53% of Americans Believe in Evolution...66% of Americans Believe in Creationism

Originally posted by koenw

It's hard for me to grasp, how anyone could believe that all the current species just popped out of nowhere, due to the supernatural powers of the omnipotent one

.

It just doesn't make any sense whatsoever...

Koen

Your comment confuses me. You say it doesn't make sense that God created by calling into existence (cause and effect) everything? So the absolute nothing, no time, no space, no matter just blew up and poof. Then some solar flare or some other solar event caused some rocks to combine and become a living self replicating cell. That over time crawled out and changed so many times in 4.5 billion years. That we now have the earth that we all know and love. That makes more sense?

Well, no that I trust the sources of the polls, nobody asked me what I think.

But this only proves what one comedian said about the state of affairs when it comes to American progress in science and technology . . .(now remember that was a comedian the one that said this . . .)

"America is getting behind in science and technology while China is getting ahead, in China the children learn about evolution, while in the US children learn about Noah's ark"

Look at the decisiveness of the new creationist museum and their links of dinosaurs and men cohabiting together, is obviously that some people wants to keep our children ignorant.

Originally posted by Implosion

They didn't pop out of nowhere. They each contain an instruction set. That which is known as DNA. I could see how it could be argued that DNA is a construct of the "omnipotent one" you speak of.

I'm not quite following you on this one..

I said I had a problem believing the whole creation ex-nihilo, to which you replied that they (living creatures) didn't just pop out of nowhere but had DNA...

Does that mean that you go by the idea that life was sparked by some chemical reaction or what exactly? Because further in your post you also quote someone saying that certain species just appear out of nowhere and that there is no evidence that they evolved from something.

"Each species of mammal-like reptile that has been found appears suddenly in the fossil record and is not preceded by the species that is directly ancestral to it. It disappears some time later, equally abruptly.

Do you hereby imply that the DNA (which is located in every cell of a living creature) you speak of, somehow immediately created the species?

please elaborate.

Originally posted by Implosion
What's the point? The fact that the book title is wrong?

That creationists cannot be trusted when using quotes from a larger piece of work.

Originally posted by melatonin
...creationists cannot be trusted when using quotes from a larger piece of work.

I believe, although I may be wrong, that the source of the quote isn't a creationist, but a proponent of Panspermia.

However, you do illustrate quite nicely how those with opposing dogmatic beliefs attack each other personally at every turn.

[edit on 8/6/07 by Implosion]

Originally posted by Implosion
However, you...attack each other personally at every turn.

[edit on 8/6/07 by Implosion]

Hope that illustrates why quote-mining is bad, mmkay?

First time I would have seen a panspermist (??) use this approach to denigrate evolution.

[edit on 8-6-2007 by melatonin]

Credit where it's due, that's a beautiful example.

Originally posted by HooHaa

So the absolute nothing, no time, no space, no matter just blew up and poof.

You mean the evidence that our universe is expanding, which when reversed, shows that it all boils down to a single point in our universe?
Do you actually think they pulled the Big Bang theory out of their a** ?

Originally posted by HooHaa

Then some solar flare or some other solar event caused some rocks to combine …

It’s called gravity. You know, the force that is caused by matter. Look it up, you’ll find that it is not only responsible for keeping your two feet on the earth but it’s also responsible for the creation of stars and planets.

Need proof?

Search for nebula or star nursery and you’ll find photographic evidence.


A stellar nursery is a massive cosmic dust cloud in which microscopic particles may slowly aggregate due to gravitational attraction and eventually give rise to protostars and subsequently planetary systems, with one or more stars and planets.


So yes matter did “just combine”. Would be a pretty ugly sight if you would see people just fall apart on the street now wouldn’t it?

Originally posted by HooHaa

… and become a living self replicating cell. That over time crawled out and changed so many times in 4.5 billion years. That we now have the earth that we all know and love. That makes more sense?

What do you think you are made of? All the elements in your body can be found in any other region of the universe. You think you are a special mix of matter? Guess again…

"God created man in the image of himself"

Maybe god eats alot of bananas??

