculous to make evolution a friend of God. What could be more ugly, more chaotic, more unintelligent, more wasteful, more degrading, indeed more demonic than a planet with millions of life forms, distinct and yet interactive, suffering for millions or billions of years with pain, disease, predation, parasitism, bloody competition and death, all ultimately derived from accumulated chance, purposeless variations in a double-stranded molecule, pliable and fecund enough to turn pond scum into mollusks and mice, Newton and Einstein—and Krauthammer.

Perhaps Mr. Krauthammer hasn’t thought through the implications of his worldview, both the scientific and religious aspects—or perhaps there is a chip on his shoulder (as I surmise from the tone of the column,) a shoulder not far from an otherwise brilliant mind.

Let us pray for this man, that he may recognize his desperate need for the Savior.

“If you don’t understand Genesis 3, you don’t really understand anything.”