I wrote the following comment at the pastor's blog:
"If Jesus and Paul were wrong about something as basic to the Christian faith as creation and our 'first parents' what else were they wrong about?"
That's a great question. My answer is if Jeebus was wrong about magical creation, he was probably wrong about everything else.
Therefore the existence of Christianity is completely dependent on denying the strongest basic fact of science, evolution by natural selection.
This is bad news for the religion business, because it means that eventually preachers and pastors will have to get real jobs. Not to worry, it may take a few more centuries for the world to grow up and throw out its ancient superstitions.
That's a great question. My answer is if Jeebus was wrong about magical creation, he was probably wrong about everything else.
Therefore the existence of Christianity is completely dependent on denying the strongest basic fact of science, evolution by natural selection.
This is bad news for the religion business, because it means that eventually preachers and pastors will have to get real jobs. Not to worry, it may take a few more centuries for the world to grow up and throw out its ancient superstitions.
UPDATE 01/01/2011: The pastor wrote a reply on his blog, and I then wrote the following comments on his blog.
Mr. Crosby, thanks for letting me write comments here. If you have seen my blog you noticed I ain't too nice there, but I'm a guest here so I will do my best to show some respect. Sorry in advance if I have a bit of trouble keeping that promise.
That Bible thing is a bit of a problem for me. I've made several attempts to read it, but I never get very far because the gibberish bores me to death. Then of course there's the disgusting parts, the genocide etc. Your Bible god is a violent criminal and I don't much care for those kind of stories. Also, I like to be current. That's why I prefer books about science written in the 21st century instead of books about supernatural magic written several centuries ago.
You wrote you love science. That's great. I suppose, since I'm not interested in your ancient holy book, it would be asking too much to suggest you buy, read, and try to understand my favorite 21st century book about evolutionary biology, but here it is anyway -- Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne who is a biology professor at the University of Chicago, one of the best universities in the world. I once was there to hear a speech by Stephen Gould, the paleontologist.
That Bible thing is a bit of a problem for me. I've made several attempts to read it, but I never get very far because the gibberish bores me to death. Then of course there's the disgusting parts, the genocide etc. Your Bible god is a violent criminal and I don't much care for those kind of stories. Also, I like to be current. That's why I prefer books about science written in the 21st century instead of books about supernatural magic written several centuries ago.
You wrote you love science. That's great. I suppose, since I'm not interested in your ancient holy book, it would be asking too much to suggest you buy, read, and try to understand my favorite 21st century book about evolutionary biology, but here it is anyway -- Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne who is a biology professor at the University of Chicago, one of the best universities in the world. I once was there to hear a speech by Stephen Gould, the paleontologist.
"It takes greater faith to believe in evolution than it does in Christ the Creator. That's why 75% of Americans despite years of indoctrination by the school system still don't buy the lie. Face it, you're as big as a religionist as you claim that I am. And you have the state to support you."
America's public schools also support the mathematicians. So why would it be a problem for you if those same schools supported the biologists? Could it be because the established truth of biological evolution threatens your career?
I think you're misusing the word "faith". People have faith in things that couldn't possibly have any evidence. Evolution has tons of evidence from many branches of science. The evidence from molecular biology and genetics, for example, is extremely powerful. Every time molecular biologists (who work at universities like Harvard and MIT, these people are bloody brilliant) compare DNA sequences of two different creatures, for example people and chimps, they can see their evolutionary relationship with their own eyes, and they have seen this evidence countless thousands of times, and every single time what they see shows evolution to be a fact. I don't think you have any clue as to how many scientific discoveries you have to deny to defend your religion business. That's why I recommended the book by Jerry Coyne. If thousands of brilliant scientists are making all these important discoveries, never caring about the religious implications or your job, I would think you would want to know what they're up to. Hiding behind your Bible is not going to solve this terrible threat against Christianity because young people are reading the book by Jerry Coyne, and they are not likely to be interested in replacing your older customers.
