Darwin, Survival and the Weakest
What really blows my mind about the Way of Jesus is that it is 100% opposed to the basic mantra and premise of Darwinian evolution. Even Darwin, a Christian himself, must have seen the irony in this. The basic premise to remember from 9th Grade biology class is something like this:
“This world’s basic fundamental principle is: ‘Survival of the Fittest’” — only the strongest will make it to that momentous stage of reproduction and thus pass on their DNA.
Jesus however, pointed his disciples to an entirely different set of principles — he set us free from a “survival” paradigm for something much, much better…
Jesus says that it is not about the “Survival of the Fittest,” but the “Redemption of the Weakest.” It is in this context that the Kingdom of God is played out in this world, acting as a heckler to the clanging chorus chanting the Darwinian refrain from their Grand Temple – the Marketplace – where contending organisms, organizations, corporations and conglomerations all compete for the “#1 spot” before they are trounced and more lives are ruined (both the rich and the poor).
OK – so I’m off my soap box. What does this look like in the practical?
It means - Not caring or “fighting for your rights” – something we Revolutionary Americans have drilled into us – Jesus points us not to defending our respect from others, but by being a servant with no expectation of worldly recognition.
It means that finally admitting to ourselves and confessing to our sex-obsessed culture, that “We can live without sex, but we cannot live without love.” (a quote by Shane Claiborne)
It means, in the end, that your survival is not up to you, and in fact, there is no such thing as “survival,” it is a myth – for even the mighty T-Rex, King of the Reptiles, which should have ruled the earth, was subject to the way of all things – we are all dust, and to dust we shall return.
The “Fittest” among all of us is Death Himself. Only he will “survive.”
This may come as a “downer” to most, (myself included) but when the striving for survival melts away, in Christ we can seek a grander goal – Redemption. The word communicates so much:
Redemption: (noun) An outside force bringing you to safety and completing in you your original and greatest potential. (my own definition)
When its no longer up to you and “survival” is no longer the goal, then being the “fittest” no longer preoccupies every moment of your existence, and you can give yourself over to better things – like compassion, grace, and promoting the dreams of others.
I’m not saying that “Survival of the Fittest” doesn’t exist in the world (Just watch any of the Mac Vs. PC commercials… or Animal Planet), I’m just saying that its not the only show on tonight. Take a deeper look at the road that an Evolutionary Ethic takes you and takes our society. Maybe Jesus’ basic commandments “Love the Lord your God with everything…and love your neighbor as yourself” is a good retort that creates dissonance in the siren-song of our culture – and brings us to a new matra:
Redemption of the Weakest.
Kate are discussing. 
Kate 3:10 pm on September 12, 2011 Permalink
Since I feel the need to support my namesake, I will share 2 comments: 1) Fittest does not necessarily mean strongest. Fittest is really referring to the most successful given the constraints of the environment. Thus things that have supported greater human survival, like compassion and helping others (not violence and raping), tend to have been genetically and socially passed on. (Side note: There has been a lot of recent research in psychology providing more evidence that we are “hardwired” to help others. For example, if you do things with the specific goal to make yourself feel better, you feel good momentarily. If you do things to make others feel better, you feel good over a longer period.) 2) Survival refers to genes, not to actual people, although the person needs to survive long enough to produce children.
An idea you might find interesting that we discuss a lot in one of my labs is that idea that “survival of the fittest” might actually promote a specific mix of genes in a population and not just one specific gene. So, for example, what is the ideal mix of introverts and extroverts for a population? Conservatives and liberals? Theists and atheists?
Thanks for this brief respite from work! Hope you and Katrina are doing well.
Mark W 3:57 pm on September 13, 2011 Permalink
Kate — Thank you so much for the thoughtful, intriguing comment!
I may have written this post with more provocation than was necessary, something I kick myself for only after its been published. I actually think that there is a lot of realism/truth to Darwinism’s basic premise – and I think your interpretation of that premise is really cool — (eg. “fittest = most successful given constraints…”)
I realize that it is historically suspect to try to force two figures from very different times/places into a conversation – comparing Darwin’s and Jesus’s outlooks on life may be like trying to compare the works of Mozart and Shakespeare.
So moving forward cautiously on that point, I do think that the popular application of “survival of the fittest” is something that existed long before Darwin, even in Jesus’ day, and that Jesus’ teachings reorients the Darwinian basic premise.
In Jesus’ mind, success in life looks nothing like the definition of success society-at-large is trying to sell us. They are ladders leaning up completely different walls. One points to amassing as many points as possible (points = cash, relationships, toys, even things like “benevolence” etc)…the other sees the renunciation of self-promotion, for the sake of deeper truer life. One teaching Jesus is famous for is “If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?l Is anything worth more than your soul?” —
What do you think? Are there conflicts in the essential ends…and means… for the teachings of Jesus, or are they complimentary?
Here’s a confession – although I see Jesus’ teaching one thing – I’m basically not living it out. If I’m being honest with myself, I still seek self-promotion. Dang it.
I hear you saying in your comment that “compassion and helping others” have helped human survival as a whole — sort of a “macro” picture of Darwin’s claim, rather than focusing on the fate of one person. And I find that really interesting/worth thinking more on. My first blush response is, “Who was the caveman who made the switch?” What I mean is – how does a society evolve from violence as the best strategy for survival to compassion, helping others? When a society (say, like 3rd Century Ireland) is filled with violence and fear from Druidic gangs terrorizing towns and villages all over, how does a guy like St. Patrick turn the tide and reinterpret “survival of the fittest” to mean “community, peace, gardening, self-sacrifice,” etc? This kind of holistic, systemic sea-change stuff really intrigues me.
Again, thanks for your response. Hope this comment is a positive contribution…and not just my usual blathering. I’d love any more thoughts/push-backs.
Peace! ///Mark