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Goodbye Jesus

Why You Should Stop Believing In Evolution


ficino

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Clever title.  Author's point is, evolution is something to be understood, not "believed in."

 

A breakdown of, in his view, its key points:

 

http://theweek.com/article/index/265653/why-you-should-stop-believing-in-evolution

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A well written article. His use of humour and easily understood examples is exquisite.

 

Thanks for posting! 

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Evolution is something I except, not believe in.  I don't 'believe' in gravity either, it doesn't require faith when something falls.  The theory of gravity is something I except because I see it working every where.  It is an explanation of the world, not an ideology.

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This is very interesting, thank you for posting!

I'd say that when discussing with believers/religious people, they use the term 'believe.' It's easy to get moved by the wording if debating them about the TOE.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I can imagine creationists jumping on that article and thinking it is something that supports their rubbish only to close the page in a huff when they find it is not.

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Excellent article and something I have made the mistake of doing. By saying I "believe in evolution" it somehow enters the same realm as the religious beliefs of the other person. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Absolutely. Accepting the evidence and evolution as the best explanation of that evidence is not faith (equal to "belief" in this context). I didn't have a problem with evolution as a Christian because I never took the genesis creation account literally. Still, I know Christians who don't take it literally but still are apprehensive about accepting evolution, probably because there has been so much religious propoganda against it.

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The Biological Theory of Evolution contains the best current explanations of all current relevant empirical evidence.

 

It's nothing more than that.  I can twist the word "belief" to encompass this, but that's a bit of a stretch.  Distilled, I think the term "best current explanation" is more accurate and reliable.  Removing the adjectives "best" and "current" reduces it further to "explanation", as opposed to "belief".  Which sounds more accurate?

 

As to "faith" in any scientific theory, that bastardizes the word "faith" to such an extreme that it begs use of a different and more accurate word.

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The Biological Theory of Evolution contains the best current explanations of all current relevant empirical evidence.

 

It's nothing more than that. I can twist the word "belief" to encompass this, but that's a bit of a stretch. Distilled, I think the term "best current explanation" is more accurate and reliable. Removing the adjectives "best" and "current" reduces it further to "explanation", as opposed to "belief". Which sounds more accurate?

 

As to "faith" in any scientific theory, that bastardizes the word "faith" to such an extreme that it begs use of a different and more accurate word.

Using the word faith also bastardizes the words science and theory. You are absolutely correct. A theory is the best working explanation of the evidence. Nothing more. To say, "I have faith in a theory" is to say that I believe it is completely correct and I am shutting my mind to any future evidence that may alter the theory. Such a stance is anti-scientific.
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  • 3 weeks later...

In normal conversation I personally wouldn't get hung up over the dictionary definition of "believe." Most people use "believe" as simply referring to what one holds to be true. Whether or not it's held true due to evidence or blind faith is irrelevant in the common usage of "believe." Of course, I agree that things held as true due to evidence are superior to things just taken on faith, and it's good to point that out. I just wouldn't make a big deal over a strict definition of "believe" that doesn't reflect the way the word is normally used by people.

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I recently found it hard to even use the word "believe" after now being an atheist. Christians are QUICK to stop you and go: "aha! So you have faith in it!" Like, uhhhh, no...you idiot. It's evidence based". I had to stop using that word around Christians altogether, because that. If I happen to be around some, I use something completely different, so their narrow way of thinking, can understand it.

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