Students on UK’s campus may be used to seeing the men in black suits passing out little green books, but on Wednesday, they were met with a different kind of handout.
Members of churches throughout Kentucky passed out about 1,000 copies of Charles Darwin’s “The Origin of Species†as part of the national Origin Into Schools movement. Living Waters, the organization whose vision is to inspire and equip Christians to fulfill the Great Commission, according to its Web site, passed out the books.
The copies of the book had a special introduction by best-selling author Ray Comfort, which includes a timeline of Darwin’s life and his thoughts on the existence of God. The introduction also exposes the unscientific belief that nothing created everything, according to the Web site.
Kaitlin MacMillen said the group came to UK because a pool of students exists who are interested in the academic arguments and debate.
“This presented a great opportunity to share our take on evolution and things like that,†MacMillen said.
She said the group was amazed because the books were all passed out within about 15 minutes.
“(The students) were excited to receive them. I think some people were surprised that they were Darwin’s book,†MacMillen said.
One of the organizers of the event, Jessica Kidwell, said the movement is a cooperative effort of many different churches, including those of the Methodist, Baptist and Catholic denominations.
The movement coincides with the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s book, which was published in November 1859, according to the Web site. About 120,000 copies of the book were distributed to universities nationwide.
I find it interesting that Catholic churches were part of this effort given that the Vatican hosted a conference this year celebrating the 150th anniversary of the publishing of “The Origin of Species.” Pope John Paul II said that evolution was compatible with Christianity and that it was “more than a hypothesis.”
As a student who attended Catholic schools for 12 years, we were always taught Evolution in our Science classes and how it is the basis for modern Biology. That’s why I find it interesting that a Catholic church would be part of this deal. I thought we had moved beyond this and recognized that Evolution and a belief in God are not mutually exclusive beliefs.
The article isn’t entirely accurate. What was stated was that this was not affliated with a church but was a non-denominational effort comprised of individuals from many denominations, nationwide when answering the question, “What church is this affiliated with?” It wasn’t affliated with a specific church or denomination. For further information, goto http://www.livingwaters.com.
Ha, my wife called yesterday saying she had received a copy of Origin of Species. The first thing I asked was if Mr. Comfort’s name was on it. After explaining who he was and his agenda with these books we both had a good laugh.
Thanks for the book I will keep it on the shelf minus a few of the early pages. Though it might be an humorous read, is the story of Crocoduck involved?