Matthew Chapman appears to be toying with his audience in his article “God or Gorilla” from Harper’s. The article covers a court case in Pennsylvania that is rehashing the old evolution debate. He begins the article with a rather arrogant tone, and emphasizes this by ending the first paragraph with a blunt fact. He also explains his bias on the subject, being a direct descendent of Charles Darwin. Chapman does an excellent job of depicting the court case and breaking down the argument for his readers. It appears for a while that he believes as most other educated people, and is merely a proponent of evolution.
Throughout the article Chapman portrays the pro-evolutionists as educated, logical, professionals, while the intelligent designers are not treated so well. He hints at his real opinion during his conversation with the Reverend Groves. When the Reverend asks if he is an atheist, Chapman says he doesn’t have enough faith to say there is no God. I believe it is this sense of agnosticism that he is trying to bring to the evolution debate. Because most people beliefs about where they came from are so closely tied to who they are, they are not willing the change these beliefs no matter how much evidence they are confronted with. Chapman sums up the article very nicely by providing a quote from some sort of mechanic. It contrasts very nicely against all the experts and opinions by pointing out the futility of the whole debate.
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