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Except that the Theory of Evolution is not to be questioned.
Semi-literate nomads could not have written a book as profound and metaphysical as the Bible. No one alive today can write anything like the Bible. And Bible questions are allowed.
You got these two sides backwards.
The theory of evolution is questioned all the time and revised according to any new evidence. Such is the way with any theory. It's how human knowledge evolves. Too bad some can't understand that.
The bible is neither profound nor metaphysical. It's just a compilation of writings from different bronze age mystics...nothing more. Why anyone would take it as "fact" amazes me. To each his own I guess.
The theory of evolution is questioned all the time and revised according to any new evidence. Such is the way with any theory. It's how human knowledge evolves. Too bad some can't understand that.
The bible is neither profound nor metaphysical. It's just a compilation of writings from different bronze age mystics...nothing more. Why anyone would take it as "fact" amazes me. To each his own I guess.
Don't be silly... nothing strange or difficult to believe in a virgin giving birth.
In everyday use, theory means a guess or a hunch, something that maybe needs proof. In science, a theory is not a guess, not a hunch. It's a well-substantiated, well-supported, well-documented explanation for our observations. It ties together all the facts about something, providing an explanation that fits all the observations and can be used to make predictions. In science, theory is the ultimate goal, the explanation. It's as close to proven as anything in science can be.
These explanations are called theories, and will always be theories. They can't be changed into laws, because laws are different things. Laws describe, and theories explain.
This bears repeating. A theory never becomes a law. In fact, if there was a hierarchy of science, theories would be higher than laws. There is nothing higher, or better, than a theory. Laws describe things, theories explain them. An example will help you to understand this. There's a law of gravity, which is the description of gravity. It basically says that if you let go of something it'll fall. It doesn't say why. Then there's the theory of gravity, which is an attempt to explain why. Actually, Newton's Theory of Gravity did a pretty good job, but Einstein's Theory of Relativity does a better job of explaining it.
Just because it's called a theory of gravity, doesn't mean that it's just a guess. It's been tested. All our observations are supported by it, as well as its predictions that we've tested. Also, gravity is real! You can observe it for yourself. Just because it's real doesn't mean that the explanation is a law. The explanation, in scientific terms, is called a theory.
Here's an explanation that even an idiot should be able to understand and yet we have these posters on CD that simly cannot grasp the concept. My theory is that their brains are only wired for dogma and not critical thinking...and that's probably a fact!
Thank you. Exactly what I was getting at as you obviously realized. When people say "But it's ONLY a theory!" when referring to scientific matters, all they do is show their ignorance about what that means.
Mister I-Have-A-Science-Degree should know that, but apparently he got his "science degree" from the Creation Institute or something.
I think in a nutshell that it comes down to 'fear'.
Humans are afraid of the unknown & have a difficult time believing "that this life may just be it" & that quite possibly they will not continue to live on in one form or another.
They continually Look in the bible or in science for ' answers'.
No one knows for sure. Religion can pretend, Hawkins can pretend, but no one KNOWS. I go to church regularly but don't take the bible as being infallible. It was written by man, and I believe that some things were changed or add lib'd. It does teach good morals and values and makes me want to be a better person, and while there are some things I question I believe it has a lot of truth to it. I refuse to believe there's nothing, but if that's what you believe I won't call you stupid, or tell you that you have a mental disorder and need to get help.
I completely go along with your ultimate social approach. However science's only goal is to come to the most likely conclusions when exploring unknown phenomena. So if the Bible were more likely to have the valid answers, scientific study would have gone that way. However that was not the case. Consequently it is impossible for me to choose faith over centuries of analytical thinking.
Personally, I wish I could believe in God. I think such beliefs would be reassuring. I envy people who do have faith. I would never be mean-spirited towards those who believe.
Really? This makes me think you haven't read it. Would you consider it a good thing to kill disobedient children? Is rape a moral act? How about murder? And don't even try to say that because these things are in the Old Testament they don't matter, for Jesus said unto his apostles, "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." -Matthew 5:17-18
First of all, if that's all you get from the bible either YOU are the one who hasn't read it and just list passages listed on God hating "sky daddy" sites, or you have some serious mental problems and a very negative outlook. Second of all, did you read the sentence before the one you put in bold? At my church we volunteer for habitat for humanity. We put together backpacks full of school supplies for foster children. We volunteer to help the college kids move into their dorms every year. We sponsor and run dinners for the homeless several times a year. Church members go to foreign countries were being Christian is extremely dangerous to help teach and provide supplies to those less fortunate.
