republished from Conversations with an ex-Jehovah’s Witness

“Maybe YOU evolved from monkeys… but I certainly didn’t!”

I’m sure that every Atheist has heard that before - and most Creationists have probably said it at one time or another.

First of all, let me say that it’s a common misconception that humans are the direct descendants of apes. Rather, evolution suggests that at some point in our very distant past our species shared a common ancestor.

But back to the point… I never understood why people are often so offended at the thought of having evolved from a lesser form, whether it was a monkey, or some ugly, slimy thing crawling from the ooze. I’ll explain why:

On one hand you have the Creationist’s point of view: God stretches out his finger and, Poof! He creates man. Essentially, the human species is the same today as the day God first created him; sans la perfection. In fact, there is no potential for improvement to our species at all - other than the hope of reaching a perfect state in heaven.

But if you consider that we have evolved from something almost infinitely more primitive, there is the outlook that humankind will continue to evolve into something even more fantastic!

I think that people deny and turn their nose up at evolution because it offends their ego; whereas in reality, it shows what odds we have faced as a species; that we have persevered and advanced to become what we are today–and that is something which is magnificent in comparison to our humble beginnings.

In my opinion, there is tremendous gratification in knowing that our species has the ability to grow, advance and improve itself, whether we are directly responsible for it or not.

The thought that our children’s - children’s - children to the power of: [insert number here] will be even more advanced, able, and intelligent, is a much grander hope for me than that of my own personal deliverance into heaven.

Perhaps one day our descendants will look back and laugh saying “Well maybe YOU evolved from humans, but I certainly did NOT.”

~Moxie