Perhaps you have nothing to worry about because science education in America is terrible, and a student is more likely to get a bad science teacher than a competent teacher. There is also the problem with Christian harassment of biology teachers who might feel intimidated enough to dumb down their lessons to accommodate the threats.
Your 75% shows just how terrible science education is in this country. (Actually it's a bit worse. The percentage of Americans who completely accept evolution without a god's magic wand is only 16% according to the latest Gallup poll.)
The percentage of biologists who accept and love evolution is about 100% which makes sense considering the overwhelming evidence (that you don't know about) and considering the fact that evolution is the foundation of biology and the strongest fact of science.
Meanwhile your Christ the Creator has exactly zero scientific evidence. It's virtually impossible to find a biologist who invokes Jeebus to explain the diversity of life. I got the entire scientific community on my side. On your side you got one ancient book.
Thanks again for the opportunity to write stuff here.
Sorry, just one more thing.
It's interesting that we completely agree about the religious implications of evolution. The only thing we disagree about is the truth of evolution. Like most Americans you deny it, and like virtually all biologists I love it. At least we agree about something. Also, we're both from the midwest. I'm from Illinois. I have relatives (farmers) who live probably not that far from you in Wisconsin. I also have cousins (mostly farmers) who live in Iowa and South Dakota. We're both Americans, we probably both love our country (even though I frequently ridicule Americans). We have a lot more in common than this one minor difference, which is whether or not evolution is how the world works.
America's public schools also support the mathematicians. So why would it be a problem for you if those same schools supported the biologists? Could it be because the established truth of biological evolution threatens your career?
I think you're misusing the word "faith". People have faith in things that couldn't possibly have any evidence. Evolution has tons of evidence from many branches of science. The evidence from molecular biology and genetics, for example, is extremely powerful. Every time molecular biologists (who work at universities like Harvard and MIT, these people are bloody brilliant) compare DNA sequences of two different creatures, for example people and chimps, they can see their evolutionary relationship with their own eyes, and they have seen this evidence countless thousands of times, and every single time what they see shows evolution to be a fact. I don't think you have any clue as to how many scientific discoveries you have to deny to defend your religion business. That's why I recommended the book by Jerry Coyne. If thousands of brilliant scientists are making all these important discoveries, never caring about the religious implications or your job, I would think you would want to know what they're up to. Hiding behind your Bible is not going to solve this terrible threat against Christianity because young people are reading the book by Jerry Coyne, and they are not likely to be interested in replacing your older customers.
Perhaps you have nothing to worry about because science education in America is terrible, and a student is more likely to get a bad science teacher than a competent teacher. There is also the problem with Christian harassment of biology teachers who might feel intimidated enough to dumb down their lessons to accommodate the threats.
Your 75% shows just how terrible science education is in this country. (Actually it's a bit worse. The percentage of Americans who completely accept evolution without a god's magic wand is only 16% according to the latest Gallup poll.)
The percentage of biologists who accept and love evolution is about 100% which makes sense considering the overwhelming evidence (that you don't know about) and considering the fact that evolution is the foundation of biology and the strongest fact of science.
Meanwhile your Christ the Creator has exactly zero scientific evidence. It's virtually impossible to find a biologist who invokes Jeebus to explain the diversity of life. I got the entire scientific community on my side. On your side you got one ancient book.
Thanks again for the opportunity to write stuff here.
Sorry, just one more thing.
It's interesting that we completely agree about the religious implications of evolution. The only thing we disagree about is the truth of evolution. Like most Americans you deny it, and like virtually all biologists I love it. At least we agree about something. Also, we're both from the midwest. I'm from Illinois. I have relatives (farmers) who live probably not that far from you in Wisconsin. I also have cousins (mostly farmers) who live in Iowa and South Dakota. We're both Americans, we probably both love our country (even though I frequently ridicule Americans). We have a lot more in common than this one minor difference, which is whether or not evolution is how the world works.
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