From the British Ambassador to Egypt, Dominic Asquith's blog: I attended last week part of an international conference which the British Council, with the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, organised on the legacy of Charles Darwin, to mark 150 years since the Origin of Species was published. This was the biggest of a number of events the British Council organised around the world to celebrate the anniversary. Most of the audience were young and students, about the same age Darwin had been when he began his voyage on the Beagle: he was only 23 years old at the time. The big banner outside the Bibliotheca advertising the conference beforehand had already prompted questions from passers-by whether belief in evolution threatened belief in God. Darwin was not the first to put forward the theory of evolution, but his work established it as a verifiable scientific theory. He never claimed mankind was descended from the ape. What he argued was that both shared a common ancestor. He pointed to the scientific evidence that animals and plants evolved over a period of thousands of years. We learned that those societies who accepted the theory generally did so because the scientists who promoted it believed in God. In other words, there was seen to be no contradiction between the theory and a belief in God. Those who rejected it generally did so because the scientists who promoted it in their societies were regarded as atheists. This was so in Turkey. In addition, atheist scientists who aggressively promoted the argument that science replaced God and religion merely provoked a reaction of religious extremism. The speakers, most of whom were Muslim, referred to the tradition of Muslim scientists, from Ibn Haythem onwards, who believed in the importance of searching for the truth rather than for what would just support their opinions. This reflected a tradition of open-mindedness. It underlines the importance for us today of teaching students philosophy and the history of science, not just the science of the laboratory. Of course the way science is taught needs to be sensitive to the cultural context in which you are living. Those who believed the world was flat or that the sun revolved around the earth found it difficult to be told their beliefs were untrue. Believing things which are untrue sometimes does not matter. The damage comes when untrue beliefs make us treat fellow human beings badly. Darwin's theory affects the way we today view the beings that share our world, setting them in the right context. Like all scientific theories that challenge accepted ways of thinking, some people still find the Origin of Species difficult – indeed there was some strong criticism of it voiced in the conference hall. At the same time, there were very many, male and female, who found the debate helpful. This reaction was similar to a discussion about Darwin with Muslim and Christian scholars before the conference. They admitted that they had entered the discussion opposed and prejudiced to the theory of evolution without knowing a lot about the science behind the theory. By the end of the discussion one of the Muslim scholars from Al-Azhar wondered why science had a bad reputation even though faith encouraged science, an opinion he supported with several verses from the Quran. A Christian scholar argued that faith was largely based on strong belief while science was based on uncertainty and scepticism. Hence they should be regarded as separate subjects that could operate in parallel without contradicting each other. The survey at the end of the session agreed that ‘’cultural dialogue renews the vitality of the mind, polishes the soul and re-organises culture values’’. As the world's problems become more complicated, we need to learn from and with each other. It also brought home to me how long it takes to overcome misperceptions – but how important it is to go on trying. Education is essential in finding an answer to the new solutions we need for the new problems we face. That is why we at the Embassy, in partnership with the British Council, have put education at the top of our priorities. A very blessed ‘Eid to all who read this. BM
