Is there any point to the evolution / creation debate?

Question

I have read a number of threads containing the never ending debate between proponents and opponents of religious belief (invariably Christian belief) in the matter of evolution. What I find particularly striking is that the atheists, agnostics and deists,for the most part, grasp the essentials of the theory of evolution and, in addition, are often quite knowledgeable and well read on the matter. Not only that, but they frequently show considerable familiarity with the text of the bible and commentaries thereon. On the other hand, adherents of the Christian religion (particularly fundamentalists) rarely show even a basic understanding of the theory, are hardly ever able to demonstrate that they have read the standard works and, in so far as their own religious beliefs are concerned, display complete ignorance of modern biblical scholarship.

A book by Arthur Koestler springs to mind. It is entitled "The Yogi and the Commissar". Koestler points out that it is impossible to argue with a yogi or a commissar: the yogi will vanish in a puff of smoke, whilst the commissar will take you by the throat and strangle you. He goes on to say that you can have discussions with everyone else: fabians, socialists, trade unionists, liberals, authoritarians and even between the adherents of branches of churches. But with the yogi and the commissar, nothing!

In order to have any purposeful discussion, terms need to be defined; both sides need to have adequate knowledge of the subject matter, or be prepared to acquire that knowledge, and, above all, must rely entirely on documents available to both.Neither can play the role of the yogi or commissar. Surely, unless these rules are observed, argument is pointless.

Answer 1

whenever i mention i am an atheist i sometimes  get the impresion people think i am ignorang towards  bible scriptures, wich i am not.

I think its important to argue with people that we weren't created by some god with no pourpouse ather than to inflate his ego by us worshiping him day an night.

Answer 2

The point is: Which offers meaningful answers to the fundamental questions of humans: Who am ? What am I living for? Where am I going?

Answer 3

The point is to keep creationists from teaching their bullshit in schools.  If they never tried putting creationism into the school curriculum, none of this would have ever happened.

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Answer 4

Plenty of religous folks undertstand the principles of evolution prety well...

"Not only that, but they (atheists) frequently show considerable familiarity with the text of the bible and commentaries thereon."

- Highly debatable. Some of the atheists Ive debated have a 5 year olds grasp on religious concepts..

You have made plenty of generalized statements in your questions.

Answer 5

Well said - thank you for the good reading. People have strong feelings about religion and politics. They argue with passion and not with facts.  

Answer 6

Wast of time what heve we ganed so far

Answer 7

I accept evolution and love science. Most of my friends could care less. Most people don't get up in the morning and think of evolution, or Darwin. This goes for my friends of all faiths and the atheists I know. They just don't get up in the morning and say "Wow, that Darwin makes my day!"

Answer 8

I don't think there's really any point if atheists are willing to insult and mock Christians for their beliefs, or if Christians like me are willing to be naive and not understand the arguments and beliefs on the other side of the debate. For my part, as a realist, I think many people on BOTH sides of the debate need to clean up their act, especially on this website, if there's ever going to be an intelligent debate by either atheists or Christians.

Answer 9

OK., briefly.  

This universe is driven by rules, not chaos.  Somehow they got built in.

There is no reason why life should be generated by pure chance.  The universe tends towards increasing simplicity, not complexity.

Life forms, even the smallest, defy anty explanation for their nature other than that they were designed.  They eye by itself defies any explanation that can be provided by evolutionary theory.

The interaction between species, forming complex inter-relations, also defies evolutionary theory explanations.  A case in point is exclusive symbiosis, where two distinct species (such as an orchid and a hummingbird) so depend on one another that the one cannot exist without the other.

The environment of the earth is subject to a huge range of variables (temperature, distance from sun, atmospheric chemistry, gravity etc.,), most of which have a very fine range which permits life.

The more you look at the universe, the more it becomes clear that it does not exist as it does through mere chance.  It has to have become this way intentionally by intelligent design.

Atheistic cosmology has it's own 'who made God?' question to answer.  In this case, it is 'where did the primordial atom come from?'  In other words, where did all the matter and energy come from before/at the time of the big bang.

Answer 10

I agree.

The good thing is, this is about the only place out side of school I've ever seen the debate actually brought up.

Answer 11

They used to have these debates about slavery too.  At the time they seemed pointless but look at where we are on that issue today.

Answer 12

wow that's really long and I'm lazy.

So to answer the original question: not really. It's never going to get anywhere because both sides are convinced that they're right. So they might as well agree to disagree and move on to more important things. But of course, it's human nature to argue so that's not going to happen.

Answer 13

But you admit that some people can be reasoned with.  So if we throw up our hands and say, "It's not worth it to defend evolution because some people will never accept it," what will that accomplish?  

Answer 14

All discussion is worthwhile when we consider the alternative.

In your humble opinion the argument is pointless but then you are untitled to one individuals point of view.

