Removing the blinkers of blind faith  

It's very encouraging that more xtians are speaking out against extremism and giving their support to science, but it's not going to change the minds of fundamentalists or persuade them to change their agendas. I think that both atheists and moderate religionists make a mistake in thinking that facts are going affect these people. They don't operate on facts, but on emotion. They're perfectly capable of compartmentalizing and simply denying even the most horrendous facts about religion.

I say that all makes since to me and it's fine and dandy. However doesn’t leave a person like me, those that don't believe either idea, any where to go. I have no group to stand with, I am so lonely, LOL. Now there is a chance that both creationist and evolutionist may banned together? Great, just great, now all we need do is to figure out a way of blending Scientology in as well and then I will really be isolated. :-)

I am at the point where I don't care how the universe was created or who created it. I don't care how man got here. As far as I can see, unless there is some "event of biblical proportions" we will never be 100% sure of the existence of a God. You either accept it or you don't.

No matter how man arrived or how the universe was created, the fact is that we are here. God might have been responsible for either type of creation, evolution or the Adam and Eve story.

If every person on earth believes in evolution, it changes nothing and proves nothing. If every person on earth believes in God, it does not prove anything. I accept the existence of some kind of Infinite Intelligence and that I am somehow connected to it. That is all I need to know. I don't care about religion or evolution because to me they both are a waste of energy.

So, I believe in my connection to the Infinite and that the universe is whole and good. It is a waste of life to dislike or hate or attempt to always figure out the unknown(is there a God). No organization is going to tell me how or what I can or should believe in. It does not make sense to argue the point. I chose to live in a state of happiness and prosperity. Why live any other way and be miserable?

Thank you Thomas for a great subject:

It is my opinion that embracing intelligent design will be the destruction of religion.

What has permitted religion to stay afloat is the ignorance of its members; once that ignorance is gone they will end up like mitochondria without a host.

There may be no better way to end this travesty.

Best ras

I wholly agree with Zimmerman. It's about time that Christians who not only have faith but have common sense and know the (real) history of the Bible speak up.

I'm not religous (religions are man-made and sorely flawed) but I am spiritual and believe in God/Higher Power/Whatever you want to call It. I've never had a problem with believing in both science and spirituality.

The ignorance of religious fundamentalists who refuse to educate themselves and broaden their minds are not using the intelligence that God gave them. That's a slap in the face to God and an embarrassment to mankind.

Thomas,

One of the reasons for my name here is based on the Creationism rampant in the State of Texas.

I recall sitting silent in a room full of aunts, uncles, cousins and siblings who laughed out loud at the absurdity of the earth being more than a few thousand years old.

How can a child fight this? My friend Gnosisquest is right when he posits that all religious brainwashing of children is dangerous.

Nevertheless, the child I was then knew that they were narrowminded and wrong. The Church would say that proves I was a sinner from the beginning of my life. I say, it proves that all children, even if beaten into submission, will think for themselves if they want.

This is a very interesting discussion. I am not a religious person. My opinion about the question "Is there a God?" is that this problem is undecidable (using some computer science lingo here). It means that, I will never be able one day to prove the existence of God and I will never be able to refute it. Life is too short, and spending time dealing with such problems is just a waste of energy.

Creationism is based on some tales from the bible. Many of these tales originated from poems that were found in Sumeria (south of actual Iraq) and that go back to at least 3000 years BC. I am astonished that some people still believe in those naive tales in 21st century, like God creating Adam from clay. These civilizations used clay to build their shelters, statutes, pots...and they were just assuming that God had to use the same material to create man. I don't know about you, but I think that this is a naive view of creation, to say the least.

Evolution is supported by some verifiable facts. I do not adhere to evolution 100%, but I think that it is more likely than the bible tales.

All religions convey some good values meant to help people organize their lives. Unfortunately, some people get intoxicated by these religions and are ready to fight and die to defend their beliefs.

c india is 1 of the countries where blind faith is utmost ..people here r living wid it since ages...

Just wanted to say that its nice to read a thread that is perpetuated by writers that have the ability to think. I post reviews on a couple of US sites (I'm a brit) and the forums there seem to be totally populated by god fearing, gun totting, creationist, republicans. i know that all of america can't be like that but it is starting to scare me. Thank ..god? for intelligent debate, makes a change from intelligent design.

I was fortunate enough to come in contact with the teachings of Teillhard de Chardin in my college days and his teachings reconcilled evolution and religion so beautifully that I've never had a problem with it. I think there are not many with backgrounds like he had in both science and religion.