Should Evolution be considered Science or Religion?

Question

How much faith do you need to believe that we evolved from absolutely nothing? The whole universe supposedly came from a spec (that appeared from nothing) and created everything that we see and everything that we don't. All the "missing links" all have been proven frauds or highly questionable. "Lucy" the monkey/whatever came from bones that were spread out the distance of a football field and the dino/bird missing link that National Geographic purchased for thousands of dollars was actually to skellatons glued together by chinese guy (that knew scientist were desperate to find the missing link). You can carbon date live animals at thousands of years old and we are expected to believe they are accurate on dating fossils. The list goes on. Does this take as much faith as believing in God? Do we not want to believe in God because we don't want to be accountable?

Answer 1

I don't know, I think it's a relgion personally. Science is observeable and Evolution isn't. They have never observed The Big Bang they have never observed us coming from a rock 4.5 Billion years ago.

Answer 2

Creation Science or Intelligent Design... Whatever you want to call it. It is a grasping attempt at duping the general public into thinking there is some kind of conspiracy or that there is some sort of legitimacy to literal translations of the book of genesis because they lack the spiritual depth and faith to understand that the Bible was written to be understood by both sheep herders 5 thousand years ago and Astronauts today. Intelligent design supporters need to understand the difference between truth and fact and realize that the Bible is about something more important than what created humans, apes, sheepdogs and tapeworms.

The side effects of this public bamboozling (or perhaps the direct intended effects) are to neuter the teaching of science in public school and give creedence to pseudo science, like UFO's, Big Foot, a creation of the entire universe in six 24 hour days.

Let's turn the tables around... "Intelligent Design" makes it's argument by trying to poke holes in evolutionary theory... They don't propose anything themselves... An argument may go something like... "Evolution goes against the law of Entropy"... therefore, there is only one way... The way of God in the Bible... The earth was thought up in six days and the universe and all the light travelling from distant stars was put into existance in those six days... Why do we need proof when we have the book written by the man that witnessed it all... God himself?

When has a REAL argument FOR intelligent design ever been published in a professional journal (ie: Journal of Paleontology). I don't mean a hack at evolution... I mean a real scientific experiment that actually shows or captures the hand of god at work in creating something?

What you're reading is a bunch of "stuff" that sounds really good to the layman (the average person), but doesn't hold water by those who understand the scientific process. Some of it is outright lies... most of it is throwing toothpicks at a mountain. Study geology or paleontology for more than a single semester of college and you'll understand.

To answer the "missing link" question: The missing link idea was put out as a silly media idea for the average mind of the 1920's... and Lucy wasn't an ancestor by the way... a cousin or different branch in the evolutionary tree. Think what you want about her recovery, it would take me six months to teach you fossil deposition. If we found a "missing link", then where would be the "missing link" between the "missing links". We occupy a very small portion of the evolutionary tree at the very top branches.

If life on earth were put into a one year calender, the entire human history would only exist in the last six seconds of december 31. It's been a very long path of natural selection to get where we are. We don't live in areas where fossilization is very easy. Most of the creatures we know about in our past were those that lived in and around river banks, swamps and shallow seas where burrial is quick and bones can be preserved.

But the information we have is immense. The order of development, the increased complexity... It's all there. Facts are facts... Faith is faith... I as a Christain, believe that God could not have picked a better way to design a human being than by making him adaptable... by making him the best of the best of over three billion years of trial and error and adaptable to any future hardships.

One final note... You'll hear hacks about evolution with regards to the "Law of Entropy" (the universal tentancy toward chaos). Like I mentioned earlier, when considering the law of Entropy, you have to take into account the entire system (ie: the Solar System). The sun is tending toward chaos and when it dies, life will cease to flourish. Until that time (which I hope is a very long ways away), life will continue to develop and become more complex.

If you want proof that there are "missing link" creatures, take a look at archaeopterix -- half dinosaur -- half bird....

The argument for Carbon 14 dating is another common tack they take in trying to flim flam those who don't understand science. C14 dating is usually confirmed by other means, but is (on the whole) accurate. It does very rarely make mistakes, but it is widely considered accurate within a limited age range. If you want to find out the facts about C14 dating, you can go to www.c14dating.com... or you can believe what you wish.