We manage not to rape or murder anyone, can you beleive it?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SimpleMan
No one knows for sure. Religion can pretend, Hawkins can pretend, but no one KNOWS. I go to church regularly but don't take the bible as being infallible. It was written by man, and I believe that some things were changed or add lib'd.It does teach good morals and values and makes me want to be a better person, and while there are some things I question I believe it has a lot of truth to it. I refuse to believe there's nothing, but if that's what you believe I won't call you stupid, or tell you that you have a mental disorder and need to get help.
I think I'll do this with a beginning, middle and end. We'll start in the middle
These days, we're STILL fighting over who's right: Science or religion. Fact or faith. Sure, science has all the equations and can prove almost anything, but what about life after death? What about wormholes? We may seem like the most advanced species, but we're JUST stepping out of the cave. We're just starting to learn about things we've never imagined possible. As for religion, sure it's morally positive and "good", but have we humans ever really seen anything like a demon with horns, red skin and a pointy tail? Do we have any physical evidence of Jesus performing miracles? Who has seen God? Who came back from the dead to report if there is a heaven or a hell?
Now comes the question of who created everything. What started it all? Was it a big bang? Did the universe originate from a point of infinite size and heat? Did God say light and there it was? At this point, NOBODY'S RIGHT. We don't know for sure what happened because nobody has ever been at that time before. How can we know fore sure if it took thousands of years or 6 days for the Earth to form? Sure, we have that large hadron collider to help, and religions got... well.... a book... but for now, nobody wins that agument.
But I'm not really concerned about the past. The future is my biggest concern. There are two doors. One door leads to an I Robot world. We're entering an age where technology and biology is comming closer and closer to being one the same. Same with science fiction and reality. One day, all of our technological advancements will prove to be our downfall. Door 2 leads to a world where something like a solar flare will wipe out all power for electronics, machines and anything else powered by electricity. Most of our species relies on technology. But, if that happens, people will be scared. They'll be confused. They'll won't know what to do because we've been occupied so much in our technology that we're not prepared for survival without it.
Who will the scared and helpless people look up to? Religion. Some people will say that "It's the end of the world! God has shown us his wrath...." blah blah bull. But, when you're desprate for a voice, people will take what they can get, and we'll just be back in the dark ages. Either way, we humans are screwed, unless....
We take a third door. We have to find a balance. We're shiftingm more to a scientifical future. But we're also shifting from a moral lifestyle to an effective one. We'll be under the control of the system, and authorities will know waht we'll be doing. Every sneeze, every wink will be monitered. So, we have to find a balance between moral and efficiency. We have to know where to draw the line between our ambitions, prejeduces and discrimination & our advancements, morality and judgment.
The theory of evolution is questioned all the time and revised according to any new evidence. Such is the way with any theory. It's how human knowledge evolves. Too bad some can't understand that.
The bible is neither profound nor metaphysical. It's just a compilation of writings from different bronze age mystics...nothing more. Why anyone would take it as "fact" amazes me. To each his own I guess.
First of all, if that's all you get from the bible either YOU are the one who hasn't read it and just list passages listed on God hating "sky daddy" sites, or you have some serious mental problems and a very negative outlook. Second of all, did you read the sentence before the one you put in bold? At my church we volunteer for habitat for humanity. We put together backpacks full of school supplies for foster children. We volunteer to help the college kids move into their dorms every year. We sponsor and run dinners for the homeless several times a year. Church members go to foreign countries were being Christian is extremely dangerous to help teach and provide supplies to those less fortunate.
We manage not to rape or murder anyone, can you beleive it?
If you are going to cherry pick so will I. I don't believe the Bible is true, therefor I have no qualms in going against the words of Jesus, but how do you, as a Christian, justify going against the direct words of Jesus Christ, your Saviour?
Also, I never claimed you rape or murder people. I merely stated that the book you said teaches good, moral values also teaches horrible, immoral values and that should not be overlooked out of convenience.
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