Evolution: Science vs. Religion

[Asif_NSU]

Hi there everyone,
Please fill up this questionnaire to help me in my research. It is regarding evolution and religion. I hope to get very good co-operation from you guyz.
The questionnaire is Here

Thank you.

[OurNation]

I belive in eveloution I dont really want to go in depth with the religon thing so it doesnt get to contreiversail(spelling).

[Asif_NSU]

So u believe in EVE-loution or EVO-lution? :D

[OurNation]

Im just retarded and cant spell

[zeroth]

From what I've read, you definitely are not retarded...

It's either you can't type or you have six fingers on each hand and they get in the way!

[OurNation]

Im just not to good at spelling and forgot to scroll down to see how its spelt

[YoungCoder]

I assume you are taking a stratified sample considering you are asking o na technology based website which means the majority will most likely favour the science option :p

[Asif_NSU]

well, In my university most of the students are muslims. So i m not getting much of a variety in opinions. So i posted it here to see what people from other walks of life/religions think about it. And itz not that i m trying to defend science on the issue of evolution or go against it. My sole interest is to know how today's people view Darwinism along with their spiritual beliefs(if any;yup, i got quite a number of atheists).

[Asif_NSU]

Hi there everyone,
I have to present the statistics of this questionnaire this Tuesday. Thanks to everyone who participated, the questionnaire will still be active upto Monday. People who did not do it yet please do, it takes only a minute.
Thank you.

[jwenting]

Sorry, not going to hand over my email address to a company I've never even heard of. Enough harvesting for spam purposes going on as it is.

Religion is a means of explaining away things you don't understand in terms you do understand.
Once it gets organised it degenerates (or evolves, depends on who you are in the hierarchy) into a means for a few (whom are called priests to stay in generic terms) of controlling the masses through indoctrination and by keeping them unaware of reality.
Thus religion will create supernatural all knowing beings whom are claimed to be in contact with the priest cast, telling on all disgressions from the rules laid down by that priest cast on the general population. This (together with the statement that those rules are dictated by those supernatural beings) provides an easy way for the priesthood to control the population and gives them the power to do pretty much whatever they wish.
In such a system there's no place for scientific development as that would inevitably explain away the "miracles" the priests perform or claim the gods perform by means of logic and scientific evidence.
The denial by religions of evolution is one example of that denial and suppression of science by religion.

And yes, I was raised (semi)religiously but never forced to accept any religion and I didn't.
I will tolerate and respect any religion that tolerates and respects the fact that I don't share its ideals and ideas and don't wish to be the target of their indoctrination campaigns.

[nanosani]

I'll be waiting for the result.

[moderate_rock48]

Very well put jwenting, but I am religous and yes (gasp) Catholic. I like to read other peoples viewpoints on how the world works, and I am very tolerant of other peoples opinions, to the point where they start bad mouthing me for what I believe.

I dont think religion suppress science, people are going to try and figure this whole thing out if the church condones it or not. But people got to believe what they got to believe. Otherwise they would have nothing.

Also, the hierarchy of priest and all may affect the mass majority of peoples opinions, or what people are going to believe, but that is life. That is how we humans are built, to be led by other people in power. That is how all government works. Please, dont think im trying to push religion off on you, I dont want to be one of those people. I thought your thoughts were expressed very well without offending anybody. :cheesy:

[meksikatsi]

religion is for those who believe in it

[OurNation]

Ahh I think moderates post sprayed some religion on me.....gasp

[jwenting]

religion not suppressing science?
Tell that to Galileo...
Other scientists have been killed as heretics for daring to proclaim things that didn't fit in the framework of the ruling religion.
Religious groups in the US and elsewhere want to ban evolution theory from being taught in schools as heretical.

[moderate_rock48]

ok fine...but your not going to see me going around killing people for teaching evolution, I dont care. It seems everyone can declare there stance on the matter, just make sure your atheist....Also it seems I wont talk about this anymore because it is obviously quite sensitive. I would like to end this now before it is blown out of porportion.

[zeroth]

you are right about it being a sensitive subject, moderate, and it's getting more so daily. Secularism is the new "religion" in the US and growing fast. Secularists don't want any religious conotations in society at all.

I think we should all live and let live. I can't understand why anyone needs to palm off their beliefs on anyone else, but some people cannot stand it if somebody is free...

[jwenting]

Correct zeroth. I've nothing against any religion (like I said) nor against religios conotations in society as long as that religion doesn't force its ideas and ideals on me.
For example, I've nothing against an easter bunny, but don't expect me to go to church on easter.
I've nothing against Muslims praying in the subway, but don't ask me to do the same or to condone them blocking the tunnels.

And no, I'm no atheist. Atheism is a religion too, as atheists have a religious disbelief in the existence of gods.

I keep my options open... Being pragmatic I have concluded that every religion out there preaches harsher punishment after death for believers in false gods than it does for people that believe in no gods at all.
That means you're better off not joining any religion than you are joining the wrong one and as there's so many religions gambling on choosing the correct one is too risky.

[kc0arf]

Hello,

I am Episcopal, and a believer in Jesus Christ.

What I find interesting are people who claim not to be religious, and yet want to have Christmas off and Easter vacation.

I see different religions as different paths to God, such as Buddhist, Judism, and Arabic religions.

But religion can also be the "bond" of a cruel force. During the middle ages, Catholics were very meddling in society... what happened to Galieo for example, or the crusades, or the concept of indulgances. Leaders of the religion can turn the base into a collective weapon.

I am not sure that science can explain everything that happens, such as how personality develops inside people. I also think that certain scientific quests, such as cloning, will create great problems for our society. We do not have the wisdom as a society to control that power. Take a look at Jurassic Park if you need a very fundamental exam of that theory. OR look at the terminator movies... would you really like AI like that? How dare we think as humans that if a machine could define an enemy, that the AI machine would not seek to defend itself?

I do think it is important for a religion to be in a society. Not a state sponsored one, but a balance of duties and responsibility.

Christian

[zeroth]

J, I love options. And I believe that religion and science must tolerate one another. It´s a balance, but they both must be openminded to maintain the balance, sort of like politics. Like politics, it doesn´t always work out but in the long run, everything seems to progress.

The way I look at it, all the religions (with the exception of those like naturism, which have more than one god) say that there is one god. If that is true, aren´t they all talking about the same god? And if that´s true, then what is all the fuss about.

It doesn´t seem to matter, whatever group people are in are always mad at the people in the other groups.