Evolution & Atheism... Is it really more plausible?

[Bigeyez]

Um, Catholicism acknowledges the fact that there could be evolution. Therefor, it accepts the ideas of God and evolution. They are not mutually exclusive.

Pretty much this. The church acknowledges evolution as a definite possibility. That doesn't mean God doesn't exist. He simply started the whole shebang is what they basically say.

So yeah if even the church accepts it then whats the issue.

 

[oppp7]

You need evidence for evolution? There's piles of it everywhere, but check Wikipedia for a summary.

Theropods evolved into birds.
Apes evolved into humans.
Fish evolved into amphibians. Amphibians to reptiles. Reptiles to mammals...

The egg came first, a something that wasn't a chicken laid it.

 

[stone0042]

The official stance is that God kickstarted Life and let it go nuts. When Humans came about, He showed up and said, "Hey, kids, check this out", then showed them how to murder'n'shit.

Well, probably not that, but the first part is true. God shows up, kickstarts a self-replicating chemical reaction and watches the results. Occasionally dropping a meteor or two, when He got bored.

That's actually closest to what i believe, that evolution does happen, but that it is a result of God's larger plan. That he created all life 4.7 billion years ago (or whatever the number is, that seems to stick out from earth science), and knew that we would evolve as the dominant species on Earth. More or less

 

[space_oddity]

Read "On The Origin of Species", dont ask people on the internet.

 

[Socken]

Why isn't this locked yet?

Seriously, there won't ever be a reasonable debate about this kind of thing. Especially when the OP acts like a raging extremist insulting everyone who opposes his views.

 

[DrDeath3191]

I'm a Christian. I also believe in Evolution, because it is based upon fact. Through observation, Evolution is the most plausible theory on life at its current state. That doesn't make me less Christian (unless you're a Biblical Fundamentalist), it makes me a logical human being.

 

[Ultrasnail]

evolution is logical smart and very complicated, asuming that everything was made by a god is just to easy of an answer.

also there are no cheerios in front of me if there was a god i would have cheerios.

 

[Zacharine]

try and offer some real evidence FOR evolution.

Didn't yet read all 5 pages, but if it hasn't been linked yet...

"29+ Evidences for Macroevolution: The Scientific Case for Common Descent"

http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/

Talkorigins was made to refute common arguments made by creationists. But this little page here gives proof for 'macro'evolution as criticized by creationists. It'll act as a good starting point for evidence to evolution. But beware! It may contain scientific terminology that depending on your education might or might not go over your head. An excerpt from "Part 3. Evolutionary opportunism, Prediction 3.2: Molecular parahomology"

"On the molecular level, the existence of parahomology is quite impressive. Many proteins of very different function have strikingly similar amino acid sequences and three-dimensional structures. A frequently cited example is lysozyme and α-lactalbumin. Almost all animals have lysozyme. It is a secreted protein used to degrade bacterial cell walls as a means of defense (Voet and Voet 1995, p. 381). α-Lactalbumin is very similar structurally to lysozyme, even though its function is very different (it is involved in mammalian lactose synthesis in the mammary gland) (Acharya et al. 1989; Voet and Voet 1995, p. 608). It can often be inferred from molecular phylogenies, as it has been here, that the protein with the more basic function (e.g. lysozyme) is also the older protein (Prager and Wilson 1988; Qasba and Kumar 1997)."

The reason why direct evidence is rarely givn, is because many of us do not have the background knowledge required to truly understand or analyze the evidence beyond the very basics.

That is also why many people don't bother with it, quite unfortunetaly. When they'd have to read dozens of books worth of texts, studies and predictions made using terminology that might as well be in ancient Sumerian writing for all they understand of it, interest in the subject vanes fairly quickly. By all means, demand evidence. That is well and good! But be prepared to do the work to understand that evidence.

 

[Mikkaddo]

The problem with "evolution makes more sense" is that when I WAS catholic, I honestly believed that "the big bang" which is what most atheists that I've met online claim was a random act of the universe being random, was put into place BY God. ie: God started it off and it went from there through a design he set forth prior to that point. Meaning evolution, dinosaurs, and all that made perfect sense WITHIN the biblical sense. After all, what better way to logically explain Adam and Eve then something akin to Cromagnun Man (sp?)

The idea that God just put down a fully realized world with everything instantly in place makes no sense, especially if you follow the "dinosaurs are a conspiracy!" idea. It seems awful convenient to call that a conspiracy. Considering the first dinosaurs were found CENTURIES ago, I seriously doubt Chinese miners 1200 years ago were coming up with a way to fake huge bones of mystical looking creatures to explain away the lack of reality in a faith that was based in, and followed in nations that they refused to trade with.

I'm not saying there isn't a God, or anything else, I happen to follow a different faith sure, but it just doesn't make sense to think that there's no way anything else could be possible. Atheist or not, you shouldn't try to convince a person nothing else is possible EXCEPT what you believe. I'm the first to admit it's POSSIBLE the dinosaurs are actually a conspiracy, it's INCREDIBLY unlikely, which is why I put in what I did up there, but it's not impossible. As "The Guide" has taught us, nothing is actually impossible, just not very probable.