Twenty-five years ago, or thereabouts (getting old here, don`t mind me), there was an idea floated among a handful of evangelicals called "The Thin Edge of the Wedge".

The idea was to lobby the US government at all levels, to write letters to newspapers, to hit the media at every chance, and to engage in personal and public debate wherever and whenever possible on the concept of creationisim.

The aim was to create an atmosphere of doubt among the public. The Thin Edge of the Wedge was the idea, the seed - often sown by misquote or apocypha, designed to create an opening in the minds of the public for the eventual acceptance of creationisim.

The poll results in this thread are a true testament to the power of subtle media campaigning. Bravo. The artful simplicity of it has been picked up by (exported to?) the global climate change debate. Again, Bravo. Artful Shepherding. Convince the average Joe that the most microscopic of yet unsolved discrepancies or past miscues amounts to mass conspiracy for socio-economic change, and repeat it all until he believes you. Keep hammering away at piltdown man and ranting about hockey stick graphs long enough and people will agree with you just to get you to shut up. And once they do, you`ve opened the gap a little wider.

I suppose I can laugh at it all from here. My economic future does not rely whatsoever on the next generation of American students having any concept of scientific processes. It`s no skin off my nose if the next generation of American students fall behind Burkina Faso in scientific ability, and continue on the course towards painting science as a tool of (a) the commies; (b) the devil; (c) the cross-dressing pagan abortionists; or (d) all of the above. Good luck with it.

I believe mankind evolved just as the good lord intended for him to evolve.

Whether or not thats a good thing, I'm still a bit confused about.

I am surprised to see so many ATS'ers actually believe in creation. I do not believe in the judeo Christian Abraham god. I also do not believe in Zeus or Thor. Evolution is the best approach as of now to explain our existence on this planet. I have no questions regarding evolution, it is still a growing theory. I see no evidence for god, absolutely none. and I was raised catholic and studied it till
the age of 15 when i started asking honest questions. No priest or minister could answer my questions, first they tell me it is the literal word of god, then the say it is a story to explain gods plan. well which is it make up your mind. I eventually gave up and started thinking for myself. I asked myself questions and researched for the best possible answer. my ideas change and i learn more as they do, but I never consider my current Idea as "The One" because if I did it would be hard to grow from it and change and explore new theories and ideas. currently with the knowledge from quantum physics, I am leaning towards an idea that is not new, but is brilliant and does not contain a singularity
god. actually if I try and place a god in it, its beauty and elegance is greatly diminished. I feel that we are one consciousness and we are mere thoughts of the consciousness. so it is possible we dont even exist as we know it, it could all be thought and I think that is beautiful and amazing.

just my view as of now..

[edit on 8-6-2007 by 1freelectron]

[edit on 8-6-2007 by 1freelectron]

Well I believe evolution works and happens, but i believe our DNA didn't just form / evolve with our genetic traits this complex.

Just looking at nature, there's some beetle in Africa that holds two different chemicals in two seperate storage pods in itself and when under attack it can release these two chemicals at the face of its attacker at 120KP/H which then combines and burns the attackers face...

I mean cmon. Evolution? Pfft whatever. But then again... creationism? Pfft whatever...

I'm starting more to believe in "I think therefore I am" in the ways of Quantum Physics as Reality doesn't exist unless it's being observed and we are all holograms... ;-P

But while i think the line of reality isgetting warped... and what is real? ;-P

I still think evolution is the best evidence so far.

Prove to me Gods created something... - proof. ;-P

[edit on 8-6-2007 by DaRAGE]

well this my be off and on topic but if some one can correct my math and maybe elaborate on it please.

So 53% believe in evolution and 66% believes in creationism so if you take in to account that this adds up to 119%, what if we subtract the 19% then dividing the 19 in half which would equals 9.5 so then we take and subtract 9.5 from the 53 and 66 and get 43.5 and 56.5 and add these two together and get 100%.
Is this right, I’ve never really been good at math. I don’t know.

