Poll: Evolution Yay or Nah?

[rednose1]

Well, I think evolution is pretty solid as how we got here, there are still questions to anwser. Why do we have such high amounts of technology? Evolution is all about survival of the fittest spreading its genes, so why once we established ourselves, did we continue to explore and discover new things.? The Native American, Mayans, African tribesmen, Aboriginals, all had established themselves in their area, and once that happened, they stopped. Why wasn't this the case for humanity as a whole?
Additionally, why do we have art and such? If evolution is all about the strongest surviving, then what use is art or music to survival? Being physically better would help fight off predators and procure food, while being smarter would allow you to outwit predators, achieving the same results.
Also, why does kindness exist in the world? People will help out those in need, giving their own time/money/energy to help strangers to them, not related in any way. I would think if anything, that is the opposite of what evolution would have you do. Killing off someone would remove them as a competitor for food/territory/mating competition as solitary animals, while allowing the weak and sick to killed off while the group escapes works for herd animals.
These are just some things that I couldn't think of any viable anwser for why evolution would cause such a thing. I could be far off the mark, or these questions could already be anwsered out there somewhere, seeing as how I haven't actively pursued them.

 

[FernandoV]

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

 

[juraigamer]

If you cannot give me evidence proving an explanation for how life sprung out of nowhere to begin the evolution process, you cannot call evolution "fact".

I would post a plethora of links that explain how life began on earth, and how it evolved to the state in which the planet is today, but I'm lazy. Either look it up yourself or don't bother me about it. The "facts" are out there, just a google search away.

 

[Saelune]

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

 

[MPerce]

I'll say it simply, from the standpoint of someone who also believes in God and Jesus and all that jazz.

Yes. Evolution happens. There is overwhelming scientific evidence. The Bible is not a legitimate source on world creation.
Christians who still get really vocal about the matter bug the crap outta me. If the world you've constructed around yourself is so fragile that the idea of animals not appearing out of thin air ruins your life, you need to rethink your priorities.
Christianity should be about loving and accepting you fellow human beings, and living a just and happy life. Not clinging to archaic and clearly silly views on the world.

 

[crudus]

I do accept evolution as fact. Is that the end of my contribution to the thread?

Of course I believe in evolution. However, I don't think that evolution precludes the existence of a god or anything.

I have seen people assume it does a lot. I had to write a philosophy paper a few years ago, and the entire premise was "assuming evolution is true, where does evil come from". I thought about it for hours and finally realized "evolution doesn't preclude any religion, per se. The religion my preclude evolution, but it isn't the other way around".

Macro evolution is a theory, which means nothing can conclusively prove it. ("a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural and subject to experimentation, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact. ")

I would just like to point out that there is a difference between a "theory" and a "scientific theory". A theory as defined in your post is much closer to a scientific hypothesis. A <a href=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientific_theory>scientific theory is actually backed by evidence and undergone a lot of scrutiny from many people(read: scientists). In fact <a =http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/theory>Dictionary.com's first definition of theory is actually the scientific definition of "theory". The second definition is how it is defined in your post.

 

[FernandoV]

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

I'm sure you know that you're just indulging your own side of the story at this point and have no actual founded way of supporting the infringement of the beliefs of others. If you do believe what you're saying then give it a couple of years until you've allowed your mind to open up a little. For some reason you keep on gearing the conversation in a way that claims that Christians are not at fault for anything. Argue something I actually said, if that's the case. Stop acting so suffered, you're being treated fine, from a government standpoint, you're as protected as can be. You're not in jail for believing what you want, right? Whatever qualms you have with your local community being bigots towards you is another issue. And abuse is not mutually inclusive to religion, that depends on the individual. My parents both believe in god but I'm not abused, they are fine with my sexuality, and respect my lack of beliefs.

 

[Falseprophet]

I accept evolution because of the immense weight of evidence supporting it. It is as robust and strong a scientific theory as any. No proffered alternative thus far has anywhere near the evidence that evolution does.

