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Is It Time For All Religions To Accept Evolution?
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A very interesting debate.
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How can they ?
ALL religions have a creation myth, and these are always supernatural in their basic structures.
ALL religions rely on the irrational belief in illogical circumstances.
ALL religions make it a basic requirement that you discard any other religion, or theory that would put your own religion into question.
So it is difficult to see how Evolution could possibly be accepted, as it would undermine completely the very basis of any religion.
I have a colleague that is part of one the many new "born again" Christian sects. She is quite normal about most things, but insists that the Earth is only 6000 years old, or maybe 60,000 years old, and yet she trekked down into the Grand Canyon last year, when on holiday in the States. If she is able to both enjoy this wonderful and stupendous geological feature, and insist that its only a few years old, then I fail to see how she could possibly accept Evolution.
Years ago, I had another work colleague who was a very highly qualified Scientist and Engineer. He was also a Hindu. He told me that he believed that the island of Ceylon, or Sri Lanka as we must now call it, was created when a giant bird was flying over the Indian Ocean and did a great big poo. This fell into the sea and an island was born ! Another character that would have terrible trouble with Evolution I fear.
I am sure that there will be the usual suspects on AB that will invoke all sorts of Biblical tracts and quotations, along with those from other religious persuasions that will desperately try to argue that they can be both educated and believe in such nonsense as I have outlined above. But, like Voltaire I would defend their right to hold such views.
But they are deluded.
ALL religions have a creation myth, and these are always supernatural in their basic structures.
ALL religions rely on the irrational belief in illogical circumstances.
ALL religions make it a basic requirement that you discard any other religion, or theory that would put your own religion into question.
So it is difficult to see how Evolution could possibly be accepted, as it would undermine completely the very basis of any religion.
I have a colleague that is part of one the many new "born again" Christian sects. She is quite normal about most things, but insists that the Earth is only 6000 years old, or maybe 60,000 years old, and yet she trekked down into the Grand Canyon last year, when on holiday in the States. If she is able to both enjoy this wonderful and stupendous geological feature, and insist that its only a few years old, then I fail to see how she could possibly accept Evolution.
Years ago, I had another work colleague who was a very highly qualified Scientist and Engineer. He was also a Hindu. He told me that he believed that the island of Ceylon, or Sri Lanka as we must now call it, was created when a giant bird was flying over the Indian Ocean and did a great big poo. This fell into the sea and an island was born ! Another character that would have terrible trouble with Evolution I fear.
I am sure that there will be the usual suspects on AB that will invoke all sorts of Biblical tracts and quotations, along with those from other religious persuasions that will desperately try to argue that they can be both educated and believe in such nonsense as I have outlined above. But, like Voltaire I would defend their right to hold such views.
But they are deluded.
//Religion is based on faith//
No, a person religiously inclined or not, puts his faith in something. He may not believe in God, but he will believe in himself, the security of his bank account, the value of education, the superiority of a certain form of government, the integrity of a friend. So faith takes on many forms. But it was to man’s relationship to his Creator and his confidence in the outworking of God’s purposes that Jesus referred when he said: “Nevertheless, when the Son of man arrives, will he really find the faith on the earth?”—Luke 18:8.
No, a person religiously inclined or not, puts his faith in something. He may not believe in God, but he will believe in himself, the security of his bank account, the value of education, the superiority of a certain form of government, the integrity of a friend. So faith takes on many forms. But it was to man’s relationship to his Creator and his confidence in the outworking of God’s purposes that Jesus referred when he said: “Nevertheless, when the Son of man arrives, will he really find the faith on the earth?”—Luke 18:8.
Religion is based on the presumption of an answer which is not to be questioned and for which any subsequent knowledge is required to conform. The less a religion asserts about that which is subsequently proven to be the case the more accommodating it will be to the facts as they are uncovered and revealed. The most successful religion will ultimately prove to be the one that presumes and asserts the least about that which has yet to be confirmed, one that does not dictate 'truth' but rather remains resolute in its pursuit of further knowledge and that is the opposite of religion, that is science.
Religion asserts 'facts' . . . science ascertains them.
Religion asserts 'facts' . . . science ascertains them.
Any grown up religion should recognise that they are on a slippery slope to irrelevance and ridicule when they continue to deny the evidence, or attempt to suggest that dinosaurs and mankind co-existed ( they must think the Flinstones is a contemporary documentary).
The clover leaf they can adopt is that evolution is the mechanism that god chooses to use in order to drive diversity. Only the wrong- headed or the deluded persist in denying it.
Given that statement above, it is somewhat ironic that,according to goodlife, the faithful supposedly place a premium on "good education". Any education that does not accept and acknowledge evolution or that promotes the idea that stories in the bible take precedence over observation,evidence, open enquiry and the scientific method is creating generations of the ignorant.
The clover leaf they can adopt is that evolution is the mechanism that god chooses to use in order to drive diversity. Only the wrong- headed or the deluded persist in denying it.
Given that statement above, it is somewhat ironic that,according to goodlife, the faithful supposedly place a premium on "good education". Any education that does not accept and acknowledge evolution or that promotes the idea that stories in the bible take precedence over observation,evidence, open enquiry and the scientific method is creating generations of the ignorant.
goodlife, the items on your list (and many others) which a normal person is happy to believe is not the result of faith but of examining the facts and coming to a reasonable conclusion at that time. If his bank acount turns out not to be safe and his friend treacherous he will instantly change his mind in view of the new evidence.
This is a long way from faith which is mere blind credulity, belief without evidence, which therefore never has any reason to change.
It's not very polite to try to debit rational people with your own irrationality.
This is a long way from faith which is mere blind credulity, belief without evidence, which therefore never has any reason to change.
It's not very polite to try to debit rational people with your own irrationality.
argorstran, interesting video - I watched it all. You're talking my language.
To answer the question, evolution seems to have affected many religions in that, where the age of the universe and the evolution of animals is concerned, they have, over time, developed in-built elastic boundaries. However, they still haven't come to terms with man's appearance, and I don't suppose they ever will because if man was originally made in the image of God, evolution would suggest that God must look something like an amoeba. ;o)
To answer the question, evolution seems to have affected many religions in that, where the age of the universe and the evolution of animals is concerned, they have, over time, developed in-built elastic boundaries. However, they still haven't come to terms with man's appearance, and I don't suppose they ever will because if man was originally made in the image of God, evolution would suggest that God must look something like an amoeba. ;o)
Here are some quotes of interest:
Mark Twain : #Go to heaven for the climate .#
# Go to hell for the company .~
Ben Johnson :
If I believe in heaven, and there is no heaven . I lose nothing.
If I don't believe in heaven and there is a heaven . I lose everything.
A theist once said to me , you may as well be a believer because it's better than the alternative.
Mark Twain : #Go to heaven for the climate .#
# Go to hell for the company .~
Ben Johnson :
If I believe in heaven, and there is no heaven . I lose nothing.
If I don't believe in heaven and there is a heaven . I lose everything.
A theist once said to me , you may as well be a believer because it's better than the alternative.
goodlife:-
I ‘cling to’ evolution in the same way that I ‘cling to’ electricity, aerodynamics and all other established scientific principles.
Evolution is not challenged by science. You do not say how it is challenged by morality.
If your God existed I’d be delighted to clash with him on the subject of evolution. He wouldn’t stand a chance
I ‘cling to’ evolution in the same way that I ‘cling to’ electricity, aerodynamics and all other established scientific principles.
Evolution is not challenged by science. You do not say how it is challenged by morality.
If your God existed I’d be delighted to clash with him on the subject of evolution. He wouldn’t stand a chance
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