Oh come on!

[EvilNed]

These numbers have GOT to be fake.

http://www.godless.org.uk/Evo.html

I mean. 45% believe the world is less than 10,000 years old? I don't buy it. That's like 145 million people.

[Philly_SWAT]

I dont know how it is in other countries, but in the US, kids are... "propogandized" from as soon as they can talk that there is a God, he created the earth, etc. Kind of hard for most people to make an informed judgement about things later.

[Danny]

honestly ive got nowt against christianity, or any religion, i dont believe in any of them, but some people need to ,faith can make people do great, or terrible things, depending on there perespective and interpretation. but the people in the u.s, and its spreading over here, that believe this must be nuts, its still possible that some god or gods couldve started life off, but if it was in his own image then gods an ameaba...with a beard.
the sheer number of people that believe carbon dating is wrong and that the earth is younger than the pyramids is mind boggling.
They need to accept theres no plan for us were no better than any other animal cus thats all we are, we still fight each other for territory, were greedy, messy and destructive, but some of these facts, most specificly the dragon one makes me shake my head in disbelief, sur eif you believe in a great flood then you could accpet the grand canyon theory but i dont see how any chrisitian ,when told diosuars are dragons, would do anything but gt nervous adn try to cross the street saying "k....i gotta go now", seriously these facts are a little freightening.


81% of U.S. teenagers think that God controlled or influenced the origin of humans. (Gallup)
65% of Americans think that we should teach both creationism and evolution in schools. (CBS)
55% believe that “God created humans in present form.” (CBS)
45% believe that the world is less than 10,000 years old. (Gallup)
37% think that we should teach just creationism in schools, including 60% of evangelical Christians.
36% believe in telepathy.
35% say that evolution is well supported by the evidence. (Gallup)
35% say that evolution is not well supported by the evidence. (Gallup)
25% believe in astrology.
25% think the sun goes around the Earth.
13% think that Joan of Arc was Noah’s wife.
Only 13% of Americans accept the standard scientific account of evolution, without a god’s involvement.



Evolutionary Leftovers
"Remember, you are unique, just like everybody else"

One of the best ways to show the evidence is to give examples of current human physiology, that I feel cannot be explained by simply saying “god moves in mysterious ways”, that I feel could only be brought about through centuries of human evolution.

The Appendix - The great discomfort, and occasionally death brought on by appendicitis. From this organ that is of no understandable use in modern humans, most likely it is a throw back from human evolution or did God just slip up.

Eye Teeth - The size of the root of your upper canine teeth. In monkeys, the canine teeth are much larger than they are in humans, and as such, they require much larger roots to anchor them. In humans the canines are now much smaller but this oversized root remains (just run your finger over your gums to see).

Goosebumps – Goosebumps serve one purpose to erect the hair or fur on a hairy mammal ancestor, thereby improving its insulation value against the cold. But most of us nowadays have so little body hair that it is rendered useless for insulation purposes.

Human Embryos - especially very small ones actually have tails and gill slits. So do all mammal, bird, reptile, amphibian, and fish embryos. One would almost think we are all related.

Sudden Jerks - those sudden jerks that you make when you're asleep. A reasonable evolutionary hypothesis is that it was a defensive response that developed when we slept in trees. Any slight sense of unbalance would promote an automatic jerk and instant awakening saving us from a very rude awakening.

The Hair on the Back of the neck - The hair on the backs of our necks that stand up in any terrifying situation, that creepy feeling we sometimes get down the nape of our neck or scalp. One explanation is that it is a reaction inherited from our mammal ancestors; other mammals' hair rises in response to such situations as a defence. As a warning sign of aggression, and to make the animal look bigger and fiercer, we have apparently given up that signal, perhaps in favour of words or other body language. But that invisible reaction remains.

The Plantaris Muscle - In the monkey it is a useful muscle, which causes all the digits to flex at once, and thus, is useful in swinging from trees by the feet. In the human it is atrophied, and does not even reach the toes, but disappears into the Achilles tendon. There is no sensible reason for its existence in the human, except a common ancestry with monkeys.

Unusual Babies - anomalies such as being born with a tail, or covered with fur. Tails are more common than most people realize, since they are surgically removed immediately. Back in history’s “dark ages” these babies were considered by the church as “the Spawn of Satan” and killed. Along with their mothers who were of course designated as witches.

There are of course hundreds of such evolutionary ticks such as Pseudogenes (also known as junk DNA) that were discovered in 1994. They are remnants of genes that no longer function but continue to be carried along in DNA as excess baggage. Anyhow I feel that these ticks along with all the other evidence for evolution and the complete lack of evidence against it proves that at this time it is the most likely origin of our species.

Just about every cell in our bodies contains the evidence of our evolutionary origins. The basic process of life on Earth is so common that we share about 50% of our genes with carrots, and more than 98% of our genes with chimpanzees. If fact, humans are genetically closer to chimps than mice are to rats. Here are some useful biological facts:


We get an exact copy of the mitochondria in each cell from our mother, almost every time.

Every male gets an exact copy of his Y chromosome from his father, almost every time.

Both mitochondria and Y chromosomes slowly mutate over time at known rates.

With this knowledge, geneticists can estimate how recently any two of us shared a common female ancestor, or any two males shared a common male ancestor. Using this information and other data, the evidence strongly points to the claim that most or all of us are descended from a group of Africans that started migrating about 100,000 years ago.

