Science is not a religion, therefore you can't "believe" in it, and I as a Christian am not going to assume that I am omnipotent and that I understand everything that the bible says, EVER. So why this black and white debate, like it's a religion war? How about just trying to find out, it's a very interesting subject!
2007-10-01 03:23:36 · 16 answers · asked by Scatta 4 in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
Nice to hear from so many open-minded people today, thank you :)
2007-10-01 03:50:12 · update #1
As many human beings... as many chains of thought can there be. Mahavira, Gautama Buddha, Jesus Christ and prophet Mohammed... all gained enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation (moksha) in their lifetime... yet paths of all these enlightened souls were different... the goal always remaining the same... reaching the end of cosmic journey!
If one needs going from a city to another... there can be many paths... goal always remaining the same! Every human being has been endowed by god Almighty with the power of discrimination that distinguishes us from animals. Mounted with this power of discrimination... human beings reach the highest portals of life... the stage of enlightenment!
The theory of evolution and the theory of creationism... both are directly interrelated! In absence of one the other simply could not exist! How? I shall now explain the fundamentals of both theory of evolution and the theory of creationism as detailed in the Sacred Bhagavad Gita of Hinduism... the most sacred scripture existing on Mother Earth!
When God Almighty... the cluster of all purified souls atmans in the Cosmos explodes with a big bang... the Cosmos gets created! Our Cosmos consists of many universes... each universe consisting of many galaxies... each galaxy consisting of millions of the stars... amongst which our solar system... the sun is a small star!
When conditions become ripe on planets like Mother Earth for germination of life... the impure souls' atmans that spread out in the Cosmos at unimaginable speeds start manifesting life! As the rolling ball gathers moss... the souls' atmans after the big bang gathered impurities on the way! To cleanse themselves of the impurities within... the souls' atmans manifest a chain of bodies!
In the life cycle of the soul atman... an earthly domain of 96.4 million years... the soul atman needs manifesting 8.4 million lives before it reaches the cosmic end... the 8.4 millionth manifestation! When human beings gain enlightenment (kaivalya jnana) and finally salvation (moksha)... it is all over for the soul atman within!
Starting life in the cosmic cycle as an amoeba (single cell formation)... the first manifestation, life further evolves into multi-cell formation, then insect life, plant life, animal life and finally the form of human beings! The analogy is as simple as one taking birth as a child... growing up into a toddler... then a teenager... a finally a grown-up before leaving the mortal frame!
Limited by the power of the senses and the mind... life appears broken to human beings! After the death of the body... the life cycle of the soul atman within continues uninterrupted! The life cycle of the soul atman of 8.4 million manifestations and earthly domain of 96.4 million years is one single span of life!
Broken down to the basic building blocks of the Cosmos... the whole Cosmos is made up of clusters of atoms and molecules only. Everything is gaseous in nature! Only when perceived from the senses point of view... things appear solid! Truthfully... nothing else but God Almighty exists in the whole Cosmos.
The whole Cosmos was not created as mentioned in the bible. The interpretations vary... but not the teachings of the enlightened master! The teachings of Jesus Christ have no anomaly... the vested interests sometimes twist the facts! The Cosmos started with a big bang has been proved beyond doubt.
Without evolution... life would simply stagnate and die its own death! It is only through the process of evolution life moves ahead in the Cosmos. From the stage of amoeba to the form of human beings it takes a total of 7.3 million manifestations. In the human form alone we have 1.1 million manifestations.
The working of the cosmic system is beyond the purview of normal human beings. Only when we gain enlightenment... does the complete picture of the Cosmos emerge before one! Life in the cosmic system moves with clockwork precision. More on Human Evolution - http://www.godrealized.org/human_evolution.html
2007-10-05 03:06:59 · answer #1 · answered by godrealized 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I think that this is actually a great question. I am Agnostic (bordering on Atheist) but there seems to be so much in the way of misunderstanding the basics when it comes to questions like this. I think that while it's fine for people to believe what they want, they should at least be informed and come into a debate with an open mind.
Anyone who thinks evolution, or science in general, is in any way 'factual' has never studied science. Any real scientist will only say that their findings SUPPORT a hypothesis. Nobody who has ever said evolution is 'real' or a 'fact' knows what they are talking about. Science does not, and never has, found anything to be truly factual. Certainly there is plenty of evidence to support an evolutionary theory, and while I believe it to be the most plausible, it's by no means a fact.
By the same token, religion, regardless of the creation theory involved, is faith-based and cannot be looked upon as factual either. I think that this is something so engrained in people's lives for so many generations that they have come to accept it as fact. Taking Christianity as an example, what I think many people may not understand is that the bible was written by humans and in a time where people were still subject to superstition and things they were unable to understand. In addition, let's throw in that these writings were done some 2,000 years ago and have been subject to translation and interpretation over those years. Also, the churches have decided which writings they wanted to keep in the bible and which they decided didn't fit their needs. Many writings were lost or destroyed over the years. I think the fact that the Catholic church has a closed Canon shows that there's more than meets they eye.
I agree with the initial question posed here. Why is there any argument at all? Believe what you want to, but don't assume that everyone else should believe as you do, whether that's creationism or evolution (or brought here by extraterrestrials for that matter). Most certainly our goal should be to think for ourselves and as the question says, "How about just trying to find out"? All I would add would be, "Open your mind and ask questions".
