Do you think that the theory of natural selection is compatible with religious beliefs?

Question

Thanks to all your answers. Have a great day!

Answer 1

Great question - I'll give you the short version of my answer- lol

Yes, natural selection/creation is not only compatible but is the catalyst.

Modern man is still instinctually susceptable to behavior that "selected" him as the supreme being of the planet.

Evolution of prehistoric family groups, bands, tribes and eventually societies - gave dominion to the hominids who were able to subordinate self to the benefit of the group. Our prehistoric ancestors out-bred the competition and so the die cast. Societies evolved and competed with eachother for territory and other supremacies of the day. Kill or be killed was the daily grind.

Eventually some groups evolved more efficient means of existence. This did not always mean they killed better - but they were able to grow better. They became larger and more numerous. They became synchronized with eachother and better able to deal with the daily hostilities and threats. They became lead by those who were able to focus the energy and effort of the tribe for the benefit of all the tribe.

As tribes merged into societies more leader types merged into the group. And as the group became aware of itself and its leaders it became susceptable to the uprisings and power struggles that mark growth and change. However in the delicate balance of consistency and growth constant uprisings tore the newly emerging societies down.

Ancient civilization evolution stalled. Ancient man needed new creative ways to syncrhonize his societies and communties. Ancient man looked to the heavens in the midst of struggle and pain - eventually he surrendured. He gave his "Leadership Responsibility" to that which could not be questioned. It did not matter who or what the diety, only that man relieved himself from the pressure of keeping the masses synchronized. He could now direct energy to "create" instead of "constrain".

So now there is a "God" to fear and humans need not fear or question themselves. It did not matter if the God was the sun, the planets, the stars, wolf, buffalo or even man (in supernatural form). What was important is that modern man was now able to subordinate himself to the group (as he had been instinctually preprogrammed to do) in a way that would take the group to quantum leaps of evolution.

Not all societies subscribed or felt they needed these supernaturals and unearthly dieties. They were wiped out by crusades and holy wars - outbred quickly by societies that came together around a belief that was stoked by the instinct to subordinate themselves.

Finally you have todays religious belief systems - self fulfilling in rewards, and ability to restrain the masses with the threat of armagedon. Humankind created religion as a means of fulfilling the creation of itself. Generations of subordination have have obliterated the true order and will once again stall the evolution of modern civilization - this time man will find the answer by looking into himself, and finding harmony in the universal sequence of order and creation.

Some of us are taking the first wobbly steps on the path into this world of "enlightenment". Concentrated and controlled thought will be the next giant evolutionary leap, if you can hypnotize yourself and controll what you bring into your conciousness you are able to align universal code. If you can align it you can sequence it. If you can sequence it you can project into your experience exactly what you desire.

Everybody can do it when they understand it is possible.

Answer 2

Isn't it interesting that since humans can only create "fixed" or "finished" things, we think that a Divine Being would also be that restricted?

The Christian God was once likened to a Great Clockmaker. I think that is very appropriate.

I think of the Divine Being as having created matter, gravity, DNA and all those things - knowing (in that Divine way) EXACTLY how those forces would interact and evolve and ultimately follow the path INTENDED. Just like a clockmaker puts together all the wheels and springs and winds them up....then lets them go; confident that the mechanism will move the way it was intended and constructed to move.

If the Big Bang wasn't a miracle, what the bleep is?

:)
AT

Answer 3

Sure, in that it tests them. Many religious beliefs, be they Jewish, Christian, Islamic, Buddhist or Hindu, teach us to restrain our natural impulses and do things to thwart natural selection.

You pass a bakery window, you DON'T break the glass and stand there in the street gobbling down the apricot Danish; your moral code stops you, no matter which religion you follow or how hungry you are.

You see a pretty girl, you DON'T rape her, even if she is wearing tight pants and a low-cut blouse. (That Muslim cleric in Australia a few years ago who raised such a fuss with his "cover the meat to keep the cat from stealing it" comment had an awfully low opinion of his followers, in my opinion. If the Bishop of Paris warned all the bakeries in town to put thick steel mesh on their windows, lest his flock smash and gobble, you would not think less of the French; you would wonder what the Bishop had been putting in his morning coffee.)

Your parents get old, you take care of them instead of letting them crawl off into the wilderness and die.

Your child is born slow or halt or otherwise less than perfect; you love him and help him become a useful, if not stellar member of society instead of letting the wolves eat him, the way elk do.

Caring for the sick, the weak and the infirm is one of the tenets of every religion I know. It thwarts natural selection. We're not the only species that does it, but we do more of it than, for instance, frogs and ducks.

If I have mis-understood your question, and you want to argue evolution vs. creationism, try Religion & Spirituality; they do it 50 times a day.

Answer 4

The real conflict is between people who know about natural selection (and thus acknowledge its reality), and people who don't know about it, who are ignorant of it, and of their own religion, but were told by authority figures that it's anti-Christian or bad. (Or, of course, the authority figures who sometimes know better but find it a useful tool for whipping up ignorant people into an antiscience frenzy.)

This is borne out by the fact that most nations on earth do not have the problems with religious nutjobs opposing the teaching of evolution and other science in public schools. This "incompatibility" is a social invention of Anglo-Christian culture, these days mainly Anglo-American culture.

If you take your religion with at least a grain of salt, anything is compatible with religious beliefs. It's all about how selective you allow yourself to be in picking and choosing the bits you actually espouse. For example, the answer previous to mine is all handwavey about religion -- "another place", for example. What's that place? Defining the destiny of humanity in the vaguest terms possible allows one to reconcile anything.

Of course, evolution cannot be watered down and remain coherent, so religion is what needs to get watered down (or retroactively edited, or, as comic book fans call it, retconned) in order to achieve a reconciliation between science and religion. And this is precisely why some religious extremists can't stomach scientific ideas.

(Though they sure love the gadgets and health benefits as much as anyone else.)

Answer 5

Its more likely that religious beliefs are a product of natural selection.

Answer 6

It evidently is with liberal, intellectual religions. It is a part of evolution, of course. I know a man who is a Philosophy professor and a Methodist preacher. He believes in evolution and in natural selection. I personally do not find evolution compatible with religion, but some men do.

Answer 7

Natural select is a description of the mecahnics of life. Religions seek to explain life and it's meaning. However religions are a scam to control populations so that they do no discover what i believe is our infinite selves which resides in a universal consciousness

Here's a link that parallels Jesus' life and that of Horus an Egyptian god. These similarities are enough to make me believe that christainity at least is a scam. "Stands back in disbelief!"

http://www.religioustolerance.org/chr_jcpa5.htm

Answer 8

Natural selection is a law of nature. But I believe that man as we know him today is not a product of nature. he was created from a different place, above nature, sort of supernatural. The fall of man dropped him into the natural order, so it appears that he evolved from nature, but I don't believe it.

Man is not a material creature seeking the spiritual, but a spiritual creature living a material existence.

Answer 9

Why not; extinction is possible.


The Will is positive, the Judgment is negative.

Answer 10

Only for farmers, and animal breeders.