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Copies of The Origin of Species with an introduction critical of evolution were handed out at universities in March in response to the Global Atheist Convention.

12 000 books were distributed in Melbourne in the week prior to the event, which was held at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre between March 12 – 14.

The convention was the first of its kind in Australia and included speeches by biologist and The God Delusion author Richard Dawkins, radio host Philip Adams and former Age columnist Catherine Deveny.

The giveaways were organized by Ray Comfort, a New Zealand born evangelist, author and television host. His United States based ministry, Living Waters, funded the printing of the books.

Comfort also wrote the 49-page introduction at the beginning of the books, which are labeled as the ‘150^th Anniversary Edition’ of The Origin of Species.

Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species is widely regarded as one of the most important books in the history of Western civilisation. In it, Darwin revolutionized the natural sciences with his theory of evolution, which states that living things change and adapt to their environment over generations through the process of natural selection.

The theory has been challenged both by creationists, who believe the Biblical account of creation outlined in Genesis to be true, and advocates of intelligent design, who believe that evolution is guided by a higher power. 

Comfort’s introduction questions the validity of Darwin’s theory, arguing that the lack of transitional forms in the fossil record, the complex structure of DNA and the sudden explosion of life in the Cambrian period all point to the existence of an intelligent designer.

A brief account of Darwin’s life is also included, which highlights the Victorian naturalist’s racism, his disdain to women and his own loss of faith following the death of his favorite daughter. It is claimed that the eugenics movement emerged out of Darwin’s theories. In one section, Adolf Hitler is referred to as ‘His (Darwin’s) Famous Student’. The introduction concludes by encouraging the reader to reject evolution as unscientific and put their faith in Christianity.

Comfort’s introduction is followed by the full text of the 1859 first edition of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species.

Because The Origin of Species is in the public domain, anyone can legally publish an edition of the work.

After finding out that the Global Atheist Convention was being held in Melbourne, Comfort contacted Lionel Letcher, founder and pastor of the Cornerstone Gospel Church in Frankston, about organizing a pre-emptive giveaway of copies of the books at local universities.

“When he heard that Richard Dawkins was coming to Australia as part of the Atheist Convention, he wanted to send the books over so we could do a distribution in that week,” Mr Letcher said. 

Lionel and his team co-coordinated the giveaways within Victoria. He estimates that around 12 000 books were handed out in universities around Melbourne. 5000 copies were distributed at RMIT and Melbourne University, 3000 were given out at Latrobe University and RMIT’s Bundoora campus, and the rest were handed out at Monash University’s Clayton campus.

“It was a huge effort to coordinate the distribution of the 12 000 books.” Lionel said. Volunteers from Cornerstone Gospel Church assisted in handing out the books.

As well as the Melbourne giveaways, an estimated 7 000 copies were distributed in Brisbane. Handouts were also undertaken in New Zealand at university campuses in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

The New Zealand giveaways coincided with a talk being given at Christchurch’s Victoria University by Richard Dawkins. Comfort has previously offered the biologist, who has been nicknamed ‘Darwin’s Rottweiler’, $20 000 to debate evolution with him, although Dawkins has so far declined to take him up on the offer. 

Many of the copies of the books handed out in Australia were leftovers from a giveaway that Comfort’s Living Waters Ministry had organized in America last year.

“As the team began to grow, Ray realized that they would need more books so they printed some extra to send over,” Mr Letcher said.

In the United States, the giveaways were part of Living Waters’ ‘Origin into Schools’ project, which aimed to use the books to present creationism alongside Darwin’s theory of evolution.

Living Waters worked with Campus Crusade for Christ, Answers in Genesis and the Alliance Defense Fund to hand out the books at 102 American universities and learning institutions.

The books were distributed on November 18 2009, three days before the 150^th anniversary of the publication of The Origin of Species. On his blog, Atheist Central, Comfort estimates that over 170 000 copies were handed out to American students.

At the time, Richard Dawkins called on people to tear out the introductions.

In Australia, the books were distributed on March 9, three days before the Global Atheist Convention commenced in Melbourne.

The handing out of the books in Australia came as a surprise to Melbourne University Secular Society Treasurer, Richard Hughes, who was not expecting the books to appear in Australian universities.

“I was actually on my way home from class and I reached the tram stop and there were people there and they were handing out these books. I saw the cover and went ‘I know what that is’. That was a little bit awkward. I then sent a text message around just to let people know what was going on,” Richard, who is studying science, said.