2007-10-01 06:20:30 · answer #2 · answered by Bach 3 · 2⤊ 2⤋
Creationism is a religious doctrine not a scientific theory, the point of contention is that Creationists don't understand what the word "theory" means, they don't know that actual difference between a "theory" and a "fact", and they base all their arguments on that ignorance. Evolutionary Biological Theory is simply an explanation of observed processes, in order to be recognized as a Theory as opposed to a Hypothesis it has to be subjected to rigorous examination and testing followed by extensive peer review. Only when it has been proved is it recognized by the scientific community. Every aspect of evolution has been verified by either direct observation or DNA sequencing so rejecting it by saying it's "only" a Theory is semantically equal to saying it's "only" been proved to be true. The only argument the Creationists have is that the Bible says it, which is not sufficient for the scientific community, and thus Creationism cannot be considered, from a scientific standpoint, a Theory, only a conjecture. If one side cannot present and evidence and is incapable of even speaking English well enough to use the words under discussion correctly the other side cannot be expected to take them seriously, which most people, including the majority of Christians, do not. I have seen no sign that scientists would not be fully prepared to give a full and open minded hearing to any attempt to provide empirical demonstration of Religious Doctrine, but the Creationists refuse to do that. I would even point out that Thomas Aquinas pointed out centuries ago that matters of faith can't be scientifically proved and that it was a mistake to try. In the words of Cardinal Cesare Baronius, the purpose of the Bible is to show us how to go to Heaven, not how the heavens go", it's a Religious treatise not a science textbook and it's a mistake to try and use it as the later since doing so undermines it's value as the former.
2016-05-18 00:13:52 · answer #3 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Evolution and Creationism are two very different things and it's very hard to prove one way or another. You said science is not religion well religion is not science either. People should be able to believe what they want on the subject because it does have very religious connotations.
Honestly it's probably a bit of both. Something had to make the beginnings of life for it to evolve and evolution does happen.
2007-10-01 03:30:55 · answer #4 · answered by kiki 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Reminding you this is coming from an athiest point of view, and from someone who is irreligious (I except other peoples' point of views though)
Honestly, if I had to pick between the two, Evolution or Creationism, being athiest, I would pick Evolution. I don't think the Evolution theory is infalliable, which it is and it has questions are still unaswered, it's just hard for me to believe in anything like Creationism that has a higher power, or had a hand in creating something when we can't even acknowledge or see it for ourselves.
IMHO, nobody needs to worry about, argue about, or think down on others about it. What we really need to worry about is how to preserve what we have, not about how we obtained it. The argument wastes time, effort, and is only going to worsen.
2007-10-01 03:57:54 · answer #5 · answered by Jake Black 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
In the very old sense of the word "liberal," meaning thoughtful, objective and progressive, I wish all Christians, Jews, and Muslims were as liberal. They believe that they are, as you say, omnipotent. They don't think of it that way, but rather as accepting of a reasoned principle based on the "word of God." Unfortunately, faith is only logical when the two naturally and accidentally juxtapose each other. Much of the logic in faith fits the 60 of 72 forms of syllogistic logic that are "necessarily untrue." Only 12 of those forms are "possibly true." There is nothing wrong and much right with seeing "black and white," but the logic of it must fit one of the 12. "Faith" itself in the role of religion does not fit the 12.
2007-10-05 02:21:16 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
This debate, if there is one, (I never came across any) is simply because, people are yet to evolve out from both the euphoria of science as well as dogmatism of religion. For a change look at indian Philosophy, they never speak of creatoion, creator God, as well as evolution in this mundane manner, though they do have theory of evolution from the Upanishads.
2007-10-01 03:38:05 · answer #7 · answered by Dr. Girishkumar TS 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are so many holes in the evolution theory that it looks like the duck I shot yesterday morning. Some scientists have deliberately altered their data regarding evolution. Creationism isn't perfect either which is to be understanded. The real reason behind this fierce debate is a culture war between traditional folks on one end and the secular-progressives who want to turn us into a nanny state where you don't have to earn anything for yourself. The Scopes trial from the 1920s is a good example of this. Not many people believed in evolution until that publicity stunt was over and done with. If you need more information, read "Godless" by Ann Coulter or "Culture Warrier" by Bill O'Reilly.
2007-10-01 03:33:59 · answer #8 · answered by adm_twister_jcom 5 · 0⤊ 4⤋
All I've learned of evolution so far makes more sense to me than the creation stories. There are two different stories and there are slight differences in the timing of when each thing was created. (IE-in Genesis 1, God makes trees and other plants then a few other things-finally men and women; in Genesis 2, God makes the plants and seeds in the ground, then makes man to take care of them, then they appear, then God makes the animals (which were also made previous to humans in chapter one) to be a 'help-meet' for Adam, but they didn't work out so he finally puts Adam in a deep sleep and makes a woman to be his 'help-meet'.
2007-10-01 04:19:12 · answer #9 · answered by strpenta 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The very same question has been in mind for ages. Finally I realized that creation is the first step in evolution process. It’s like when we plant a seed in the soil. We initiate the framework for the process of growing to take place however the growing is an innate quality within the seed. I believe the same applies with creation and evolution. The Infinite Spirit/God planted the seeds of creation with the inherent feature to grow/evolve each according to its specification.
2007-10-01 03:38:42 · answer #10 · answered by MARY B 4 · 1⤊ 2⤋
I have no argument with creationists, to me its pointless since faith is remarkably impervious to reason. The evidence for evolution is compelling.
We are not the enemy of christians and other theists. Our quarrel is with irrationality, wishful thinking, superstitions, intellectual dishonesty, and all other forms of thinking that keep mankind mired in darkness, ignorance and hate.
Like someone said above, the people who think science is absolute don't know anything about science. It's the basis of science to always question, test, and retest hypotheses.
2007-10-01 12:57:42 · answer #11 · answered by Its not me Its u 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