Jerry Coyne wrote this 9 years ago in 2012. It's about Idiot America.

Theistic evolutionists are creationists, pure and simple; they differ from straight fundamentalist creationists only in how much of life God was involved in creating, ranging from those who think God set the whole plan in motion, knowing it would culminate in that most awesome of species, US, to those who think that God tinkered with mutations to create the right species (see the philosophical work of Elliott Sober), to those who think that humans are set apart from other species because God inserted a soul in our lineage (that’s the official view of the Vatican). That is being anti-evolution as scientists understand it, since we see evolution as a naturalistic process that has nothing to do with deities. Sadly, far more Americans are theistic evolutionists than naturalistic evolutionists: the proportions among all Americans are 38% to 16% respectively (40% are straight creationists, 6% are unsure). We have a long way to go.

-- Jerry Coyne

This blog has 336 posts about Jerry Coyne. Please click the Label "Jerry Coyne".

The Magic Man did it. All the world's moronic religions always have to stick their Magic Man into science. The religious idiots who accept evolution always find some excuse to stick their fairy into it. Everyone who believes in a Magic Man is just plain fucking stupid.

Wikipedia - Creationism

Creationism is the religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of divine creation. In its broadest sense, creationism includes a continuum of religious views, which vary in their acceptance or rejection of scientific explanations such as evolution that describe the origin and development of natural phenomena.

I never met a Christian who wasn't a fucking moron.

A fucktard asked this question about the religious implications of evolution.

"How can Christians believe in evolution? If you're a Christian you can't believe in evolution unless you completely ignore GENESIS or all other mentions of the ORIGINS of the Earth throughout the BIBLE. Ignoring the Bible and claiming you're a Christian just makes you a hypocrite and a fool. Either you accept the truth or you believe in evolution."

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

What I wrote:

There are Christians who accept the established truth of evolution but always they find a way to stick their god fairy into it. That's not science and it's wrong. Their fairy had absolutely nothing to do with the evolution of ancient apes to human apes. If these Christians were honest and if they had a brain, they would admit their fairy never did anything because it's not real, not to mention impossible and ridiculous.

What I wrote somewhere else about the stupid fucking assholes who infest Idiot America. Science makes these morons for Jeebus cry.

Somebody else asked this question: "Do you think human beings evolved or were created by God?"

What I wrote:

There is no "think" about it. Human apes and chimpanzee apes evolved from common ancient ape ancestors. This is the strongest fact of science.

There are facts and there are fantasies. Facts always win. God-did-it has a very long history of being completely wrong.

The bible thumpers who infest this place are uneducated morons. They're too lazy to look things up. Science websites make them cry.

Paul wrote this bullshit: "First, God created the time, space, energy and matter that are necessary for living species to exist." What childish nonsense. Paul calls himself a biologist. He's not a biologist, he's a god-soaked science denier.

I never met a Christian who wasn't a fucking moron.

"Evolution can't be debunked and it doesn't invalidate the Creator. He set the process in motion."

That's ridiculous. Your magical creator had absolutely nothing to do with the evolution of new species. You people need to stop sticking your god fairy into science. Science doesn't require your childish Magic Man horseshit.

The morons who suck up to Christians are stupid fucking assholes.

Fucktard:

They have been indoctrinated by the extremist sects and cults to believe that God was not clever enough to use the big bang, evolution, and science as his tools!
-- Nous

What I wrote for the fucktard:

Nous, sticking a god fairy into science is ridiculous.

What I wrote for a fucktard.

"Christians, please tell me your thoughts on evolution?"

If I wanted to know something about evolution I would not ask a Christian. They either want to throw out evolution or even worse they want to stick God into it. They think God's magic wand is one of the mechanisms of evolution.

Somebody answered a question about evolution. I learned something today: The definition of GFY - Go fuck yourself.

Did God guide or invent or use evolution? Or is evolution a natural process and God had nothing to do with it?

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Good gravy, no.

No god anywhere has anything to do with the passing down of inheritable traits over generations. It's not magic or woo or some supernatural anything.

Clearly, some of you can't look up what evolution actually is. I don't get the deliberate arrogance in not knowing this basic science but GFY. Just slither away. Oh and the next time you get sick, thoughts and prayers only. You don't get to diss evolution then use the products of evolution to cure or help your slack asses. Denied.

-- Madam Sin Bin

I answered a question about Christian fucktards who are constantly trying to stick their dead Jeebus into science.

"What do you think of Christians who accept evolution?"

This is a good thing but unfortunately the Christians always stick God into evolution, for example, God guided evolution or God invented evolution or God used evolution.

And that's wrong. Evolution is a natural process. Evolution never required any gods.

I asked a question 7 years ago about the Christian assholes who infest Idiot America. Somebody wrote an interesting answer.

100% of evolution deniers are religious. What is it about religion that makes people want to deny science?

Virtually 100% of evolution deniers are religious. What is it about religion that makes people want to deny evolution which is one of the most interesting and most important basic facts of science?

