Question:
this is aimed more towards athiests, where do you stand on creationism?
2007-07-13 03:48:36 UTC
where do you stand on issues like evolution and the creation of the universe by a god?

this question is linked to: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070713032539AAFIAgz
26 answers:
2007-07-13 06:46:58 UTC
Looking at your other question, it's kinda disappointing that so many religious types hold that evolution is a "pack of lies", is simply imagination and false interpretation when there is so much observable evidence that shows otherwise.



It's like these people just don't want to accept that something could be true outside of their beliefs and are willing to blatantly lie about it to cover their consciences over.



My personal opinion on literal creationism is that it's an out-dated belief that doesn't fit with modern thinking and should be abandoned as much as a flat-Earth or Geocentrism.



Seriously, these people need to grow up and accept reality.
Zen Pirate
2007-07-13 11:03:53 UTC
I think creationism is a joke. I didn't dismiss it out of hand. I read "Darwin's Black Box" by Behe, read up on their claims online, and followed the major events of the Dover trial for ID and the "experts" that testified on its behalf there. Their best arguments that they have going is what they call irreducible complexity. The idea is that there are structures (particularly on molecular level) that we don't understand and appear far too complex to be explained by evolution. So therefore, we should accept that a creator probably is responsible. The problem with this is that there were aspects of evolution that we didn't understand a few years ago that we have since unraveled and there is no reason that we won't continue to improve our understanding. Furthermore, even if we don't have an answer for something simply inserted that it was a supernatural intervention by a creator is not scientific. It just means that we don't know yet. You could call it scientific if you had some concrete proof that something was created by a supernatural agent but we don't.



As for evolution theory. I was a biology major. It certainly doesn't make me an expert on evolutionary theory but I do think I have a fair understanding of the basic and I follow science with interest. I have few doubts that evolution has occured. I think scientists themselves are open to debate and still learning about the various mechanisms that drive evolution and how it occurs. I think we willl continue to learn more over time. To say that evolution is some sort of atheist conspiracy belies a mind that has shut itself off from reality. Evolutionary theory is widely accepted in the scientific community and also amongst education populations of other countries than the US (which only ranks higher than Turkey in its scientific understanding of the theory) and these individuals cover a broad spectrum of beliefs.
Frank d
2007-07-13 11:43:46 UTC
I don't know about evolution, it seems like a nice sound scientific theorie.

Then again the scientific world was sure the world was flat once, and that smoking wasn't bad for your health and that the earth was the center of the universe and... and so on.....

Science gives people an answer that isn't linked to a God but that doesnt mean its correct.



I think creationism is just an attempt to make religion more 'scientific' as far as that goes. What other source than the bible backs this theory up?

I think creationism is an attempt to get people back in to church in a time that people are more and more finding their own answers to spiritual questions instead of going to church.

Since everything is created with intend there must be a creator who intended it all. And thats where God comes into place again.



Furthermore I dont think atheists are a organised group as you seem to adres it. Atheists don't belief in a God what so ever and thats it.



Bottomline, I think people shouldnt worry so much as to how this world came to be or how is evolved, for what does it matter. We are here now and must make the best of things now. Dont look at the past but at the present time and try to do what is best.

And if you wan't to have an answer; look inside to what answer your guts/feeling/hart/whatever gives you and stick with that. If 'I dont know' comes up. leave it at that and accept you dont know and that we wont ever know for sure.
?
2007-07-13 11:07:30 UTC
I don't believe in God(s) so creationism is obviously a no go.





I also think that calling the World, the Universe, Life and Everything *Creation* is just a cheap propaganda trick.



If they can get you saying *Creation* instead of *The World* then they have succeeded in playing a standard brainwashing trick. It makes the subsequent statement that *creation implies a creator* acceptable as an argument that a Sky Fairy made the world simply by shouting about it.



-----EDIT-----

Buddhists are not necessarily, or even likely, to be atheists.
2007-07-13 10:53:03 UTC
Atheists = No God.



Creationism = God.



Atheists ≠ Creationism.



Evolution is a theory, that can be accepted by anyone, depending on what their other beliefs are and if they conflict.