I personally “think” not “Believe” but I think that something had a hand in creating the people we are today. Not by god because I don’t think there is a god but some thing else, like say higher intelligence’s be them aliens(only speculation). But you can call it what you want but Its what I think, and wonder about from time to time. I guess the key would be to know right? And not just speculate or guess because that basically what believing is, I mean to convince your self that something exist with out seeing, touching, tasting or hearing it in person. Beyond belief is the truth which you can only find out if you personally witness or experience it. But then its not enough to see any more because there are tomany possiblities.

I can’t say, I simply think I know what I was taught in school and what I see on TV, so as for actually knowing just what I’ve personally experience in my short life. Its nice to speculate and wonder every now and then its what make more question to be answered in the future.

So if Jesus walk by be and said hi I’m the son of God and said look at what I can do and turn grape juice into orange juice well I’d be like wow you know that’s great but in this day age its just to hard to tell, there are a lot of cleaver people out there. Hey bring my dead cat storm back to life and then maybe I might consider the possibility but with more questions none the less.

I like to think that the idea of a god is in us all, every single person on this planet could be considered Gods compared to other creatures on this rock. We can all create and destroy its that no being godly?

So its just an endless battle to know the truth in the universe. But the battle ends when you stop asking question and presume to know the answer.

EAGLE

Originally posted by vox2442
Twenty-five years ago, or thereabouts (getting old here, don`t mind me), there was an idea floated among a handful of evangelicals called "The Thin Edge of the Wedge".

The idea was to lobby the US government at all levels, to write letters to newspapers, to hit the media at every chance, and to engage in personal and public debate wherever and whenever possible on the concept of creationisim.

The aim was to create an atmosphere of doubt among the public. The Thin Edge of the Wedge was the idea, the seed - often sown by misquote or apocypha, designed to create an opening in the minds of the public for the eventual acceptance of creationisim.

The poll results in this thread are a true testament to the power of subtle media campaigning. Bravo. The artful simplicity of it has been picked up by (exported to?) the global climate change debate. Again, Bravo. Artful Shepherding. Convince the average Joe that the most microscopic of yet unsolved discrepancies or past miscues amounts to mass conspiracy for socio-economic change, and repeat it all until he believes you. Keep hammering away at piltdown man and ranting about hockey stick graphs long enough and people will agree with you just to get you to shut up. And once they do, you`ve opened the gap a little wider.

AMEN!!! I remember it too, and I cringed when I saw what was happening. And President Reagan, that hero of the neo-cons, stood by and applauded while it happened. (This from a man who never attended church!!)

Their other stroke of "genius" has been to introduce that all-American, irresistible concept: fair play.

"Hey, the evolutionists have been able to tell their 'story' all these years, all we (the creationists) want is an equal chance to be heard!"

Right.

Get that big old stormtrooper boot wedged in the door firmly enough, and the creationists won't ask for just "equal time".

They'll demand it all.

For those of you who say evolution was the mechanism that God used for creation, what about Genesis 1:25 which says "And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good."
It basically says each animal produced its own kind. I fail to see how you can say God used evolution to create man.

And for those who believe evolution is totally false, answer one question for me. Why do unborn human embryos have gills, webbed feet, and a tail?

dalepmay, it also says in the bible that god made all animals so that they all ate greens...

and clearly a cougar doesn't eat greens

According to Genesis, rain comes from the waters above the earth:

6 And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." 7 And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.

Do the people who accept the bible as truth agree that space is filled with water? Personally, I think it is more likely that the author didn't understand the water cycle very well.

Originally posted by nobodyv2
According to Genesis, rain comes from the waters above the earth:

6 And God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters." 7 And God made the firmament and separated the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament. And it was so.

Do the people who accept the bible as truth agree that space is filled with water? Personally, I think it is more likely that the author didn't understand the water cycle very well.

That seems reasonable. All religion is just the beginning of mankind's base of understanding.

Whether we evolved or where created or as I believe both it is still a miracle that Earth exists and supports the vast abundance of life it does. I fail to see what the debate is. Evolution clearly happened but I believe it happened because of God.