We may share 98% of our genes with chimps, but we have 23 chromosomes in our sperm and eggs while chimps and other great apes have 24. A close examination of the chromosomes shows that one of our chromosomes is made of two from the other primates. Our combined chromosome even shows the evidence of where the two chromosomes joined, with the ends of the old chromosomes in the middle of the joined chromosome.

[MissJacksonCA]

Joan of Arc being Noahs wife? What rock did they lift up to poll those believers?

I generally dont buy into polls because they're so subjective. Unless you're asking people from every single city in every part of the country the results are askew. Those results shocked me just a tad. I do believe creationism should be taught in school if only so that a teen can make their mind up for themselves I dont try to impose my beliefs on others just give them objective perspectives. If we only teach one side of everything we're not really teaching now are we?

As a girl who attends church more often than most people I know I think faith is important and an essential life tool. But some religons seem archaic. Like Roman Catholics preaching against the use of birth control and premarital sex. I also found born again Christians to be a bit naive too. When I lived in Ohio everyone was born again and the wives just bowed down to their husbands and behaved in slave like Stepford manner. I dont know if it was the religon but it bothered me. The Episcopal church isn't great but I find its progressive. I love the 10 signs you're a Lutheran tee shirts that say stuff like if the church was on fire you'd run inside to grab the coffee pot. I'm in total admiration of the Jews and how entirely devout they can be in these modern times. I'm still shopping for religons though in case there's something better t believe in...

[Danny]

and how do you explain creationism to buddists, hinuds or any other religion other than christianity?
creationism and intellignet design is teaching christianity in schools as fact, simple as, there are many religion s and theres nothing to prove that one is more likely to be real than another and only teaching one religion is not taking into account the non christian religons, and teaching religion in school is wrong on an ethical level, if you want your kid to know about god take them to sunday school and let them make up there own mind when informed about both, becuase teaching non christian kids in school about 'god' making man appear out of mid air just isnt right that is what churches are for.

[MissJacksonCA]

I suppose you're right. And of course the anti-religous groups would freak out over creationism being taught in schools. I guess I just imagine most people wouldn't buy into creationism but thats where i'm wrong. My bf even believes in it!

[Terran]

I do believe creationism should be taught in school if only so that a teen can make their mind up for themselves I dont try to impose my beliefs on others just give them objective perspectives. If we only teach one side of everything we're not really teaching now are we?


Since when do "myths" belong in Science class.....
I can only imagine the text books.

Biology 101 B
Section 1 Unicorns
Section 2 Fairies
Section 3 Amphibians
Section 4 Reptiles
Section 5 Dragons
Section 6 Mammels
Section 7 Basilisks

Evolution 102 B
Section 1 God did it instantly
Section 2 God did it slowly
Section 3 Different Gods did it different ways
Section 4 Natural Selection, Genetics, Darwin ..etc
Section 5 American Indian Creation
Section 6 Various African Culture Creation
Section 7 Roman/Greek Creation
Section 8 The Spagetti Monster did it with his noodly appendage
etc
etc

If we only teach one side of everything we're not really teaching now are we?
Imagine how confused the children will be if we teach them all these "sides"....

Teaching science is teaching objectivity and rational thought ....You can duplicate and recreate all the findings....

Teaching myths as potential alternatives to science is disception....

Creationism is not a science.

[Andy]

Just bear in mind our rules surrounding religous topics people.


Topics discussing religion are often precarious and controversial in nature. Do not attack someone for holding differing opinions/beliefs. Reasoned discussion is perfectly fine, but such threads will be monitored to make sure proceedings remain civil.

Thanks :)

[MissJacksonCA]

I'm not suggesting science teachers say hey kids you've heard of big bang well now we're going to talk about creation but I prefer to call it POOF and there was humanity... I was simply suggesting they introduce it as a theory believed by Christians... to be objective... I didn't know the theory of creation from Sunday school and my parents never taught it to me, my school did... but guess who didn't buy into it? Because all the evidence pointed to evolution and the only rational path of thought pointed to ...evolution. I'm not scared by what people are going to think if we teach it in science. I understand it will snub other religons by not introducing their theories on how life began but to circumvent that I suppose we could introduce a number of different theories as just that... theories believed by X group...

[Terran]

Just bear in mind our rules surrounding religious topics people.
Thanks :)

HPOTD 3:11
Topics discussing religion are often precarious and controversial in nature. Do not attack someone for holding differing opinions/beliefs. Reasoned discussion is perfectly fine, but such threads will be monitored to make sure proceedings remain civil.

That book and verse is clearly contradicted in the HPOTD OLD LOOM Testament

:)

[darth los]

I do believe creationism should be taught in school if only so that a teen can make their mind up for themselves I dont try to impose my beliefs on others just give them objective perspectives.


The supreme court has ruled that anything deemed to be religious in nature that is made a prescribed part of any public school curriculum violates the establishment clause of the first amendment. In Arbington school district v. Shemp the opined that "To withstand the strictures of the establishment clause there must be a must be a secular legislative purpose and a primary , nuetral , effect that neither advances or prohibits religion." This would obviously advance religion and violate that whole annoying/inconvienient seperation of church and state doctrine. There's people who would love to do it anyway, but damn is that first amendment tough to get around and in the end we are a nation of laws.