Answer 3

Evolution is a science, because like all sciences the theory can be disproved and or developed
Religion whilst man made, is unprovable (as yet) and based purely on faith or belief.
The fossil record is an accurate measure of time and species. Carbon dating is based on the known half life of carbon and the amount of carbon remaining in any given specimen. As with all scientific matters it is open to abuse by hoaxes, but these can be, and are, disproved.
There is also the school of thought that we, as a entirity, are no more than the culture in some petri dish of a greater Alien being (God?) Till such times as that theory is disproved there will always be the belief in a supreme being.

Answer 4

Science.

No faith required. You can examine the evidence and come up with the best explanation for it yourself, write a paper, and submit it to a peer-reviewed journal. If your explanation is "better" than evolution, congratulations.

There are plenty of ape and hominid fossils that aren't fraudulent or "highly questionable."

Carbon dating isn't useful on things younger than, say, 1700 because of the amount of "old" carbon that's been introduced into the air by burning coal, oil, and other carbon-based fossil fuels. The presence of "old" carbon (Carbon 12) will give a misleading reading of older than the item actually is.

Believing in God requires faith. There are no reliable direct measurements or observations of God made in the last 1,970 years.

Answer 5

Evolution says absolutely nothing about the universe coming from a speck, that is cosmology, astrophysics. The reason I believe in evolution has nothing to do with accountability or existence of god, it has to do with education and understanding even the simple difference between biology and astrophysics.

Thanx for pointing out 3 failures of scientists in their quest for knowledge. Now, did you know that for hundreds of years, doctors thought that "humors" caused illness? THey thought we had 4 humors and if they were out of balance, we got sick. Should they have given up when they found out they were wrong? Do you know why we all generally live to our mid 70's? Becuase they kept going. They didn't sit back and read the bible and have faith that we would suddenly go from living to our 40's to our 70's. God had nothing to do with that.

Please educate yourself on some evolution before making these statments. And understand that when scientists first understood the pattern woven by all the fossils we have, there was no carbon dating. You don't need carbon dating to make sense of the progression of fossils.

Answer 6

Evolution is a science . it use the scientific method of studying something find a hypotheses . and testing it . to be very basic . one would want to use a double blind study . it can also be observed in a lab with insects and other short lived small species .
It does not have any particuaLar dogma unless you can call survival of the fittest in a very narrow sense a dogma . What hat really means is that creatures which adapt best to surviving in their environment get to pass on their gens and attract more :"mates"
it is a very sound theory .
You do not need need any faith to believe in 3evolution at all any one form any Faith can it can even be compatible with religion if you do not take every thing in your particular religion literally .
I takes more faith to believe in a god thatcannot even be show to exist in any manner that is reliable . . unlike evolution where there is a lot of evidnece for it and we can actaully see it in action we cannot see a god or know if a god is doing something or not . we can atrubirte somthing to god but we cannot know if this god did or did not actaully have any thing ot do with it .
As for proving good does not exist itis impossible to prove a negativeand not really worth anyones time . you eiter bel;ive or you do not it is up to you .
you do not even have to elive in evolution but that might not be a good idea if you wish to gt inot a good college or university .
ID inteelgent design is just a sneaky way of saying crearionism and teaching that god created earth andall it's cretures stuff.
that take a tremidous amount offaith to believe .

Answer 7

Science and religion have been at odds for ages. It is in the best interest of all humankind that we keep them separate, just as we do church and state. At one time, it was considered religious heresy to believe the earth was round. In time, the proof of a round earth became too obvious for religion to deny. This is an example of how religious beliefs can sometimes interfere with the progress of science and a better understanding of world. Today, science and religion are clashing over evolution vs creationism. Some very religious people believe that science is once again threatening the very heart of their faith--the Holy Bible and "God's" account of creation. But they need not be in conflict. Let's recognize that science is not faith, and faith is not science. Let each keep their distance from each other so that each can prosper. Over time, science will either correct the inaccuracies of our religious beliefs or prove them to be true. We simply have to accept that fact and move on. What else makes sense?

Answer 8

First, you are confusing two very different questions, but in answer to your question: technically, Evolution is a scientific theory as to how life may have begun and how it has changed or "evolved" since it began.

Now to the problem your question really presents...