I also question the Biblical literacy of any Young Earth Creationist claiming to support the account of creation in the Book of Genesis. Genesis 1:1-2:3 and Genesis 2:4-25 relate two very different accounts of creation, which contradict each other on the timeline of events. So why do they proclaim the creation account of Genesis 1 but gloss over the contradictory tale in Genesis 2?

If you cannot give me evidence proving an explanation for how life sprung out of nowhere to begin the evolution process, you cannot call evolution "fact". Telling everyone that a theory is fact is asking for FAITH. Thus, science that calls itself "fact" is no better than any faith-based religion, perhaps worse for it's claims to be above it.

No one seriously claims evolution was a theory to explain the origin of life (and if there is, they're wrong). It's a theory to explain the origin of species.

 

[webby]

Well, I think evolution is pretty solid as how we got here, there are still questions to anwser. Why do we have such high amounts of technology? Evolution is all about survival of the fittest spreading its genes, so why once we established ourselves, did we continue to explore and discover new things.? The Native American, Mayans, African tribesmen, Aboriginals, all had established themselves in their area, and once that happened, they stopped. Why wasn't this the case for humanity as a whole?
Additionally, why do we have art and such? If evolution is all about the strongest surviving, then what use is art or music to survival? Being physically better would help fight off predators and procure food, while being smarter would allow you to outwit predators, achieving the same results.
Also, why does kindness exist in the world? People will help out those in need, giving their own time/money/energy to help strangers to them, not related in any way. I would think if anything, that is the opposite of what evolution would have you do. Killing off someone would remove them as a competitor for food/territory/mating competition as solitary animals, while allowing the weak and sick to killed off while the group escapes works for herd animals.
These are just some things that I couldn't think of any viable anwser for why evolution would cause such a thing. I could be far off the mark, or these questions could already be anwsered out there somewhere, seeing as how I haven't actively pursued them.

Technology: Started with rudimentary tools to make our life easier to reduce time spent doing remedial tasks and therefore allowing more time to find a mate/perform other tasks. The people with the most efficient tools could get more done, getting more done improves chances of survival.

Exploration/Discovery of new things: As stated above technology gives an edge in the survival front so improving said technology or discovering new technology was always evolutionarily beneficial, we have simply continued that. As for exploration, finding new food sources, all animals travel, we simply call it migration. Once again, beneficial so hardwired into our brain.

Other civilisations: They didn't "stop". Technological evolution was slow in those days, they simply didn't progress as fast as others and were overtaken or their civilisation collapsed. These things happen, not all things are equal in life.

Art/Music: Music was used as a tool of communication, art was used as a means of recording events. A wider knowledge basin is incredibly useful as is learning from past mistakes, makes perfect sense.

Kindness: We as humans are a pack animal, to survive we need the entire "pack" to survive. This created empathy for others. Even pirahnas won't feed on each other until times get incredibly desperate and even then they feed on the dead. Again, keeping as many people alive as possible is an evolutionary trait. Before someone asks why there is world hunger and the like, look into Dunbars number.

Evolution explains it all.

 

[FernandoV]

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

One of many ironies in their arguments is they use the founding fathers to defend the restriction of personal liberties based on religious dogma.

Is every Christian the same person now? And, yea, I know this is a dick move on my part, but don't use the word "irony" in order to scoff at someone when you're using it incorrectly.

 

[Saelune]

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

I'm sure you know that you're just indulging your own side of the story at this point and have no actual founded way of supporting the infringement of the beliefs of others. If you do believe what you're saying then give it a couple of years until you've allowed your mind to open up a little. For some reason you keep on gearing the conversation in a way that claims that Christians are not at fault for anything. Argue something I actually said, if that's the case. Stop acting so suffered, you're being treated fine, from a government standpoint, you're as protected as can be. You're not in jail for believing what you want, right? Whatever qualms you have with your local community being bigots towards you is another issue. And abuse is not mutually inclusive to religion, that depends on the individual. My parents both believe in god but I'm not abused, they are fine with my sexuality, and respect my lack of beliefs.

have you ever had your rights restricted from you? Maybe you are the one who needs an eye opener. Its never people who have been persecuted that argue your points against me. It would make a huge difference if a gay person defended christianity like you. So tell me, have you had your rights truly taken/kept from you? And how so?

