>> look up straw arguments
Eh. Not sure what that has to do with things.

s.woodman mentioned "using one to prove the other " - this is a straw man argument but he incorrectly called it a oxymoron

I believe you misinterpret the meaning of strawman arguments. He was talking about using physical evidence and experiments (or so I gathered), to prove/disprove the existance of God. A strawman makes an imitation of the subject which is significantly lacking in similarity, calls on a trait of that object and degrades the virtue of the former by slandering the latter.

One of the theories of origins of the universe is there was just nothing, nowhere - then there was a twitch and the universe formed of mutually exclusive particles - every particle + its anti-particle but they could not account for enough anti-matter so they can't reduce the universe to null. They were hoping that they could find it in the dark matter but no luck with that. Anti-matter vs anti-particles is resolved around size, matter/anti-matter is baryonic

Look another chance to use my "editor of the beast' joke VI VI VI.

Many different kinds of ways of appearing to win an argument without actually doing so.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fallacies

I believe G-d created the Universe and has designed evolution as a method to advance biological species.

> I believe G-d created the Universe
Which one?
Oh so many to choose from, whichever one will I deny the existence of next? Man, this could turn out to be a full-time job. Or perhaps do as all other faith-heads do and deny the existence of all of them, except the one which was spoon-fed from child-hood.

The only difference between you and me is that I stopped at zero, and you for some reason stopped at 1. Just a little push and your mind will be free. Mmm, religion is the matrix, now there's a thought.

Once so many, now so few. Looks like in evolutionary terms, the "faith" meme is dying, soon to be extinct. We can only hope, then perhaps all the killings of one another "in god's name" will end. Is it going to take some zealot with a nuke to kill a few million before you realise just how insidious it is? Probably not, too many other zealots vested in perpertuating the misery with calls for "revenge" rather than walking away from the whole idea with "no longer in my name will you kill other humans".

One man's religion is another man's belly laugh.

> advance biological species.
Evolution doesn't advance, it adapts. Sometimes this can make species simpler. It doesn't always result in increases in complexity.
Like the evolutionary adaptation of an energy intensive large brain (that's us), that came so close to being ended as a bad idea 70,000 years ago. Destiny and design didn't bring us here, just mutation, selection and a large slice of luck. A couple more bad summers all those years ago, and it would have been "thank you and good night".


> could well be just a schoolkid starting some experiment in their equivalent of a
> glass tube or petridish somewhere outside the universe
Sample message board log
<god> I've got this homework to create a universe a week ago, and I haven't started yet, and I've only got a week to go to hand it in.
<salem> go away you flunky, your urgency isn't our problem.
<god> the FAQ says mix well for 14 days (same as the assignment duration I guess), do you think it'll still work?
<salem> perhaps, but you'll need to hurry up with the big bang. Even then, you'll need to be very careful that it doesn't come out all lumpy. I've done hundreds of these, but the best I've ever managed which came out anything like right was about 9 days. Anything less than that have been various levels of disaster. You might get something, but it won't be special.
<god> Thanks, BRB
<god, 7 days later> HELP, my universe is all lumpy and there's only one tiny rock with life on it. All my classmates have universes teeming with life exploring the universe and all my lot can do is kill each other. I've only got 5 minutes to go!
<salem> *shrug*
<salem> are they still praying to you?
<god> yeah, why?
<salem> I suppose they've also figured out how to split the atom as well..
<god> huh huh....
<salem> not so good then.
<salem> *thinks*
<salem> the problem is, you just can't fix it once it's running. Your tutors will easily spot any signs that you've tampered with it, and that will just get you an 'F'. If you can find some life on any other rock (no matter how basic it is), and you can figure out an explanation to your tutor as to why the 'faith' thing is only a passing fad, then you might score a D+ or a C-.

>> then perhaps all the killings of one another "in god's name" will end.
Just because some people of some religions have an idea that killing "in god's name" is permissible doesn't mean they all do. Sure, most have done in the past. But don't slam them all with an extreme stereotype that is today only linked to the select few. And don't talk about history. That's what it is - history. It shouldn't be accepted or acceptable either now or then. Bad things happened, but not only religious cullings. You don't need a list. None of it should have happened, but it did. We in our high chairs of hindsight point the finger and say "that was bad. That shouldn't have happened". But you know what? I bet if we were there nothing would have changed (be it religious killings or plantations). No matter what you say people follow the crowd. I found your sample message board amusing. I didn't know you were that old!

frankly, imho just as many people kill in the name of religion than of political belief

witchhunts v communist withhunts
holocaust v ethnic cleansing in balkans
crusades v war against e.g communists