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Old 12-09-2004, 06:51 AM
Quinn Quinn is offline
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I think my first point about Darwin and religion was taken horribly out of context. My aim was not to disparage religion. Certainly religion has its place, and I do not believe that belief in evolution (macroevolution/speciation, not just microevolution/natural selection) means that a person cannot also be deeply religious. I know he probably doesn't mean much to most of you, but even the Pope has said that evolution is compatible with Catholicism. Other than in the case of a few conservative sects with relatively literal interpretations of the Bible, I don't think there are any strands of Christianity that are completely incompatible with a belief in macroevolution. All I was referring to was the lack of critical thought that existed in most circles in Western society during the revival, the Victorian era, etc. Remember, up until Darwin, most revolutionary scientific thought complemented the Bible quite nicely (Lamarckian evolution, for instance). In fact, at first glance, Darwin's theory does not appear to contradict the Bible at all. It's the idea that chance mutations are selected for that causes so many problems, because it excludes the possibility of "man being created in God's image."* Remember also that it was precisely the fear of the public's reaction to this that kept Darwin from publishing until he was essentially forced to. Hopefully this clarifies what I meant when I brought religion into the equation.

As an aside, agreeing with Albert here, clearly our existence, if not an act of a supreme being, is a tremendous bit of good luck.

Kyle, for you, may I suggest some readings. Regarding creating a car by chance, please see the numerous critiques of Paley's "The Teleological Argument", which are available online. You may be familiar with Duane Gish, if not, take a look at almost any of his writings, also on the net. Then read Ketcher's "Against Creationism", and Gould's "So Cleverly Kind an Animal." Proving or disproving the existence of God is a difficult task, and to date, neither has been successfully accomplished. And if he/she/it/they do exist, who created them?

* Belief in evolution can leave a person feeling a bit empty. Modern revisions to Darwin suggest that any organism is really just a vehicle for the propagation of genes... I'm mostly here to give my genes a chance to replicate...
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Man, n. ...His chief occupation is extermination of other animals and his own species, which, however, multiplies with such insistent rapidity as to infest the whole habitable earth, and Canada. - A. Bierce, Devil's Dictionary, 1906