Evolution... do you consider it a religion?

Krazeekkc said:

Sorry... I can't quite follow.... perhaps I'm being a little 'thick' tonight.

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You’re doing fine.

No, I'm not saying that supporting evoloution and being atheist or agnostic the same at all. I am saying that you can't be a Christian (once again under my definition of a Christian) and support evolution though. And possibly other religions too but I don't know any others well enough to know if they would conflict with each other.

Ok, perhaps I should change it from 'religion' to 'belief', huh?

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Conflicting belief does not invalidate fact or scientific theory (or any other belief or theory, for that matter). Reality does not conform to one’s beliefs, regardless of the strength of such beliefs. If your existence conflicted with my religion or belief, would that mean you don’t exist?

You have your Christian beliefs; others have theirs. You cannot “believe” someone into being a non-Christian, nor evolution into a religion.

Krazeekkc said:

Really? Now like I mentioned in my first post I'm really not clear as to what YEC and ID are and the differences. However, I though they were both Christian.

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YEC (young earth creationism) is the belief that the earth (and usually the entire universe) is 6000 years old.

Krazeekkc said:

And ID?

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ID is intelligent design. There are many threads which discuss the topic. I believe several are still on the front page.

Krazeekkc said:

Sorry... I can't quite follow.... perhaps I'm being a little 'thick' tonight.

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Let me preface my comments by saying that words mean things, and that sometimes arguments (meaning position on takes) can be effected by subtlety of language, but the logic and facts of one's position must stand or fall based on them, and not on linguistic acrobatics.

Evolutionary theory does not explain "where we come from" in the same sense that creation myths (which are religious do). Let's take Genesis for example. If Genesis is taken literally, then women suffer pain during childbirth due to the curse of Eve and snakes slither on the ground since the serpent led humanity to it's downfall. These are metaphysical, and thus religious explanations of "where we come from" (and thus analagous to the Promethian and Pandoran myths I mentioned above), while the scientific theory of evolution explains them in terms of biology, not metaphysics.

Krazeekkc said:

No, I'm not saying that supporting evoloution and being atheist or agnostic the same at all. I am saying that you can't be a Christian (once again under my definition of a Christian) and support evolution though.

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Well then, you're in violation of Christian Forums rules by calling fellow Christians who adhere to Rule number 6 not Christian. I'd suggest that the problem is not with evolution, but with your understanding of the definition of a Christian.

Krazeekkc said:

And possibly other religions too but I don't know any others well enough to know if they would conflict with each other.

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I'm going to hazzard a guess here that you're intimately familiar with your own denomination, but unfamiliar with any alternate views other than that which you grew up in. Am I right? There's a whole world out there that you're ignorant (and I mean unaware, not stupid) of, and it would behoove you to familiarize yourself with it if that's the case.

Krazeekkc said:

Ok, perhaps I should change it from 'religion' to 'belief', huh?

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Actually no, but mainly due to semantics again. Since we don't live in a perfect Pythogorean world of "forms," sometimes we're limited to the words we coin. Evolution is not a belief, but a scientific theory that is accepted or rejected depending on the evidence that supports or falsifies it.

Krazeekkc said:

I really don't know much about Catholicism but do they believe in the first book of the Bible, Genesis? Because if they do then I don't see how they can mutually work together, they conflict. Just like I don't believe one could be a Christian (under my definition of a Christian) and believe in Evolution at the same time.

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So are you a biblical literalist? If so, which of the two creation stories in Genesis do you believe in?

Please tell us your definition of a Christian.

Krazeekkc said:

Well, they do, do they not? And no I was serious... lol

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As I mentioned in my previous reply, you seem to be quite ignorant of religions other than your own. I just found it hard to believe (wink wink) that one could be a serious Christian and not be aware of how other denominations like Catholics (since there are hundreds of millions of them) think about the Bible.

I'm not Catholic, but if they will indulge me - of course they believe Genesis to be true. But, like your CF rule violating definition of "Christian," there might be some difference of opinion about what "true" means in this case. See, semantics is more of a roadblock to discussion of this issue than most YECs assume.

Grengor said:

You put the category Evolutionist as seperate to Christian, so I'll set the record straight by saying Evolution=!Atheism

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Quoted for truth.

No more than gravity.

Krazeekkc said:

Just like the title people. Do you consider Evolution a religion just like Christianity and all the rest? Simple as that; just want to know if people consider it a religion or not. And if you're wondering, I do.


Oh and I forgot to ask, what are the differences between Creationism and Intelligent Design?

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ERROR ERROR, Putting Christian vs. Evolutionist in a poll does not compute!

Please fix the poll or it cannot be answered!

Krazeekkc said:

No but being that I am only 14 I haven't had much time to study any other religions. I've only had maybe about two good yeas that I could've done that and understood well enough. I plan on getting the most awareness of other religions when I attend a Christian College and study them.

Also like I mentione d ebfore I said (under my definition of a Christian) So I hope I wasn't violating a rule even with saying it was my definition. If I am a moderator can say so and I'll go edit all of my violating posts.

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I don’t think the mods will frown on your posts. You are sincere (which is a plus on these forums), and quite bright for your age. USincognito makes valid points, however, which you should consider. The reason for the rule is that there are many definitions of Christian, both personal and dogmatic/authoritative.

Krazeekkc said:

Huh? Please I'm tired! In lamens terms what are you talking about?! I simply did that to see the answer by a C., E., or other.

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The debate is between creation and evolution, not Christianity and evolution. Apparently, you are a Christian creationist. Not all Christians are creationists. Creationism is a literal reading of Genesis, as you have indicated to be your position.

Krazeekkc said:

Huh? Please I'm tired! In lamens terms what are you talking about?! I simply did that to see the answer by a C., E., or other.

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There are plenty of Christians who are also "Evolutionists". In fact, outside of America, most are.

Krazeekkc said:

Huh? Please I'm tired! In lamens terms what are you talking about?! I simply did that to see the answer by a C., E., or other.

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The problem is that many, many Christians do not interpret the creation story of Genesis literally and thus accept evolution, or whatever science finds. These are often called "theistic evolutionists" or "evolutionary creationists." Like all Christian, we believe that God is the creator.

I'm guessing this is the first time you've heard about this, though. It's okay; I didn't know about it for a long time, either. It's good that you're asking honest questions.

I just voted under the Christian section, because I wouldn't call myself anything else.