Misuse of evolutionary theories

The theory of natural selection and the survival of the fittest can be used to justify existing inequalities and injustices and may give weight to racism, elitism, domination and exploitation. Darwin's theory only concerned biological evolution; social Darwinism developed afterwards and was short-lived – but the heritage of these two aspects of the theory is paralleled in modern genetic arguments explaining inequalities and the naturally superior nature of some races (such as greater development and achievement in one society or social group as opposed to another).

The theory of evolution was developed by Darwin and Wallace in the mid-19th century. It gave rise to social Darwinism which developed in the late 19th century with the writings of Herbert Spencer, Walter Bagehot, and William Graham Sumner. In the second half of the 20th century scientists have discovered a number of problems in the theory, one of the more notable being that the theorized evolutionary time scale requires enormous spans of centuries for change, whereas fossil evidence shows change in inexplicably (relatively) short periods. Thus creationists, those that uphold the idea that God (that is a conscious Being with will and mind) created this world, and modern creationists, who assert that this Being (and helpers) managed the Creation, have become vocal in the Abrahamic religions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam to point out that the evolutionary theory in all its aspects is unproven.