The French aristocrat who understood evolution 100 years before Darwin – and even worried about climate change

https://lemmy.world/post/14106217

The French aristocrat who understood evolution 100 years before Darwin – and even worried about climate change - Lemmy.World

In Histoire Naturelle, a ­36-volume book Buffon worked on for 50 years, he also put forward the idea that animals were becoming extinct at a time when most natural historians believed that “God would never allow any species to ever disappear or arise over time”, according to Roberts. “The concept of species change and extinction was very controversial.”

The amount of shit that people have got wrong because of god…

Even without this key insight, Buffon postulated that new species must have come into existence and changed over time, while some species must have gone extinct. “That was a very, very radical idea at the time, and Buffon was censured for it by the Sorbonne: he had to write a statement publicly renouncing everything he had written,” said Roberts. Buffon was later formally accused of heresy for implying that Earth was older than the biblical record.

The number of people that have been wrongly persecuted because of god…

Religion is the most horrible invention in human history. It justifies mistreating others. It’s used to control people. It causes people to believe fiction over fact. It’s the one thing holding us back more than any other.

The amount of shit that people have got wrong because of god…

Lol at atheists who don’t believe in gods yet still wants to blame everything on them.

Wtf do you even think you’re saying? That a sincerely held belief that religion is toxic is based on fake internet points? I hated religion long before we got online. Your comment is empty and stupid.
An actual atheist wouldn’t care enough about religion to actively spend any of their energy hating it - so what are you really?
What the fuck do you think I am. A pissed off atheist in a christofascist up-and-comer state. An actual atheist (me) would be mad at this bullshit and I am.

christofascist

I’m taking you have a really, really good argument lined up to prove that Christ was a fascist and proselytized anything that we would today call fascism?

I’d say that an actual Christian would have a far better reason to be an anti-fascist than you do - but perhaps fake Christianity breeds fake atheism as well.

You’re full of shit and I won’t be party to it.

I didn’t invite you to any parties, liberal.

Know your place.