The question, though being directed at atheists, suggest that atheism is an organised system of thought. The only common ground atheists share is that they do not adhere to organised religion and do not believe in the the existence of God.



I find evolution credible and creationism a fabrication.
Jenny
2007-07-13 11:09:09 UTC
I would recommend reading "The God Delusion" by Richard Dawkins for insight into an athiest's point of view on creationism, evolution, and theism. Read it with an open mind, with logic and common sense, and without superstition. It's a challenging book, and just reading it will exercise your mind in critical thinking skills, something I think we could all use a little more of!
in a handbasket
2007-07-13 11:11:41 UTC
As an atheist I have no belief in God, thus I can not believe that a nonexistent entity created anything. The universe has a natural origin. Do we know everything? Of course not! But we have to look at the world with objective eyes, examining the data we are presented with without skewing it with preconceived religious beliefs.
2007-07-13 11:08:35 UTC
Creationism is simply a way to give christianity the veneer of scientific credibility by distorting well substantiated research so that it appears that the bible is accurate. It is a deliberately self-conscious attempt to sustain the religion, which is threatened by science, by mis-using science to bolster untrue beliefs about the world, evolution, nature and the universe, most of which are overwhelmingly supported by empirically tested evidence.
2007-07-13 10:58:09 UTC
Creationism is nonscientific, false, and a complete non-starter as an explanation of anything.



Organized creationism is simply propaganda put together by professional liars.



The fact that creationism is so popular in the United States is a national embarrassment.
Rev. Still Monkeys
2007-07-13 11:02:03 UTC
When a creationist comes up with a vaccine against the virus "kind" that is 100% effective against any virus because evolution is not true, then I will believe in it. I want real world results. Biology has given them to us, why can't creationism?
novangelis
2007-07-13 12:00:26 UTC
Scientific Creationism / literal Biblical Creationism is a pack of lies that can easily be disproven with rather simple evidence.



There are other doctrines of Creationism that are compatible with reality.
James L
2007-07-13 11:35:34 UTC
How do we know we know that we exist - i can say i no that i exist - but i might not - when will people learn that we have to question everything - i cn convince myself that things a real - but deep down i don't even know if this keyboard exists - for all i no - there may be someone else in the world imagining me - i could be the dilusio of a schizophrenic person - who knows
Sheena
2007-07-13 11:14:45 UTC
Science doesn't invent truths... it discovers the truth that is already there.... if science somehow can find irrefutable proof of a reality created by a God being, then yeah... maybe. For the moment, science by logical analysis has proven that there is no such being more than it has proven that there is....



Science is not biased, Science follows evidence. As yet... no solid evidence of a God being has been discovered
2007-07-13 10:57:22 UTC
Creationism is not only unproven, there is not a shred of evidence to suggest its true. Thus we can't accept it as a viable theory.

Evolution is scientific fact, backed up by fossil records and, more recently, DNA evidence.

The creation of a universe by god is equally unproven and without evidence. Thus it cannot be accepted as fact or as a credible theory.
2007-07-13 10:53:29 UTC
Atheists don't believe in God , therefore they normally believe in evolution. Creationism or Intelligent Design has as it's central tenet that there is a God, creationism is a believer's concept.
2007-07-13 11:06:12 UTC
Buddhists are die hard atheists and I tell ya what we say :



Devil is the god of sex,death, disease & destruction.

Devil created the world.

He wants people to suffer.

The rebirth is true.

Devil creates body of every creature in every rebirth as human, fish ,bird, animal etc. as per his karma(past actions).

The devil tempts everyone into worldly enjoyments which later cause diseases.

After becoming Human , one can learn the path to salvation from this circle of rebirths.

Buddha tells the way to salvation - Stop bad activitiesy , do good & meditate inwards to evolve your thinking.

The source of all bad is bad thinking.

Start thinking good for good actions & for good of all & so you.
brack706
2007-07-13 10:52:42 UTC
An atheist does not believe there is any supreme being, therefore creationism is pretty much ruled out. Evolution is seen as one feasible alternative.
independant_009
2007-07-13 11:30:25 UTC
I support evolution for it is the most plausible explanation.



