Evolution not Religious 299 



verse, by expanding the range of his activities, by magnify- 

 ing the force of his influence. The result has indeed made 

 it more difficult for the individual to deal with the deity in 

 the intimate manner of one seeking special favors or bar- 

 gaining for advantages or compromising on obligations. The 

 argument, however, that evolution therefore interferes 

 with the moral life is on a par with the arguments that one 

 system of religion has in the past hurled at each of the others, 

 on a par, for example, with the doctrine that heretics are 

 wicked, or that Catholics do not have to be " moral " because 

 they can go to confession periodically and wipe their record 

 clean. 



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Evolution not Religious 



It is futile, on the other hand, to claim any specific 

 religious value for the scientific doctrine that species have 

 become transformed. To say, for example, that " the ethical 

 principle inherent in evolution is that only the best have the 

 right to survive," or to say that evolution reveals God 

 " through the countless ages developing the earth as an abode 

 for man " is to reveal a sad confusion of categories. The 

 scientist as an individual may of course find in the facts of 

 nature whatever his religious disposition leads him to. And 

 he may of course bring into his conception of the universe 

 all of his findings and all of his feelings to make a pattern 

 that satisfies his longing for unity. It is a different matter, 

 however, to say that *' science teaches " God's purpose or 

 goodness, or anything else that cannot be directly inferred 

 from verified facts. Men and women of all faiths have 

 found the study of science compatible with their morals and 

 with their faiths. This, however, is not primarily the con- 

 cern of the scientist as such. It is his first business to make 

 sure of the facts. If any find these facts offensive to their 

 sentiments or to their faith, so much the worse for them. 

 It is not the business of the scientist either to promote or to 

 attack faith. As a well known anthropologist has said, " We 