Even the religious people who accept evolution almost always try to stick their god in there somewhere even though biologists would never do that. Why can't religious people accept evolution as a completely natural process with no supernatural inventor or user?

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Well, science talks about the way the world is.

Fundamentalist Christians (the only ones you actually mean in your post) believe in the literal interpretation of the Bible, so if science differs, then science is wrong.

But scientists insist they are right (which they are in the real world), so the fundies explain the scientists by saying they are deluded or the devil's spawn or (my personal favorite) they say scientists actually know the fundies are right, but they are denying it just to be stubborn.

But (add voice) "THERE'S MORE!!"

Having figured out that scientists are lying about evolution, the age of the world and so forth, they assume science is lying when it talks about climate change or endangered species too.

In fact, the fundies now have a mind-set that asks: "Are you smart? Then I refuse to listen to you."

And it's our world that is getting screwed as a result of this sick, sick SICK behavior.

And I haven't the vaguest idea, short of genocide, how we can fix it.

-- james o

Why Evolution is True and Why Many People Still Don't Believe It (Jerry Coyne, 2012)

Somebody wrote this 10 years ago at another website. He explains why "theistic evolution" is bullshit.

Saturday, December 18, 2010 at 13:15

Actually 78% of Americans reject evolution. The first response:

“Human beings have developed over millions of years from less advanced forms of life, but God guided this process”

is a rejection of evolution. Evolution is a naturalistic explanation for human (and other) life, and has no room in it for supernatural causes; the only way to “fit” God into the process is to take something else out.

The concept of “evolution guided by God” is literally double-think: it is simultaneously believing two contradictory ideas. “Evolution guided by God” is every bit as ridiculous as saying that objects fall under gravity, guided by God, or that planes fly by Bernoulli’s principle, guided by God, or that our computers turn on with electricity, guided by God.

-- Eric

There is a lot of this bullshit in Idiot America. There is nothing theistic about any branch of science. What I wrote for a "theistic evolutionist" fucktard.

"Did God create using Evolution?"

Christian morons should keep their god fairy out of science. Evolution is how the world works, and the fairy had absolutely nothing to do with it. Supernatural magic pollutes evolution. It's ridiculous and it's wrong.

I'm adding this to my list of favorite quotes. It's about evolution.

Is evolution is a completely natural process, no gods required?

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

As long as there is genetic variation and mutation, evolution will continue all on its own.
-- rodcom

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Yes, it does seem to be. So far, we haven't run across anything about it which requires a "watchmaker," as some might put it. The process seems to not only be self-guiding, but it seems to work better because there is no intelligence guiding it.

The reason is because when there's an intelligent agency looking at a problem-- so pretty much, when we're considering a problem-- we tend to consider what would be the next optimal step to solve the problem and discount other, less optimal immediate solutions as being less favorable.

As we do that, we lock ourselves into certain patterns of solving problems and fail to consider the idea that the ultimate optimal solution to a problem may lie at the end of a path where the intermediate solutions are sub-optimal.

Evolution does not restrict itself in that fashion. Any and all working solutions to a problem, no matter whether they are the solution which seems optimal on the surface or one that seems just barely functional, get tested by the system, leading to a much wider variety of outcomes that in turn provide greater opportunities for the organism to adapt along a path that an intentionally engineered solution might not allow for.

And evolution might provide physical adaptations which solve problems an organism didn't even really have, due to the fact evolution isn't restricting its adaptations to things which only have a single function.

A prime example would be the wing. Creationists often ask "what good is half a wing?"

It does a great deal of good if you remember birds use wings for multiple things, only one of which requires them to leave the ground.

Birds use their wings to help shelter their young. That's something they do on the ground, and half a wing would be of more help doing that than no wing at all.

They also use their wings in mating displays and threat displays. There again, they don't need to leave the ground to do either one, and half a wing is more functional than no wing at all.

Humans overlook such things, because they look at wings which enable birds to fly and assume that must be the problem they evolved to overcome because it's the problem which absolutely cannot be overcome without them.

However, there's no reason to assume the wing evolved to solve the problem of flight. It may have evolved for entirely different reasons, and given birds the ability to fly as a side-effect.

As much as our intelligence helps us in certain ways, it limits our ability to problem solve in others. Evolution doesn't suffer from that limitation.

So no, there doesn't seem to be any need for a God or other intellect to guide the process. It works just as well, if not better, without anything like that involved.

-- Andigravity

I answered a question about bullshit.

"How can you be Christian and still believe in evolution?"

They make the Magic Jeebus Man one of the mechanisms of evolution, and that's bullshit.

Evolution is a completely natural process. No gods required.

I never met a Christian who wasn't an uneducated moron.

A fucktard asked this ridiculous question: "Did Charles Darwin hate God?"

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

I wrote this for the fucking idiot, and I wrote more stuff for other fucking idiots.

Charles Darwin threw the ridiculous god fantasy and the moronic Christian cult in the garbage. He called himself an agnostic but he was really an atheist.

The idiot who wrote "Darwin was a Christian" is a liar.

Another idiot wrote "a bad theory". The stupid, it burns.