I do not agree with creation for it is more of a fairy-tale than anything else
2007-07-13 11:04:06 UTC
While it might be comforting to some to believe that an invisible man in the sky is controlling everything that happens, there is not one iota of evidence that shows we are a product of intelligent design.
The Man Comes Around
2007-07-13 11:01:12 UTC
I think that the current outbreak of creationism is an honest psychological reflex.



We have an inborn desire to survive and share this with most of nature. I would point out that this sun of ours has another five billion years on it before it turns to a red giant (I believe). Due to increased output from the sun, life on this planet has only about another billion years unless we can find a way to shift our orbit further out (don't laugh, there are theories on how to do this). Furthermore, an asteroid could plow right into the earth creating immediate untold death and significant climate change. Add into this the fact that climate change induced by human activity has basically insured that our civilization will have to transform itself or die. Hurricanes could hit. A black hole could shimmy its way through our solar system.



Humanity has been confronted with a sickness. We used to be at the center of a rather small, purposeful universe. The sun and planets went around us. The stars were placed lovingly in the sky to provide regular guides for ships and to decorate our night. God was in Heaven and from His throne He had His eye steadily fixed upon us.



Copernicus and Galileo figured out that it wasn't so. The earth instead floated around the Sun - suspended by no visible force no less! Then Newton comes along and starts talking about gravity. Some natural force keeps this planet in movement and not the hand of God. Then this Darwin fellow comes along and demolishes literal belief in the six day creation. Instead, countless eons have come and gone, forms of life have arisen and gone extinct, seemingly without purpose. We find out that our ancestry is rooted in the same ancestry as all of life. That our formation wasn't a special creation, it was the result of a process. A long and ugly natural process. Now, as we turn our eyes out to the vastness of space we're confronted with dread. The Universe is unimaginably big - why would God create a universe this big solely to put human beings into the picture? And if there is life on other planets, doesn't that make us far less special? Why have all of these forms of life arisen and fallen, never to rise again? What meaning did that have?



The Universe is too big to solely exist so that Jesus Christ might come into the world and save it. The same holds true of providing a forum for Moses or Muhammad.



I am not an atheist, but I think that anyone who is going to affirm any sort of spiritual reality, has to consider the possibilities and problems that scientific understanding introduces into the picture.



I think we have to confront these realities and find a way of experiencing God/the Divine/the Foundational Spirit/the Unmoved Mover in a way that accepts the world around us. For me, the fact of evolution through adaptation means that adaptation is the way for us to deal with new understanding. We ought to be feeding the poor, stimulating education, trying to discover how this universe of ours works, and find new ways to explore it. If we keep pulling the blanket over our heads to hide from the bugbears, praying that Daddy's going to save us, we're screwed. Look at what we're currently doing to the planet and to each other.



That doesn't mean that faith is, in and of itself, evil. However, it does mean faith married to a juvenile mindset is. It's time the human race grew the hell up and took charge of our future and started being honest about these ultimate questions.



No, I don't know if we go on forever. I have no idea if we're reborn. I don't know for a fact that the universe will ultimately die, or that humanity will be in the solar system (at least solely) when our Sun goes up in a big ball of fire, or that we won't make it through global climate change. I do know that no one is coming to save us from it, though.



Pardon my rambling, but creationism usually has a worldview that comes along with it, so I addressed it as a whole.



All the best,



Lazarus
2007-07-13 11:30:32 UTC
Evolution is totally feasable, whereas crationism is just another crock of crap. it amazes me that you can show people all the scientific evidence in the world, yet they still believe whatever they want, proof or no proof.
S K
2007-07-13 10:57:23 UTC
Creationism is a very weak attempt to refute Evolutionism.
2007-07-13 10:55:48 UTC
Creationism is truely a joke
warmsox43
2007-07-13 10:53:41 UTC
Evolution happened. (I did honours in zoology).

Creation of the universe by a god did not happen.
Bad Liberal
2007-07-13 10:52:15 UTC
You will find precisely zero atheists who consider creationism to be anything other than a delusional, deceitful con.
2007-07-13 10:59:07 UTC
increduality that people can genuinely believe such nonsense


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