To the Editor:
Thank you for “The Origin of Darwin,” by Olivia Judson (Op-Ed, Feb. 12), and “Darwin at 200: The Ongoing Force of His Unconventional Idea,” by Verlyn Klinkenborg (Editorial Observer, Feb. 12). They help remind us of the centrality of Charles Darwin’s discoveries to all biology. They also remind us of the beautiful notion that is a direct result of his work: that we are directly related to every living thing on earth.
The implication is that we are required to be responsible stewards of our planet, just as we should take responsibility for the well-being of its families.
It is a shame that creationists and their “intelligent design” brethren cannot see, as Darwin described it, the “grandeur in this view of life.”
Kenneth J. Davis
Scotch Plains, N.J., Feb. 12, 2009
The writer is a medical doctor.
Note from KBJ: Wait a minute. Doesn't the Bible say that God created animals as well as human beings, and doesn't it mandate stewardship by humans of those animals? Is that not grandeur?