 

[Nieroshai]

I believe in evolution. I am also a Christian. My bone to pick is the misuse of the term "evolution" to mean "the origin of life" instead of "the reason life is so diverse." Evolution explains how different species came about, and ties in with natural selection to weed out weaker mutations to aid adaptation. Where evolution fails to be more than a theory is that "scientists" use evolution as a catchall term to encompass everything conceivably biological. "How did life begin. It evolved." (nevermind that inorganic material does not evolve in the biological sense of the word) "Why did that species of insect evolve to look like a leaf? It evolved because it needed protection from predators." (nevermind that an animal can't just go "there's predators eating my species, whatever can I do? I KNOW! I'll try REAL HARD to make my kids vaguely leaf-shaped and convince them to make thheir kids more leaf-shaped until we look like our food!" Complete reversal of cause and effect) Pure and simple: there are things explained by evolution, and things that fall outside the scope of the theory. That scope is this: evolution is change over time within organic biological organisms through random mutations that are genetically inherited by their offspring. The way we use the word "evolution" today often ignores this simple definition to take the form of a scientific panacea.

 

[Samurai Silhouette]

I believe in the flying spaghetti monster. You can't disprove him, so he must be real!

Spoiler: DUH

Yes, I KNOW evolution is real. Only those that refute it are those who don't understand it.

 

[FernandoV]

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

I'm sure you know that you're just indulging your own side of the story at this point and have no actual founded way of supporting the infringement of the beliefs of others. If you do believe what you're saying then give it a couple of years until you've allowed your mind to open up a little. For some reason you keep on gearing the conversation in a way that claims that Christians are not at fault for anything. Argue something I actually said, if that's the case. Stop acting so suffered, you're being treated fine, from a government standpoint, you're as protected as can be. You're not in jail for believing what you want, right? Whatever qualms you have with your local community being bigots towards you is another issue. And abuse is not mutually inclusive to religion, that depends on the individual. My parents both believe in god but I'm not abused, they are fine with my sexuality, and respect my lack of beliefs.

have you ever had your rights restricted from you? Maybe you are the one who needs an eye opener. Its never people who have been persecuted that argue your points against me. It would make a huge difference if a gay person defended christianity like you. So tell me, have you had your rights truly taken/kept from you? And how so?

So I'm not allowed to argue the merits of artwork because I've never painted? The quality of a game because I've never created one? The severity of a war crime because I've never experienced it? I think not. If you are being oppressed by religion it is not being condoned by the government, that is a problem that you deal with yourself, phasing out religion isn't helping anyone. The second you deny a person the right to believe what they like is the second that they become violent in their fervor to defend it. If you've had your rights truly taken away from you then you can sympathize with the displeasure at having them taken away. You can't only defend YOUR right to believe.

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

One of many ironies in their arguments is they use the founding fathers to defend the restriction of personal liberties based on religious dogma.

Is every Christian the same person now? And, yea, I know this is a dick move on my part, but don't use the word "irony" in order to scoff at someone when you're using it incorrectly.

Yeah i caught my failed usage a minute ago. And no they aren't all the same but most that try to press their views on others often quote the founding fathers as if it would prove their points.

Those who do need to be corrected obviously but you were just generalizing on assumptions.

 

[Sight Unseen]

To the intended spirit of your question, yes, evolution is true. But no, I don't consider it a fact... It is a theory, which is so much more than a fact, its supported by millions of facts and hasn't yet been disproven by any to my knowledge

 

[Saelune]

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

I dont believe in evolution. Cause that means its just something I think. I have eyes and reason though, so saying I "believe" in evolution is innacurate.

Even if you believe in God, you can know evolution. But most god fearers dont understand the middle ground.

Did you post so you could display your edgy use of semantics? If their faith requires them to believe something other than evolution, or believe their god had some hand in evolution then that is their prerogative. Sure, they CAN believe in evolution if they wanted to, but it'd nobodies business if they don't.

