The Burr in the Burgh

Every now and again I read something that reminds me that all the modern technology and scientific advancement in the world will not save the human race. The Associated Press reports that in a pond near Hamburg, Germany, over 1000 toads have puffed up and popped. Yes, you read it correctly the first time. And the scientists - believe you me - are scratching their heads over this one. They haven't found any unusual bacteria, viruses, funguses or chemicals to explain the phenomenon.

Y'see, it's precisely this sort of thing that shatters my faith in science. Why can't they figure this out? Just when I begin to think, "Hey, we're really something," I hear about a pond full of exploding amphibians. It sounds like a Hollywood-ization of a Biblical plague. I almost expect to see Charlton Heston appear telling me to let his people go.

In 1859, Charles Darwin changed the world by publishing The Origin of Species. The idea of progress was wed with science. The modern era was born. Soon people began to think that if biological organisms evolve and improve with time, then maybe so do whole societies of biological organisms. Propelled by the Industrial Revolution and intoxicated with social Darwinism, the chant was heard, "We're getting better everyday, in every way." Optimism became the mood de jour.

But now there's a new movement afoot. We call it the Intelligent Design movement. These are scientists and scholars who believe that traditional Darwinism is intellectually indefensible in light of current microbiology. Michael Behe, professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University, has penned a critical text, Darwin's Black Box. His basic thesis is that the more we learn about cellular chemistry, the less a rational person can hold to Darwinist orthodoxies. And everyone knows it. I've heard it said that the only true Darwinists who remain are public high school biology teachers. Great.

This world is more complex than anyone in the 19th century ever dreamed in their wildest opium den intoxications. The more we know, the more we know we don't know. For goodness sake, we can't even explain why some toads pop.

On one other occasion, when mankind was getting a little bit too big for its britches, God garbled their languages to show them what's what. Today, He pops a few toads. I'm convinced that these absurdities serve to remind us that we are not so doggone smart after all. Just be glad they're toads, and not ...say... horses or cows.

But in the meantime, stay away from that pond.