Score One for China

Can anything good come out of Communist China?

The world’s most populous nation certainly hasn’t done much lately to earn the plaudits of Americans, what with
the crash involving the U.S. spy plane and the restrictions against Chinese Christians.

However, China seems to have found an issue on which it can legitimately mock Western thought—the theory of
evolution.

Last year a team of scientists in China discovered the well-preserved fossils of two different kinds of fish buried
in Lower Cambrian strata.

According to evolutionary theory, vertebrates like fish are not supposed to be present in Cambrian rock even
though all other kinds of multi-celled animals can be found there. In fact, the Ordovician strata just above the
Cambrian is even considered too early in geological history for vertebrates to be appearing.

Yet the fish fossils are there, and one of them resembles a young lamprey, a fish that is parasitic on other fish.
This means there had to be other fish around or the lamprey species wouldn’t be there.

This discovery appears to be the catalyst for scientists in China to launch a major attack against neo-Darwinism.
They argue that evolution can’t explain the sudden appearance of all the major animal groups in the so-called
“Cambrian explosion.”

According to Creation magazine (Dec., 2000—Feb., 2001), some Chinese officials argue that the theory of
evolution is too “politically charged” in the West. These officials say that Western researchers hesitate to point
out Darwinian shortcomings for fear of giving support to creationists.

“Evolution is facing an extremely harsh challenge,” says the Communist Party’s Guang Ming Daily. “In the
beginning, Darwinian evolution was a scientific theory. . .In fact, evolution eventually changed into a religion.”

Although wrong about many other things, China is correct on this point. As someone has said, “In China one can
criticize the theory of evolution but not the government, but in America one can criticize the government but not
the theory of evolution.”

Unfortunately, pointing out evolution’s shortcomings is not politically correct in today’s America, no matter what
the evidence seems to say. LSI

—Warren Krug, editor