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Originally Posted by TooMuchButtHair  Here we go folks - a new thread for everyone to b..ch about. The real problem with Christians is that you/they tend to see the New and Old Testaments as something that is 100% accurate and precisely what god supposedly told it's original authors. The lot of you refuse to believe the verifiable truth - both works have been altered uncounted times in history. Many Christians, fundies in particular, tend to believe that if the Bible is wrong, their entire religion must be wrong. Though the evidence for Christianity's validity is non-existent, I will be the first to admit that just because your holy text might be wrong, your religion as a whole isn't automatically invalidated.
Christians tend to covet and idolize the Bible as if it were god himself. Don't the morons I speak of see the ultimate problem with that? Unwavering faith in anything is idiotic, to say the least. Those I speak of believe god endowed them with the greatest intellect in the animal kingdom - why not use it to objectively examine the natural world and enrich yourselves?
But no, they put on their Bible glasses - notice Ken Ham and the entire Evangelical Right do not say god glasses, they say Bible glasses - and then look at the world. |
Considering the breadth and depth of information/interpretations, I'd agree that different translations of Scripture have been altered in small ways that change the contexts of entire ideas presented. Personally, I choose to believe that amidst all that information, there is one true, consistent stream of information that if called upon from people more knowledgeable about it than myself, would prove beyond a reasonable doubt to at least be consistent. That includes the fearless comparing of other information/interpretations for consistency, but the process is quite extensive. However, no question gets unanswered or backed down from, which completely puts to rest the possibility of being led by blind faith. Basically, nonbelievers can ask questions or put forth information that these people would coolly and calmly respond to, and have no reason to get frustrated because they have their information on lock.
Most people on here, including myself admittedly, do not have a
holistic set of ideas on lock, though a
lot of ideas from believers here get embarrassingly misconstrued and thus thrown away. (
Side note: the Internet is a terrible source to draw information from; compare the requirements in college campuses to draw from closed databases rather than the open web for a reason). Conversely, I realize that some believers cannot fully articulate their ideas without a proper backdrop to bring about understanding between them and the person they are debating with, and therefore get disposed of and ridiculed. Lack of articulation however, does not mean they did not have a fitting idea to work with in the first place.
Also, I've come to know that some Christians do not put on Bible glasses in vain as you are suggesting. Nor do they use it as a shield against scientific claims, nature, or whatever have yous. Rather, the truly devout immerse themselves into seeing what the world around us has to do with what's written in Scripture, and how contemporary findings can harmonize with it. I'm quite positive that Scriptural ideas getting thrown around as contradiction, fallacy, and what not reach them as well... even if the act of "putting on Bible glasses" is a bad thing considering the context you put it in, they have very insightful information that leaves no room into thinking that their beliefs are fueled by credulity.
Basically, as many secular scholars as their are out there, there are those who are compelled and open-minded enough to develop a harmonious secular and Scriptural intellect, one that they can profess and support through and through. That act alone is a far cry from the term "intellectual laziness" that is thrown around the forum; I'd also hope that someone doesn't reply to this sentence that I'm insinuating intellectual laziness on this forum, I am not. Folks, there is a
horde of information out there that would put cherry-pickings, attacks on beliefs, and the Google/Yahoo/Any search engine plateau people perch themselves on (for support) to rest. There even exists scientists who ultimately see something like Creation as more believable then Evolution...
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Originally Posted by Via a closed web resource, and not an open search engine A top panel of U.S. scientists has published a new book asserting that religious faith and belief in the theory of evolution "can be fully compatible" and that creationism has no place in science classes.
The 88-page Science, Evolution, and Creationism, produced by the National Academy of Sciences and the Institute of Medicine, is an updated version of two previous books supporting evolution scholarship.
The 2008 version is different, according to the 15-person committee that designed it, because it is aimed at clergy and school board members and discusses the role of faith in human knowledge.
"Science and religion address separate aspects of human experience," the book says. "Many scientists have written eloquently about how their scientific studies of biological evolution have enhanced rather than lessened their religious faith. And many religious people and denominations accept scientific evidence for evolution." |
Although it is always inevitable that...
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Originally Posted by Via the same resource used above Many Americans, however, don't accept that evidence, including Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee. |
It comes down to this: People are going to believe what they will if they don't see it necessary to at least dabble in Scripture or have been disconnected by what seemed to be Scriptural errors/fallacies/inconsistencies. Ultimately, nobody can be considered less intellectual, only less informed.
Info. taken from Academic OneFile closed web resource. Named Works: Science, Evolution, and Creationism (Book). Quote:
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Originally Posted by One Last Quote From Said Closed Resource But evidence for evolution and natural selection abounds, with sources from DNA research to fossil records, the scientists contend in the new book. "Scientists no longer question the basic facts of evolution as a process," the book says.
The book is available online at www.nas.edu.--RNS |
Note: The above quotes were given simply to introduce the idea of scientists accepting a non-secular idea, and not to introduce a whole side debate on Creationism.
Join Date: Jul 2005
06-30-2008
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