Francisco Ayala



Francisco José Ayala Pereda is an evolutionary biologist at the University of California, Irvine. Ayala is also an ordained Dominican priest. He believes that evolution and creationism can coexist. Ayala states that there is a better approach to getting creationists on board with evolution than those employed by the likes of Richard Dawkins, who tends towards ridiculing the faithful. He feels that simply "engaging religious people in dialogue" will assist in allowing the coexistence of religion and science.

Ayala won the 2010 Templeton Prize.

Quotes

 * "If God explicitly designed the human reproductive system, is God the biggest abortionist of them all?" - in reference to the fact that 1 of 5 pregnancies end in spontaneous miscarriage.


 * "Natural selection can explain the ruthlessness of nature, and remove the 'evil' from the living world." - answering the Christian paradox of "How can an all-knowing, loving God allow evil and suffering?"