Sent to The Cincinnati Enquirer on Sept. 27, 2008 but not published by them.
To : Letters, Enquirer Community Forum Page
The factual error in a recent opinion piece (“Belief in Bible doesn’t make one an idiot” Sept. 25) cries out for correction. The writer speaks of “the unproven theory of evolution” in spite of the fact that few theories in science have as much proof as does the theory of evolution. There are about 250,000 different identified fossil species that document the evolution of life forms from about 3.5 billion years ago to the present. They are found in a consistent order in the rock strata of the Earth (allowing for erosion of strata, sedimentation, and the twisting of strata due to the movement of tectonic plates). No late mammal fossil is ever found below an early reptile fossil. More and more fossils are being discovered every day.
The discovery of DNA has added an entirely new level to the proof of evolution by looking at the very machinery of evolution. Changes in the genetic code (DNA) occur through mutation and/or the genetic mixing produced by sexual reproduction. While most genetic changes are either neutral or harmful, sometimes they help the organism survive better and reproduce more. When the genes of a changed organism with new traits spreads in a population evolution occurs. It is a very well documented biological process and is the basis for modern biology and medicine.
For me and many others, evolution poses no threat to religious belief. The Catholic Church has no problem with evolution and neither do the 11,196 Christian clergy (as of April, 2008) who have signed the Clergy Letter Project declaring “ We believe that the theory of evolution is a foundational scientific truth, one that has stood up to rigorous scrutiny and upon which much of human knowledge and achievement rests.” Amen to that.