Tuesday, October 26, 2004
Monday, October 25, 2004
"Religion prevents our children from having a rational education; religion prevents us from removing the fundamental causes of war; religion prevents us from teaching the ethic of scientific cooperation in place of the old fierce doctrines of sin and punishment. It is possible that mankind is on the threshold of a golden age; but, if so, it will be necessary first to slay the dragon that guards the door, and this dragon is religion." - Bertrand Russell
Was Darwin Wrong? @ National Geographic Magazine
Was Darwin Wrong? @ National Geographic Magazine
This article that appeared in this month’s issue of National Geographic was disturbing to say the least. The article begins with the results of a survey conducted on the American population which found that 45% of respondents believed that humanity was created by God sometime in the last 10,000 years. This is half of the population of the most powerful and richest country on the face of the Earth. This is half of the people who will be voting for a president on November 2nd. This is scary. But even scarier than that is the fact that these numbers have not changed in the last 30 years. Thirty years ago 45% believed the same thing. You would think that with the advancement of science and technology and with people walking on the moon; that Americans would be developing a more enlightened view of their world.
Evolutionary science is one of the most important within the scientific community today. Evolutionary science will cure diseases, correct birth defects and generally advance humanity. Those who hold such closed and ridiculous views of the world in which they live will delay this progress by opposing things like stem cell research.
I am tired of the argument that it is just a theory. A theory is not an abstract idea or a notion that something might be true. A theory is an explanation of something that is supported by the evidence.
Religion has been adapting to the discoveries of science for thousands of years. It has been adapting out of necessity, it must maintain power and wealth and without followers it will it will lose both. If a religion holds true to the belief of something which has been proven false then the followers will stray. The most obvious proof of this is religions view at the time of Copernicus that the Earth was the centre of the universe and everything including the Sun evolved around it. The church (mainly the Vatican) opposed this view and fought it vigorously. Eventually though, they had to concede. They were wrong and the public new this and the church had to adapt to keep its followers. I would argue that if something is wrong time and time again especially something that is supposed to be of divine creation (like the Bible) then it is time to stop adapting it and disregard it altogether. Some would argue that science adapts its views all the time, and changes its opinion based on new evidence. I agree that this is true, but this is the nature of science. Science is supposed to try new ideas and discover new things and change. Religion is supposed to represent a divine view and not have to adapt because after all, it is the truth, right? Wrong. Religion is not real, that is why it has been adapting for many thousands of years. From Rai the Sun God to the Mayan snake/bird to Greek Mythology to Christianity, Islam, Buddha, and Hindi and so on, they have all either adapted or disappeared altogether.
Evolution is real, it is the actual explanation of how life evolved on Earth. It will change it will adapt because it is science.
This article that appeared in this month’s issue of National Geographic was disturbing to say the least. The article begins with the results of a survey conducted on the American population which found that 45% of respondents believed that humanity was created by God sometime in the last 10,000 years. This is half of the population of the most powerful and richest country on the face of the Earth. This is half of the people who will be voting for a president on November 2nd. This is scary. But even scarier than that is the fact that these numbers have not changed in the last 30 years. Thirty years ago 45% believed the same thing. You would think that with the advancement of science and technology and with people walking on the moon; that Americans would be developing a more enlightened view of their world.
Evolutionary science is one of the most important within the scientific community today. Evolutionary science will cure diseases, correct birth defects and generally advance humanity. Those who hold such closed and ridiculous views of the world in which they live will delay this progress by opposing things like stem cell research.
I am tired of the argument that it is just a theory. A theory is not an abstract idea or a notion that something might be true. A theory is an explanation of something that is supported by the evidence.
Religion has been adapting to the discoveries of science for thousands of years. It has been adapting out of necessity, it must maintain power and wealth and without followers it will it will lose both. If a religion holds true to the belief of something which has been proven false then the followers will stray. The most obvious proof of this is religions view at the time of Copernicus that the Earth was the centre of the universe and everything including the Sun evolved around it. The church (mainly the Vatican) opposed this view and fought it vigorously. Eventually though, they had to concede. They were wrong and the public new this and the church had to adapt to keep its followers. I would argue that if something is wrong time and time again especially something that is supposed to be of divine creation (like the Bible) then it is time to stop adapting it and disregard it altogether. Some would argue that science adapts its views all the time, and changes its opinion based on new evidence. I agree that this is true, but this is the nature of science. Science is supposed to try new ideas and discover new things and change. Religion is supposed to represent a divine view and not have to adapt because after all, it is the truth, right? Wrong. Religion is not real, that is why it has been adapting for many thousands of years. From Rai the Sun God to the Mayan snake/bird to Greek Mythology to Christianity, Islam, Buddha, and Hindi and so on, they have all either adapted or disappeared altogether.
Evolution is real, it is the actual explanation of how life evolved on Earth. It will change it will adapt because it is science.
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