I believe in Science, that's all.

How can you say that when the proof is stacked against you? I'm no scientist, but i put my faith in scientists rather than some dude who doesnt like gay or jew's like 'the big cheese' does to be fair. Yes yes i know that was stereotypical but you get my point hopefully.

Edited by user 12 June 2009 08:55:10(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

Well this is just silly. I LOVE arguments about religeon, but i have to go to bed. :( gutted. Dont let it die for tommorow after noon :(

Up until about two weeks ago, I would of totally agreed with that statement. However, with the current events going on [no discussion - my msn buddy knows haha], I guess I've opened up to the idea of some bigger 'power' or something - it really does seem like SOMETHING supernatural has helped.

As far as evolution etc. - I'm still scientifically minded, I don't believe in creationism for a second.

Edited by user 12 June 2009 09:15:54(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified

That's not what I meant. A dolphin or a Gorilla should be treated with the same respect a human is deserved. But gorillas are gorilla'a and dolphins are dolphins,we are way smarter than they are were the smartest species in the planet Earth.

well they're the second and third.The only reasons Gorilla's don't talk is they don't have the right configuration of vocal chords.But I believe God created evolution the big bang and all of that which created us.

Like I said I go by the bible in the way I believe we were all created.

I am not a scientist. I am however a fairly well educated, and well read individual, and I've been brought up thanks to my parents and my school system to trust facts over myths. I'm a skeptic. I need to see evidence. However, I'm perfectly aware that large parts of scientific theory go right over my head and just don't make sense.

I do understand the theory of evolution to a reasonable degree, as I studied Biology in High School and it's obviously an important part of the course, as it should be. Because it's been around for 150 years in a solid, well put form, and it has it's self evolved since then, being linked up with Mendel's research into genetics from a similar era, among many other things. That's the great thing with skepticism really. You believe in something until enough evidence is for an alternative theory. And as we travel forward through 1 & a half centuries, nobody has put forward a theory with more evidence than the theory of evolution for how life has gotten to this point in time. And ironically enough a lot of the arguements against evolutionary theory are still stuck in the 1970s, commenting that while micro-evolution has been proved, there is no evidence of macro-evolution, the so called "missing-links". Which just shows a poor understanding of the theory, changes take place, unbelievably slowly, over millions of years and uncountable generations. But despite the fact that fossilisation is an amazingly rare occurence (I can't remember the figures I once read but I'm sure it was about 1 bone in every million, or maybe it was 1 in 100,000, but you get the idea) examples to exist. Darwinius masillae, a transistional primate, Odontochelys, a transistional turtle, Yanoconodon, a very early mammal with one of the the first examples of taking the reptilian jaw and using it in our ears, or how about Puijila darwini which looked a lot like a seal but for one striking difference: feet instead of flippers! There are plenty examples you can see for your self if you so wish to go looking.

Science is not always right. But unlike faith, science is capable of standing up to examination, and when stronger evidence for another theory comes out, the stronger theory will then move on to be commonly accepted.

The fact is that we have evidence from the very rock we live upon as for how old this earth is. And it is an awful lot older than the 5,500 years suggested by creationists. Because we know so little about how the universe started, (and by little I mean nothing at all, the big bang merely explains what happened immediately after nothing miraculously turned into something) I would be willing to accept that some "spirit" or god or whatever you want to call it kicked the process off, but it comes with a big caveat. Once things got started he has not since meddled in our existence. We are too insignificant to be bothered with. I mean come on, when you consider how large the universe is it gives you an ability to appreciate just how utterly tiny we are. Our solar system alone stretches out at least 4,650,000,000,000 miles. That's 4.65 trillion miles (or about 1 light year). We're just 93 million miles from the sun ourselves. The nearest star is 4.4 light years away. The fastest speed we have ever reached is 17 kilometres per second (that's roughly 38,000 miles per hour, which would be fast enough to go around the equator of our own planet 95 times in one hour) with the Voyager One spacecraft thanks to getting a gravitational boost from several large planets. So if we were travelling to the Alpha Centauri system with that (it's not going to go near Alpha Centauri in reality) craft it would take nearly 80,000 years. So essentially, we're really really far below the radar of any potential "god" who kicked the universe off.

I believe in evolution, because to me it is self-evident. Having been told what it is, I look around and I see it everywhere. Take a look at skeletal evolution. Take the lungfish, give it legs, amphibian. Take the salamander, put it on land, and put its eggs in self-contained balls of liquid (eggs) and you have a reptile. Take a small lizard, give it hair instead of scales, you have a mammal. Take a large lizard, give it feathers, replace the arms with wings, you have a bird.

It's very clear to me, in terms of bone structure, behaviour, social structure, humans are members of the Great Ape family. It's also worth noting that we are only the dominant species in human terms. Fungus is the real dominant group on Earth as far as multi-cellular life goes, their integration with an ecosystem allows them to thrive as a species almost infinitely. Human greed and technology dictates that we use more than is available without replacing it. Our evolutionary wonder is not technology, but our minds. As far as we understand, we're the only species capable of the depth of thought and questioning to have ever pondered "why are we here?" and to have learned by the passage of recorded history how to move forward. When members of other species die their knowledge is usually only passed to their offspring, and even that only occurs in mammals. Most other species have only genetically inherited knowledge.

I think belief in creationism requires a certain amount of "lalala I'm not listening" because rational empirical evidence points the other way. As to the existence of God, a higher being is by nature unknowable except by itself or beings higher than it (would God have its own God?) so there's no way to really tell. Certainly the Bible is historically inaccurate and depicts a God who on the one hand loves everyone, and on the other hand commits or sanctions acts of genocide and other horrific crimes. There is almost nothing in the Old Testament of any moral worth. The New Testament, perhaps, but it's a myth, just like all myth, except that people actually believe in it to this day. The purpose of a myth is to impart knowledge and wisdom in a culturally relevant way. People who live in the forest have earth gods and animal gods. People who lived in Egypt had sun gods and fertility gods. People who lived in the tundra had moon gods and wind gods. The value of myth is not literal truth but metaphorical truth. Jesus died for our sins to teach us that great sacrifice will be rewarded. Jesus healed the sick to teach us not to despair at ill health. Jesus fed the hungry to teach people not to resort to thievery and desperation. Yet people would rather focus on the agony of a man being crucified as a guilt trip.

If some of it is not really God's true word, how do you know which is which? How do you know that the parts you believe to be true are in fact true?

Edited by user 13 June 2009 02:10:33(UTC)  | Reason: Not specified