 

[Numbert]

You can argue against Atheism all you want. At least that's something debatable. Saying evolution is completely wrong is just a lack of knowledge. Evolution has more the theory of evolution has more evidence than gravitational theory, but I seriously doubt you would deny the existence of gravity. Even most Christians accept evolution, it's just something you need to learn.

 

[Sparrow]

Bugger me.

I sleep for three hours people and you cook up an ubor war.

The OP didn't seem bigheaded or a dick of any sort, which is why it confuses me why so many of you went out of your way to start flames...

Well, what the hell. This thread isn't exactly going to get any worse, so I'll add my two cents to it.

If all atheists are as big a dickheads as the rest of you lot, count me in on that relgion stuff.

 

[AngloDoom]

Wait, just a second here.

How can people say they are Christian and believe in evolution? If the Bible says "God made man", then God made man, right? It doesn't say "God made chimps and then left them a while in a pre-heated oven then let them settle over night to become man". How exactly can both viewpoints be supported?

I'm not at all religious and I'm not trying to catch anyone out here; I genuinely want to know the reasons behind this. Most of the people I knew who were Christian seemed to twist the Bible to a 'one-size-fits-all' explanation of the world and would quite happily contradict themselves and their gospel to win an argument, so you'll have to forgive me if I seem pessimistic when I ask how that makes sense.

It just strikes me as choosing particular parts of the Bible to take literally, while others as 'symbolic', but only when it makes it fills in the blanks. My personal view is that Christianity was a set of stories made by man or woman for moral guidance rather than the words of a deity; but somewhere along the line I also think people took advantage of this and used it as a method of control and false justification.

 

[traceur_]

Ah, another religion thread. I could of course once again say everyone can believe what they want and trying to bash other people's beliefs (or even a proven biological concept) is completely pointless. I'm pretty tired of that though, so instead I just respond with a picture of a kitten:

I think that's the most sensible thing in this entire thread.

Seriously, can we stop this bullshit?

 

[eels05]

I'm still left wondering at the effort put in by religious fundamentalists to attemt to disprove Evolution.

Evolution makes no attempt to unthrone God as creator of all things.

Evolution as I understand it dosen't even go anywhere near what came before life on Earth.

To properly answer the OP,yes from what I've read about Evolution it makes more sense as an explanation that those offered by theists.

 

[US Crash Fire]

you'd think atheists would not have a religious bias twords anyone and be more open minded but all of the atheists i have ever met have always told me how stupid and ignorant i was for being a christian (lutheran. AKA catholic lite) and how i deserved to be ripped on for it. all they did was insult my inteligence and try to degrade me. even my roomate and friend for the last 5 years who was catholic and recently converted to atheism did this to me! this made little sense to me. i have had friends who are muslim, buhdist and pagan who did not care that i was a christian because i was cool with them and they were cool with me. (except for my pagan friend ripping on me every christmas because he said we were celebrating the same holiday.) the point is i have no problem with atheits and i do NOT wish to convert anyone. im not a religious nut job. hell, i dont even go to a church. but i would like to know why all the atheists i have met seem to have a sense that they are better than everyone else. i am sure this is not the case for all atheists but if anyone has any answers let me know.

 

[Bored Tomatoe]

... Really, are you serious...

 

[Shock and Awe]

Both Atheism and Theism are leaps of faith, just in different directions.

 

[tsb247]

Religion and science will never coexist peacefully, because you have the two strongest fundamental aspects of human nature: faith, and truth. Do not flame me because I say truth, or I will force you to ride the triceratops with the fucking saddle. What I mean is, science gives answers and satisfies the human need for knowledge. We need to know WHY things are. Hence why Amelia Earhart is still studied even though all she was was some chick who crashed a plane. We don't know what happened, so we need to find out. Faith on the other hand gives a different sort of knowledge. Rather than breaking things down into their little bits, they look at a bigger picture that seems to explain things. Hence, faith. It's fire and water, the two cannot exist in the same place, which is why quite frankly we should stop bothering with this discussion.

Now watch as ten people quote lines from my post out of context and point out how I'm wrong.

Actually, I would rather quote your post to point out how right you are. Science and faith will probably never agree, and even though the two can intermingle at times, they usually do not blend well together.

My grandmother said the wisest thing to me a few years ago when I asked her of her views on teach evolution in schools. Keep in mind that my grnadmother is one of the most religious people I know, and she regularly teaches a Bible study once a week.

When asked, "Do you think we should be teaching evolution in schools?" she replied, "Yes, because creation is not science. We go to school to learn how to read and write as well as to learn mathematics and science." Well, that's not exactly it, but she said something along those lines.

Personally, I believe in the whole 'kickstart' philosophy as mentioned above, but whatever...

 

[Spleenbag]

My view? We had single-celled organisms, and God was the catalyst for multiple-celled organisms to begin appearing. As soon as that happened, he sat back and let evolution take place.

Other people in here have stated similar things, I believe. Not going to go find the quotes though.