A most touching and thought-provoking article about Darwin and Religion

Now that Darwin's 200th birthday is upon us, there has been renewed interest, fascination and debate (and controversy) across the Web (and the regular world) about the legendary scientist and his radical theory that formed the bedrock of all of modern biology. However, I never knew much about Darwin himself, only about his ideas and theory(s). I've just come across a wonderful article by Deborah Heiligman over on ajc.com.

It's a sort of mini-biography of Darwin's marriage with his religious wife, Emma Darwin. How the couple, so vastly differing in their views on theology and science and religion, were able to set aside their differences and accept and understand each other for who they were, is nothing short of inspirational. I've quoted some relevant bits of the article below.

When Charles came home in 1836 from his five-year voyage around the world, which included the visit to the Galapagos Islands, he was already seeing life and creation in a new way. And as he courted Emma, he also was secretly scribbling notes about a new idea, his theory of evolution, in leather-bound notebooks marked “private.”

He knew that his view of creation would rock the faith of Emma and almost everyone in England, and as he prepared to propose to her, he agonized. Charles’ father advised him to keep his mouth shut. “Conceal your doubts,” he warned.

But Charles couldn’t do that. He was too honest. He told Emma of his doubts about the veracity of the Bible and of his growing skepticism about religion.

Emma said she would marry him anyway. She prized his candor, and she knew he was a good and moral man.

[...]

In 1859, as he finally readied “The Origin of Species” for publication, he gave the manuscript to Emma. She was always his best and most trusted editor. As she read the argument that essentially took God out of creation, she did not ask Charles to soften it at all. In fact, she helped him strengthen his book by making the language clearer. She also cleaned up his spelling and punctuation.

Through the years, the two continued to talk and listen to each other about this “most important subject,” as Emma called it. She encouraged him not to approach religion in the same way he approached science. What leads to faith, she said, is “feeling, not reasoning.”

[...]

Charles and Emma were married for 43 years. In his last years, Charles renewed a fascination with worms and wrote “The Formation of Vegetable Mold Through the Action of Worms With Observations on Their Habits,” a best-seller in its day. Emma, never much interested in science, found herself joining him in his obsession. They spent hours together watching the worms in the garden of Down House, side by side.

Although they never were able to see eye-to-eye on the question of religion and God, they were able to reach their hands across the gulf. In the end, each of them accepted and, it seems, truly understood what the other believed.

Quite the beautiful story, no? If a married couple can love each other and trust each other even when their views on the world, and what's beyond this world, are so vastly contrasting and conflicting ... why can't the rest of us? If Emma's deep Religious beliefs and Darwin's fundamental Scientific and irreligious beliefs could somehow coexist peacefully and harmoniously, why can't these viewpoints combine to produce a stronger, healthier and happier society for all of us? Why always the dividend, when clearly, there need not be one?

Just something to stick under your bonnet, eh ...?

Happy 200th anniversary, Mr. Darwin.