Andrew Marr cops out

The BBC heavyweight presenter and writer Andrew Marr, in last night’s first programme (called “Body and Soul”) of his BBC2 television series Darwin’s Dangerous Idea, copped out in the last few minutes.

In an otherwise excellent programme the implications for religions of the publication of On the Origin of Species was dismissed nonchalantly by saying that the Anglican and Roman Catholic churches had now come to terms with evolution by natural selection.

The extent to which the churches, and indeed other religions, have done this is largely by ignoring the implications altogether. The only theology that can accept evolution by natural selection is that of Epicurus. Only his gods escape untouched by scientific facts.

Andrew Marr let his audience down by failing to explain that science and religion are incompatible because of the theology that each religion has, and that it is necessary to choose between science and religion.