Atheist-Christian debate...?

Question

Someone said to me that evolution is the religion of atheists. If that's the case, then why do I see so many Christians on this website who believe in evolution????

Answer 1

Someone lied to you. Evolution isn't "the religion of atheists".

Answer 2

People who claim evolution is the religion of atheists understand neither evolution nor atheism. Evolution is the best explaination humanity has yet devised for the origin of the species. It is based on abundant physical evidence and sound logic -- quite unlike superstitious Biblical creation.

The reason you see Christians on this site who support evolution is that not all Christians are narrow-minded bigots who imagine that our ignorant ancestors knew all things about all subjects. Humanity has discovered a few things for itself, since Christ walked the Earth. It's really a shame that religion has allowed its own inflexible doctrine to render it totally irrelevant to the needs of modern human beings. Religion would have a tremendous potential for benefitting humanity, if only it were able to adapt and evolve to keep its doctrine consistent with reality.

All of Western Civilization, including Christianity and Islam, was erroneously based on the fundamental premise that reality depends on human subjective mental experience -- basically that our thoughts are real and that the physical realm is the imaginary creation of our minds. (See Solipsism) This error resulted in a wildly superstitious civilization where people imagined their own dreams and hallucinations were actually real and technological progress was virtually impossible.

Fortunately for the human species, Galileo discovered in 1590 that Aristotle was completely wrong. By the late seventeenth century, Newton's mechanics had essentially mathematically proved that the physical realm, and not the human mind, is the basis of objective reality. By the late nineteenth century, the invention of the EEG machine proved that all human mental experiences originate from entirely natural process ocurring within the neurological structures of our living brains.

There are essentially two kinds of Christians these days. There are educated Christians who accept that science offers the best explanation for the workings of the physical universe. Such Christians may have completed their formal education and may even be professional scientists. Then there are those Christians who have had a very limited education and are generally opposed to any concepts which question the ignorant superstitions of our ancient ancestors. These are the fools who imagine Catholics aren't really Christians, mostly because they consider themselves to be the only real Christians and they certainly aren't Catholic. Persons of such severely restricted mentality are the ones who imagine evolution can't possibly be valid, simply because it contradicts Biblical creation.

I think it is very important not to lump the two groups of Christians together. Many Christians are fully capable of reason and logic and are contributing members of human civilization. Unfortunately, some Christians are little more than a sorry waste of America's resources. Although both groups refer to themselves as Christians, they could not be more dissimilar. Some are wonderful human beings; others are an embarrassment to their species. I have learned, when dealing with Christians in this forum, it is imperative to establish exactly which sort of Christian you are confronting, before you respond.

Answer 3

The Genesis account of the Creation is from simple to complex, the same order that evolutionist claim "proves" evolution. Atheist really should find a better peg to hang their hat on than the account of Creation in the Book of Genesis!!! It is quite possible too that God intended evolution to happen so that His creation, plants and animals and Man could adapt to changing conditions such as climate, or be able to live in several regions of the Earth.

Now for equal time for evolution: Evolution is a scientific fact. The most common types of evolution are man-made such as occurs in the hybridization of plants to increase crop production or to select for specific traits such as drought resistance or crop disease resistance.

Another type of evolution occurs in micro-organism that cause disease. They can and do become resistant to antibiotic or other medicines used to do them in. (This type of evolution obviously is not beneficial to mankind---but it is evolution nonetheless!!!!!!)

It should also be noted that the word that is translated "day" in the Creation account in Genesis, also can be translated age, so as to mean the "age" or "day" when a given historical event was happening.

Answer 4

That's just the argument du jour with some of the more desperate creationists on here.

Anyone with half a working brain cell knows that evolution has nothing to do with religion.

Answer 5

I have heard this unilatteral statement several times in my studies and in conversations with people from different religions. Looking back on the positions of those who said or wrote it, they typically came from a fundamentalist viewpoint. (This is not good or bad, it is just an observation)

There are many people who believe in a God that believe in evolution, and there are quite a few scientists that believe in a God (but not so much in a God as depicted by any religion)

On the other hand, what this "someone" who said this to you may have been pointing out is that people are moved by "faith"

Science is full of faith. We tend not to think of it like that but every scientific experiment begins with a hypothesis (which is basically a statement what the experimenter believes will happen) Then they do the experiment and Test the hypothesis.

Evolution is still a statement of faith. Science will not know for sure untill the theory has been tested. The many little tests are being done and it looks like evolution is testing out to be true.

For the past 10 years I have been hooking science to spirituality. I have been researching and testing the tools of spirituality to see how they help people improve their lives. I publish articles at www.ilcss.org.

The bottom line here is that there does not need to be a line drawn in the sand. But, some groups are more likely to do this because it is a logical outcome of their world view.

Answer 6

Here's the thing: evolution is part of the creation story of the atheists. Evolution has a great deal of evidence to support it, but it ultimately comes down to faith in the irrational processes of nature and "selection" to somehow create life and have that life evolve over time to the great diversity that we see today. Now, a lot of Christians are convinced by the evidence that evolution is true, but that is because they are making the same leap of faith that the missing portions of the evidence needed to support the theory (which there are a lot of) will be filled in over time. These Christians, however, generally don't abandon the idea that God created -- they just believe that God created through the process of evolution.

So, evolution is not, in and of itself, a religion. It is, however, a story that atheists readily and unthinkingly adopt because it is the only viable alternative to special creation.

Answer 7

I am a Christian and firmly believe that the Bible was meant to be a guideline for behavior and faith, not a textbook to describe the creation of the world.

Answer 8

Woah! If there are Christians who believe in evolution, they are obviously NOT Christians! One of the very first things that you read in the Bible is that God created the world!! If they don't think that then they cannot honestly call themselves Christians. You can't go to heaven by only believing PARTS of the Bible...

Answer 9

Evolution is my religion?
To be honest I only know the basics of evolution...Im not a scientific person so much of it will require extra attention by to grasp.
It isnt my religion though...I dont live my life on everything scientific....I just live it like any other normal person. I just dont have a dependency on a diety.

And to the person who said why are atheists in the spirituality section: I am so utterly tired of that point. We are here because religion is ever present amongst us. It is a fact within our societies and thus affects us all. We have a right to discuss on what can shape our daily lives.
I do not have to be a politician to be in the politics section do I? Or a lawyer to be in the Law section etc.


And to the person tying morality with religion: I am also so very tired of that point. Morality and religion are two separate things; atheists can be just as or even more so moral than religious people; prisons are flooded with those who identify with a religion with only a minority of atheists. Without morality being separate, how would you decide what is right/wrong within the holy books which are highly dependent on stories. How have we decided that infanticide, incest etc. are no longer right? They are present in the bible.

Answer 10

This actually has some validity, as the discovery of evolution destroyed the only plausible reason to believe in the existence of an intelligent creator. Therefore accepting evolution would make a person more likely to be an atheist.

Answer 11

I am a Bible-believing Christian.
However,
I can see why you would want to be
an Atheist who believes in evolution.
If you choose to pretend there is no GOD,
then you can justify your wicked behaviors
while claiming no guilt.
If we are just animals evolved here by accident,
then there is no responsibility for our actions.
Sure you can lie to yourself
as long as you want up to a point.
However, there will come a day very soon,
when "Every knee will bow, and every tongue will
confess, that JESUS CHRIST is LORD."
You can fool yourself, you can fool other people,
but you will never fool GOD.
"The fool has said in his heart, "There is no GOD.