Mr. Idiot, evolution is the strongest fact of science. Look it up you fucking retard.

Another asshole wrote, "He thought his evolutionary theory was an explanation of how God made so many different plants and animals."

Bullshit. Darwin was an atheist you fucking liar.

I answered a question about Christian scum.

"Catholics have enough integrity to at least accept scientific facts, such as evolution, so why don’t Protestants have that?"

Actually, there are very many Catholics who didn't get the memo from the moron pope. They are creationist retards.

Why are Christians and Catholics science deniers? It's because their stupidity is overwhelming.

One more thing: The Christians who accept evolution always stick their Magic Jeebus Man into it. They want to pollute science with magic.

I never met a religious person who wasn't a fucking moron.

What someone else wrote about Idiot America's creationist assholes.

I would add this to what he wrote: If you're a Christian and you accept evolution then you have to admit your dead Magic Jeebus Man was an uneducated moron. Also, you can't be sticking your god fairy into science with your moronic childish "theistic evolution" bullshit.

I don't agree with this idea: "Religion could co-exist with science."

The idea that supernatural bullshit could co-exist with science is ridiculous.

Also he wrote this: "Christianity is in need of reform."

I have a better idea: Christianity needs to be thrown in the fucking garbage because the whole thing is insane bullshit.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

My question:

Evolution by natural selection is the most interesting branch of science. Why do some Christians want to throw it out?

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

His excellent answer:

It doesn't matter how interesting it is or isn't. What matters is that it's a VERY well supported theory. Not only do we have numerous natural experiments where we have seen evolution in action in real time, but we have lab experiments that show it as well. We have DNA evidence, fossil evidence, skeletal evidence, and more.

Half a dozen fields all fit together with evolutionary biology in terms of time scales, how the mechanics work, and more. While specific details of the field are still being tested and explored, the basic mechanics are very well known and very well supported.

What ticks me off is not that Christians WANT to throw it out. It's that they're being self-deceptive and intellectually dishonest about it. They don't do the homework to actually learn about it, then get on boards like this one and act like they've actually done the reading, but reveal through ignorant misrepresentations that in fact they have not. All they've done is go to a creationist website that cherry picks and distorts the science in a way that pleases them. And it's DISHONEST. "Thou shalt not lie" just isn't that important a commandment evidently.

And you CAN be a theist and acknowledge the reality of evolution. I've met them. But you can't subscribe to a literal bible philosophy. Which should be obvious since the thing contradicts ITSELF dozens of times.

Christianity is in need of reform. The bible, and I would argue the old gnostic gospels as well, should all be re-evaluated in a new Nicean Council in order to toss the stuff that science has disproven (the Noah flood, the creation myth), toss the parts that advocate killing people (like heretics and witches), fix the contradictions, and just leave the good stuff.

Then at least they would have a religion worth defending. And which could co-exist with science. It would still be wrong, IMHO, but as an atheist, it would be A LOT HARDER to show how preposterous it is.

-- Entropy

Idiot America is infested with atheist wimps.

A wimpy atheist fucktard wrote this bullshit:

"I'm an atheist, and so I think Theistic Evolution is wrong, but you know what...it's WAY better than the alternative. A Theistic Evolution philosophy and a God of the Gaps approach to theism allows religion and science to coexist. And as far as I'm concerned, that's a win."

This stupid fucking asshole thinks it's OK to stick magic into science. This wimpy atheist is part of the religious stupidity problem. Get off my planet you fucking retard.

Gallup Poll - JULY 26, 2019

40% of Americans: The Magic Man magically created people within the past 10,000 years.

33% of Americans: The Magic Man is one of the mechanisms of evolution.

22% of Americans: People evolved thanks to evolution by natural selection and the Magic Man had absolutely nothing to do with it.

5% of Americans: "Duh, what's an evolution, duh."

This means only 22% of Americans accept the most important fact of science and they don't stick a god fairy into it. This is disgraceful. And the wimpy atheist has no problem with this stupidity. He says stick the god fairy into it, I don't care. What a stupid fucking wimpy asshole. These wimpy atheist morons disgrace atheism.

•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

There is another kind of atheist wimp.

Wikipedia - Atheism

"Atheism is, in the broadest sense, an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities."

An atheist wimp would say he or she has an absence of belief in the existence of deities.

Do these wimpy fucking morons say they have an absence of belief in the existence of Easter Bunnies?

Probably not unless they're even more fucking stupid than I thought they were.

A real atheist is 100% certain magic god fairies and Easter Bunnies and leprechauns are impossible and they don't exist.

There are real atheists. Everyone else is a fucking retard.

Theistic evolution is a bullshit excuse to stick a god fairy into science.

Faith Versus Fact by Jerry Coyne:

"Theistic evolution fails to harmonize science with religion because it pollutes evolution with creationism, positing interventions by God that are either scientifically refuted or untestable--and therefore superfluous. That is why, though eagerly embraced by the American public, theistic evolution has been completely rejected by scientists."

Christian assholes, you can't stick your Magic Man into science, you fucking retards.