Editor's note: Today, Nov. 24, is the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's "On the Origin of Species."

PETERSBURG, Ky. (BP)--Most people, when asked what they consider to be Charles Darwin's legacy, would quickly say "evolution." Indeed, evolution and Darwin are virtually synonymous, especially this year, as evolutionists worldwide have been celebrating his 200th birthday, plus the 150th anniversary this month of the publication of his book "On the Origin of Species."

But what is not so commonly known is that there have been adverse parts of Darwin's legacy that many of his followers have either denied or kept from public knowledge.

Ideas, it is said, have consequences. What people believe about their origins and the purpose and meaning of life affects their entire worldview. It molds how they view themselves ... and others.

Darwin's ideas concerning "molecules-to-man" evolution have left a significant negative legacy on society. For many secularists, his ideas were ammunition to eliminate any consideration of the supernatural. For example, in Darwin's house (now a museum) in England, which I have visited, there is an exhibit which comments on our Creator:

"very living creature looked the way it did because God had designed it that way. Darwin's theory made nonsense of all of this."

The exhibit declares there is no God connected to why and how life exists. This idea dominates America's science classrooms. God has been outlawed there. "Science" is now defined as "naturalism" (really atheism) -- it's the only explanation for the origin of life currently allowed. Any hint of the supernatural is not permitted.

The situation in public schools has only gotten worse in recent decades. If we continue to have generations of students going through a public education system that largely teaches them they are just animals and the result of natural processes (e.g., a Scientific American article stated, "we are all animals, descendants of a vast lineage of replicators sprung from primordial pond scum"), we will continue to see a growing moral collapse in society.

The horrible school shooting in Finland in 2007 is a prime example. The killer stated: "I am prepared to fight and die for my cause, ... I, as a natural selector, will eliminate all who I see unfit, disgraces of human race and failures of natural selection. ... I am just an animal, a human, an individual, a dissident. ... It's time to put natural selection & survival of the fittest back on tracks!"

This student was only carrying out in practice what he had been taught concerning origins, as well as the lack of purpose and meaning he found in life.