You seem to have some weird idea that religion is some quiet group who just sit in their corner minding themselves. Religion pushes their ways and beliefs and thinking on everyone. I choose to simply try pushing back. Maybe not the best method, but Ill be damned if Im learning creationism in my science class.

Oh, but you aren't, are you? No, YOUR RIGHT to believe what you like is defended. You're not some champion for the cause of evolution; rather than trying to infringe on the rights of people to believe what they like you should break the image of arrogant atheists and accept them for their beliefs, whether they accept you for yours.

Yeah yeah yeah. Same old song and dance. I decry religion for infringing on human rights and so forth, and that makes ME the bad guy. I dont like fighting religion. I really wish I did not even have to care about it. Now, Im not saying Im not doing the same thing as them...but if so, then im doing THE SAME THING AS THEM. Yet you arent yelling at them too now are you?

Oh sorry about them, I'll have a talk with their parents as soon as..oh that's right. You're not a Christian telling an atheist he can't believe what he wants, you're an atheist saying Christians can't believe what they want. Grow up and stop going "But she started it!", I'm not your parent. Yea, you are the bad guy here, you like your right to believe what you like? They like their rights too. Don't be a hypocrite and expect only your beliefs to be valid.

Im not an athiest. The FACT that people always call me an athiest in these arguments kinda makes those who call me it a hypocrite. I mean, only athiests can hate religion? Thats a narrow minded view. Shame.

I'm sorry, up to this point I thought we were debating, but I don't see any argument there so much as a distraction. No, it's a logical assumption that given the information you presented one would assume you are an atheist. It's an educated guess, they're not always right but they are definitely not unfounded. There is no hypocrisy there, I didn't go and say "only atheists are unable to determine the religion of someone based on a forum post", so try to argue something in your next post.

Well its a logical assumption that a group of people who restrict the rights of others are bigots. Im not the bad guy for wanting facts over beliefs, nor am I a bad guy for wanting to be treated like a human, which the lack of that by religious groups primarily is my main driving force in putting down religion.
People always say "They have the right to believe what they want" Fine. Sure. But What they believe has invaded our politics and negatively affected billions. But hey, if the good guy is an abusive father figure who torments people based on sexuality, race, gender, opposing beliefs, then Im proud to be the bad guy.

I'm sure you know that you're just indulging your own side of the story at this point and have no actual founded way of supporting the infringement of the beliefs of others. If you do believe what you're saying then give it a couple of years until you've allowed your mind to open up a little. For some reason you keep on gearing the conversation in a way that claims that Christians are not at fault for anything. Argue something I actually said, if that's the case. Stop acting so suffered, you're being treated fine, from a government standpoint, you're as protected as can be. You're not in jail for believing what you want, right? Whatever qualms you have with your local community being bigots towards you is another issue. And abuse is not mutually inclusive to religion, that depends on the individual. My parents both believe in god but I'm not abused, they are fine with my sexuality, and respect my lack of beliefs.

have you ever had your rights restricted from you? Maybe you are the one who needs an eye opener. Its never people who have been persecuted that argue your points against me. It would make a huge difference if a gay person defended christianity like you. So tell me, have you had your rights truly taken/kept from you? And how so?

So I'm not allowed to argue the merits of artwork because I've never painted? The quality of a game because I've never created one? The severity of a war crime because I've never experienced it? I think not. If you are being oppressed by religion it is not being condoned by the government, that is a problem that you deal with yourself, phasing out religion isn't helping anyone. The second you deny a person the right to believe what they like is the second that they become violent in their fervor to defend it. If you've had your rights truly taken away from you then you can sympathize with the displeasure at having them taken away. You can't only defend YOUR right to believe.

My point is, you have a limited point of view too. I am very aware my point of view as someone who is LGBT is why I am so harsh on religion primarily. But you seem to think religion isnt infringing on human rights ALL THE TIME. You see to be in a niave bubble of freedom that blinds you to religion's dark side.