• Question: Why was Darwin's idea considered dangerous?

    Asked by ashleighlou to Betul, Bridget, Ceri-Wyn, Maria on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Maria Pawlowska

      Maria Pawlowska answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Hi Ashleigh,

      Good question! It’s because Darwin’s idea overturned everything people thought about the natural world. They thought God created it and it hasn’t changed since – Darwin proved that’s not the case.

    • Photo: Bridget Waller

      Bridget Waller answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Very good question! At the time, this challenged many peoples ideas about how the world began, which was tied up in ideas about religion. Christianity was a very powerful force in the world, and challenging one of the fundamental ideas (that god created the world) was a dangerous thing to do! It made lots of people very angry, and lots of people very scared. Darwin was a christian and felt very guilty about having this effect on the world.

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