Religion answers the questions about "why" something happened or presents a moral guide as to how people should relate to one another or presents a glimpse of what the future holds. It deals with the spiritual realm and only impacts the physical realm in as much as it deals with the items in the previous sentence. As such it never answers the question of "how".

Science answers the questions of "how" something occurs or presents theories based on repeatable observations as to "how" it might have occurred or will occur in the future. It can never, nor will it ever, answer the question of "why" something occurs. For example, a lot of scientific fact and study and theories can go into the act of a person using a gun to shoot and kill another person. Science can measure the angle of the bullet, the distance it travels, the muzzle velocity, the time the bullet travels, the force with which it strikes the body, the carnage caused by the bullet striking the body, the amount of blood lost, the time it took for the body to die, the sequence in which systems in the body shut down and the effects of one system shut-down on the other systems. BUT it cannot tell WHY the person shot the other -- what is hate? what is grief? what is confusion? what is an accident? These are not in the realm of science.

Let me expand on these two things: The Biblical account of creation in the Book of Genesis says that God created everything in seven days. It never tells how He did it -- only that it occurred. It does not give every detail about Creation -- it hits the highlights that important in understanding who God is and why He should be important to you. He is your creator; He sustains you; He provided a guide for your life and how you should relate to others based on how He related to His creation. It does not say that Adam and Eve were the only people God created -- it only gives the story as it relates to them. Obviously, there are other "facts" related to the story of Adam and Eve otherwise there would have been no one for their sons and grandchildren to have married; yet, it says nothing about the origin of these spouses.

Does that mean the story is wrong or contradictory? No, it just means that the story is centered on Adam and Eve and God's relationship with them; it provides the background for the sacrifice of Jesus as a substitionary sacrifice for your sins.

On the other hand. Evolution says that man evolved from lower forms of life through natural selection. It does not say anything about how man should relate with one another or give any kind of moral guidance to those facts/theories. If it claims that the earth is 4.5 billion years old, that does not contradict the Bible. The Genesis account of Creation says it took place in 7 days, but other places in the Bible state that "a day is as a thousand years and a thousand years is as a day with the Lord" (in other words, time itself is irrelevant with God). If God created the world in 7 days or 7 billion years, does that make it any less remarkable or God any less omnipotent?

Of course, some people can make "evolution" their religion. Whatever you give your allegiance and whole attention to is your religion -- is it your money? you kids? your friends? your God? Do you spend all your time watching TV and listening to iPods? How much time do you spend talking with or meditating on God? Maybe God is not your religion either?

Answer 9

To believe that God created is a faith-based position.
To reject and not even consider creation on the basis that there is no God (the atheist position) is just as much a faith-based position, albeit with a different conclusion.
Some try to have it both ways by saying, either, that God used evolution to create, or that seven day creation is consistent with current scientific knowledge (if not with popular theory).
You decide.

Answer 10

i think evolution should be consider science. religion is something that should be make feel peace and feel close to their creator. for me i like science,learning about how this universe been created,how amazing every little thing that alive try hard to survive but also i believe there's god that always give love to all creature.and i think when the world fight on the name of god they shouldbe ashamed, they should live in peace side by side,because if only their religion that should the right one,why they have to killthe other,while you can live together

Answer 11

i substitute into going to throw astronomy in there as an obvious counterexample on your limited view of technological understanding, yet I see you added it to the combination. you have in basic terms pushed aside all of astronomy. I actually don't comprehend the place to start. you have additionally pushed aside each and every remark relating to the chemical content textile of the solar (are we there?), the life of atoms (can we see them?) or the form of molecules, which contain H20 = water (how do all of us comprehend the perspective of the bond? can we degree it with a protractor?), the area to stars (can we positioned a ruler next to it?), the interior the earth (we are able to purely dig some miles, there might desire to be something in there), and each CAT test (how do all of us comprehend it extremely is a image of what's interior you if we did no longer decrease you open?) And that checklist is in basic terms commencing up. yet we do have good wisdom of those issues. they're outfitted up of an interconnected internet of sciences and observations of issues we are able to administration interior the laboratory. they're shown (no longer shown, you do no longer coach a medical concept) by applying the predictions they make approximately destiny observations. we will not substitute stars, yet we are able to assume that we could continually come across a celebrity someplace doing THAT and its spectrum could appear like THIS. and then we seem for one. And we come across one.