The handing out of books at Monash University were coordinated by Student Life, the university ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ Australia, whose parent organization, Campus Crusade for Christ, was one of the groups that assisted Living Waters in distributing copies throughout American universities.

Reactions to the giveaways varied. While most people accepted the book, some individuals reacted negatively to Comfort’s introduction. “We had a few people rip out the introduction and return it to us,” Student Life’s Monash University Campus Coordinator, Ted Gordillo, said.

It is an approach that Richard Hughes disagrees with. “I’ve got mixed feelings about that. I think the right approach is to confront the claims,” he said.

Challenging the people handing out the books was an approach taken by James Bayard, a second year Biomedical Science student at Monash University.

 “I confronted one guy about it and he essentially put up a wall to anything I was trying to say. For me, it showed their attitude. It happens a lot with people who are trying to discredit evolution - they don’t want to listen to you, they just put up a wall, which I find disappointing,” James said.

His criticisms are mirrored by creationists. Shane Cook, a volunteer from Cornerstone Gospel Church, handed out copies of the books at Latrobe University. He believes some students refused to countenance arguments against evolution.

“We handed the books out saying that it was in the interest of free and open enquiry,” Shane said. “But one guy got really angry because he had thought we were a secular group, and he called out ‘I hate you Christians’. He had an almost religious zeal.”

However, it appears that the books were largely distributed without incident.

There are varying opinions on the introduction’s effect on people who received the book. Richard doubts that Comfort’s message would have convinced people either way.

 “For the most part, people who believe in creationism still believe in creationism, and I think people who believe in evolution will still believe in evolution. People on the fence wouldn’t have been swayed either way,” Richard said.

Ted Gordillo from Student Life disagrees: “There were some people we heard from that thanked us and from reading it had some more interest in finding out about Christianity,” he said. 

Professor Graham Oppy, the Head of the School of Philosophy and Bioethics at Monash University, also thinks the books had the potential to make people question evolutionary theory.

“It is very clever; it is going to be a very effective tool. I think a lot of people who are given the book might actually bother to pick it up and read the first few pages, but they are unlikely to read the majority of Darwin that comes after,” Professor Oppy said.

While the giveaways are an attempt to question the theory of evolution, at a more fundamental level the books are an attempt to challenge atheism, which Comfort believes is being promulgated through schools and universities by the teaching of evolution.

In both Australia and the United States, attempts to get creationism or intelligent design on the science syllabus have been temporary at best and unsuccessful at worst.

International Director of Creation Research, John Mackay, whose organization is dedicated to finding evidence for creation in the natural world, says he was barred from talking to students in South Australian schools recently.

“If you go to South Australia, where the government has legislated to prevent even the Christian schools from teaching creation, then what you’ve really said is that there are two options but you are only allowed to hear one. That’s what brainwashing is,” Mr Mackay said. 

Under Sir Joh Bjelke-Peterson’s administration in Queensland in the 1980s, John Mackay, along with Ken Ham, was able to get creationism on the science syllabus. The addition did not last.

Ken Ham went on to form Answers in Genesis in the United States, an organization famous for establishing a Creation Museum in Kentucky. Answers in Genesis also assisted in handing out Ray Comfort’s Origin of Species books in the United States.

Speaking in a promotional video for the giveaways, actor Kirk Cameron, who co-hosts the religious television show The Way of the Master with Comfort, said the purpose of the books was the redress an imbalance in the teaching of biology. 

“An entire generation is being brainwashed by atheistic evolution without even hearing the alternative. All we want to do is present the opposing - and correct – view, rather than being censored, which is exactly the case at present,” the former Growing Pains actor said.

As well as feeling that their views are being censored, creationists are also threatened by the increasing profile of atheism, as evidenced by the Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne.

The founder and creator of Young Australian Skeptics, Elliot Birch, agrees that the giveaways were a reaction to atheism.

“Atheism as a movement has just become such a big freight train recently. Everyone knows about the new atheists like Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, especially in Australia with the atheist convention. They think this the moment to fight the rise of atheism because it is so immoral,” he said.

With atheists such as Richard Dawkins, who is described as the world’s most famous atheist, aggressively using evolution to support atheism, creationists are using whatever methods they can, including handing out the books at universities, to ensure that their message is also heard.

 “I think there are a pocket of Christians that are becoming more resistant to that outlawing of creationism. So I think in that way it may not be a growth in creationism as much as we are having to peg our ground,” Lionel Letcher said.

But with both sides of the debate convinced that theirs is the correct view, and with each side anxious to assert itself, it is unlikely that the creationism versus evolution debate will be resolved neatly anytime soon.