The point is it is much better to debate the issue than fire rockets or start wars which normally is where religion has a weak spot in my humble opinion.

Answer 15

I'm a Christian and couldn't care less about the debate over Creationism and Evolution.  There are other issues that are far more important that should require our attention.  Sometimes I just feel like the debate is simply "fundamentalist Christianity vs. atheism" (pardon the drastic generalization.)  And frankly, debating such extremes is just silliness.  Personally our time could be better spent figuring out how together we might make this world a better place.

Answer 16

You are absolutely correct.  However, creationists still insist that creationism should be taught in science classes as an "alternative" to evolution.  Therefore, they must be engaged in discussion until they understand why that demand is unreasonable.

Answer 17

There are many thousands of proven studies with docummented evidence that evolution is the driving force in nature. This is indisputable and just just simply saying i dont believe in it is not an argument against it.

On the other hand there is not one single shred of proven substantiated evidence of the existence of any sort of devine creationism supernatural or otherwise.  

If there were any evidence to the contrary it would be widely publicised and we would  all be aware of it.

Answer 18

There is no point to this. Evolution vs Creationism is not about Science but about faith and belief. Its simply is a debate between some Atheist and some Fundamental Theist. Both sides should leave Science Alone!

Answer 19

Yes to debate different views on the subjects.  

Answer 20

Id be more than happy to argue for creationism without falling back on faith. After all, there is degree of that in evolution aswell. I have posted a couple of questions on the matter and mostly all i get from evolutionists is,

"you idiot, there is tons of proof!"

Many creationists don't know what they are talking about but there is a minority of people who do have an idea of what they are talking about. Most evolutionists don't have a clue on anything either, but as there are alot more evolutionists on this site there are bound to be more sensible people who know whats going on. I would love to have this argument on a level playing field where all that was looked at was the proof.

Answer 21

The approach embracing knowledge has been attempted, but still falls on deaf ears. I would argue the point that Christians have not all the facts, but there are some of us that do, but again, deaf ears are usually the target. I too, tire of the same lame argument, but it would appear that it is here for the long-haul, as both sides lack the ability to listen and reason. As a Christian, I can speak for the rest, however, I have no inkling as to what the opposition is thinking. I must, at this point, assign the blame to pig-headed stubbornness, as factual information regarding the concept and (yet) theory of evolution as an explanation as to our being here, has not successfully explained it very well. Also, please note that there are more and more learned people climbing aboard the Creation bandwagon, and some with very impressive credentials. In the final analysis, I believe we will all know the Truth. Some of us will be surprised, but many of us will not. What say you? Be well.  

Answer 22

Yes there is. In some places, America principally, this 'debate' is of crucial importance, because science and truth are being driven out of the class room.

We are seeing an endarkenment, the destruction of reason.

There is no real 'debate'; Evolution is established fact, creationism is just a statement of faith, it is not even a theory, certainly not any sort of equally valid theory that deserves equal time in school. Harm is being done by creationists.

Answer 23

Certainly there is..

We do a lot of critical analysis when we decided to follow God.. Take some time, dear one, to do your research before asking such a question. Most of the cities mentioned in the Bible have been either excavated and found, or are still inhabited. The evidence, that he has left, would stand in any court of the law.. You can NOT say the same of your evidence.. How many eye witness accounts do you need? How many miracles do you need? The Bible has been proven to be historically accurate as well as archaeologically accurate.. ((these peoples still inhabit the lands of the bible.. This is their history)) The do and did keep records. they have genealogies, tax records, Death records, criminal records, census records, Land records and etc.. There are over 600 writings regarding Jesus that have nothing to do with religion..

You have NO ( well, hardly any) evidence that stands up to real scrutiny, or at least nothing tangible to make me think otherwise..

1- Evolution is a theory. Thus : THE THEORY OF EVOLUTION. Here is the definition of Theory ..

1 - Abstract thought : speculation.

2 - A hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation.

3 - An unproved assumption : conjecture.

You (they) present the theory of evolution as: FACT.. Shame on you all.

The problem, I think, (in my humble opinion) stems from the fact that folks are *assuming* that 6000 years ago God created everything. When in fact the bible does not say what length of time passed between the creation of the world and when it was actually inhabited by the human race..

Peace and Blessings from Texas <><

Answer 24

I have been having a debate with another user of this site for the last week.

He is a Christian and I am an atheist.

I actually thought,to begin with,that I had finally found somebody to hold a proper debate with.Unfortunately,it would appear that he is either unwilling or unable to accept evidence when it is presented to him.

On top of that there have been the personal slurs and assumptions even though he knows nothing about me.

I have come to the conclusion that it is not possible to debate with anybody who has a firm religious belief about religion.

If anybody would like to prove me wrong,you can e-mail me.