Ooh, this is getting interesting! Though, Al-Bob, do you mind editing your post so it isn’t stretching the page? It’s making the conversation a little difficult to read.
Mitch-
I’m just going to reply to your post point by point, instead of quoting you- I hope you know which bits I’m referring to.
Yes, that’s very true- a child may have beliefs independent of their parents or their surroundings. But on average, a child will believe what they are taught from a young age. It’s a sort of conditioning. If your parents smoke, you may not smoke, but there’s a much higher chance of you smoking later on in life.
Of course, in later life, when one has grown up and is now thinking independently of their parents, yes, someone can quite easily change their religious view points due to personal experience. But I think it’d be fair to say that on average, if you live in a heavily religious community, there is a higher liklihood of becoming religious yourself.
Oh, you mean from sort of nothingness, if you see what I mean? Well, the theory of evolution states that we’ve all evolved from microbes in the sea, which in turn have formed primitive aquatic life, moving on to reptiles, mammals and so forth. I don’t know whether that’s true or not, really. I guess I can see how it might be true- we do share a lot of monkey DNA, for example. Yet at the same time, it’s a pretty far-fetched idea.
The idea of God being there the whole time seems a little bit like a get-out clause, to me. Yes, it may be true. But I can’t help but question it- my mind naturally wants to think, ‘well, what happened before God?’ The answer could be nothing, could be infinity. Something like that. It just doesn’t seem like a solid explanation.
And very right of you to believe what you wish! From a psychological standpoint, ridiculing those who are ‘different’ happens so much in society, unfortunately, although it is another means of ‘survival of the fittest’.
I’m trying to do this all from a more psychological point of view. I can understand why people believe in creationism, and I can understand why people believe in evolution. I just think it’s incredible that our brains are so complex that we are able to question our own origins. But what would happen if we did indeed find ‘the answer’? Believing in God is probably the more hopeful, the more positive of the two options. If what the Bible says is generally true, there is hope for those that do good. If evolution and the scientific, atheist viewpoint is true, it doesn’t matter if you’re a good person or an evil person. You’ll die, and that’s it.
That’s what has led me to believe, personally, that religion is a form of evolution in itself. (Okay, it sounds stupid, but go with me on this one…) We have created religion, in all its various forms, so that good is rewarded and evil is punished (much like operant conditioning). This, in turn, actually helps our species prosper, as those doing bad things are, as a whole, being detrimental to the human population.
Just a little theory of mine. I’m going way off topic now, anyway.
Al-Bob-
Well, that’s good that you believe what you want to believe in, instead of just doing as you’re told. But I assume you were brought up to pray, to attend church, possibly? My own father is Catholic, and the rest of the family on his side is very, very religious. My mother’s side is atheist, but they’re not really ‘pro-evolution’ either- they just haven’t really thought about that sort of thing. But where I’ve grown up is very…well, not anti-religion, as such. Just very atheist. I hate to generalise an entire country, but Britain is pretty athiest on the whole. There’s a forum I go on, called The Student Room, where students help eachother out with work and things, and there are other sections where you can talk about what you like, and I’d have to say, I’d suspect that quite a few people on these boards wouldn’t be very keen on some of the threads on there.
And you’re right- the chances are mind-blowingly small! So minute, so tiny, that a normal human brain couldn’t even begin to comprehend it. But that’s still allowing for there to be a chance, right? Even if it is very, very small? Also, quite recently I believe, there have been some discoveries of planets with Earth-like conditions, potential Earths, as such. Looks like we might not be the only ones out there!
I see your point, for example, reptiles changing into mammals, as is generally believed in the theory of evolution. The only thing I can say towards that are certain bone remnents left behind, that sort of thing…Microbes turning into large fungus, an experiment we did at school, which was pretty cool. But I guess a complete lack of evolution would beg the question, ‘why are so many animals so similar?’ Most mammals have four limbs. If God created everything, why couldn’t he have gone wild and gave elephants six legs, and that sort of thing? Just a thought.
I have no doubt that the Bible is true to a certain extent, such as being a recording of battles and that sort of thing. But recording battles and the creation of the universe as we know it are two totally different kettles of fish. I’m sure there are other documents that have recorded features such as archeology- it’s pretty cool that something like that has survived so long, but just because some rather trivial facts may be correct doesn’t mean the whole thing is true.
I just can’t get my head around the idea of the Earth being created in seven days. Yet at the same time, a big bang creating the universe sounds pretty silly, too. I guess I’m not on any side, then.
There are also some things in the Bible which I am against…For example, I just hate how reptiles are given a bad rap, so to speak. A friend of mine was reading the Bible, out of interest (she’s one of those types of people who loves to know everything) and she was talking to me about how she came across one section promoting stoning homosexual people. We both agreed that it was a tad extreme. But, on the other hand, the Bible also promotes a lot of good. It sort of contradicts itself, in a way- after all, it is a text most likely written by a lot of different people.
I don’t really know what I’ve proven with this post. Just that I’m interested in this sort of thing.
I do hope that your viewpoint of me does not change because of this, though. I don’t really care what religion you are on here, as long as you’re a Pixar fan. Just hope I haven’t made any enemies by posting my viewpoints (in a hopefully open-minded and methodical…ish approach).