Michael Ruse, a leading author and speaker about the ongoing creation-evolution debates, said he believes the ongoing dispute is really ""a fight for the soul of America"" during a lecture Wednesday afternoon at the Pyle Center.
Ruse is the Lucyle T. Werkmeister professor of philosophy and the director of the history and philosophy of science at Florida State University.
Since the beginning of Christianity, Ruse said, tensions have existed about what the religion means and whether or not to take it seriously.
According to Ruse, St. Augustine was one of the first to assert that the Bible should be read metaphorically and allegorically as opposed to literally.
When the Enlightenment arrived in the 18th Century, tensions escalated as philosophers encouraged people's questioning of religion.
""For the first time, people faced the awful possibility that Christianity might not be true,"" Ruse said.
The 18th Century saw the emergence of different views, Ruse said, resulting in two groups of followers—those who believed in providence and those who believed in progress.
People with a stronger faith in God maintained the belief that ""we are sinners and anything we do is nothing without God helping,"" Ruse said.
Those in favor of progress, however, believed they were given talents by God, but needed to rely on their own efforts to make things better, according to Ruse.
Ruse said there is still a division in the United States today because some see the concepts of industry, science and progression as threatening.
Although Ruse said he is a ""hard-line Darwinian,"" he explained sympathy is needed to understand the issue from both sides and stressed the debate was not simply between a ""bright"" group and a ""dull"" group.
UW-Madison ecology professor Richard Lindroth said he thought Ruse presented ""a very even view of religion and science"" and demonstrated concern for the social aspects of the debate.
According to Ron Numbers, co-chair of the co-sponsoring Isthmus Society, Ruse has published three-dozen books and many scholarly articles about the debates.
But Ruse tried to remain humble, admitting: ""I'm not sure I've got all the answers, even now.""
