Evolution theory - Yay or nay
 

Didn't realize this was as much of a debate today as it is until I got to college. but....

What are your views on evolution, creationism, and all that? Are you in favor of Darwin's views, do you lean more towards the Bible view, or are you somewhere in between?

Collin

I am not religious, so I don't really put much stock in the Bible. I DO believe there is SOME kinda spiritual being at work, but I don't think that ONE particular religion quite fits what I have in mind (not to say none are RIGHT, just that none are right for ME).

I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. I mean, you can't really evolve from NOTHING, you know? Everything had to get here somehow.

I'm pretty firm in believing in evolution... Creationism to me is kind of a crock... But others would argue the opposite!

Honestly though you can get them to work TOGETHER! If you read Genesis, evolution and the big bang and all that are fairly easy to reconcile so long as you take the stories of the Old Testament to be nothing more than stories with morals.

There are other reasons people use to explain religion in scientific sense. It involves differences in time measurements a lot of times.

-Rudey

I believe in evolution, but I don't believe that the concept of evolution was an accident. (kinda like what ktsnake is saying)

Neither. I don't believe in <insert your favorite deity here>, so I obviously don't support creationism, but I don't fully buy into evolution, either.

If I had to choose one over the other, I would pick evolution.

The concept of evolution is as close to a 'perfect' theory as you'll get - beautiful and simple, and impossible to 'prove' to non-believers who don't want to take entropy as a given, etc.

We can produce (micro-)evolution in laboratory conditions . . . If we could extend the time frame a few thousand years, I have no doubts that macroevolution would be seen as well.

As far as that goes, I'll fit my personal religious beliefs into the framework of the natural world, rather than the other way around - no "deus ex machina" for me - however, scientific observation is an analog, continuous process; remember that just a few hundred years ago we talked about humours and bloodletting as "medicine"

I do believe in evolution but I also believe that there is a bigger and greater force somewhere that is the cause of all these scientific findings.

I do believe in evolution. At the same time I also believe god, whatever name you call him, is the force behind creation. He creates through evolution.

I'm not as religious as I should be. The last time I went to confession was pretty tough on the priest. He started coughing a bunch and sounded like he couldn't believe the stuff I was telling him. I just layed it all out to him. All the stuff in my teen years and ALL the sins that took place in my college years, I didn't hold anything back. I wondered if it made him not want to be a priest anymore....He made me say a shit load of Hail Marys. Despite my evil college years.....I'm actually a believer in God. Thats why I've been feeling bad lately for all the stuff I've done in the past. Lately everytime I turn on the TV I keep seeing something about God on.....The only thing I can come up with is, there must a lot of church channels on TV.

I believe in evolution, but also believe that evolution is not inconsistent with my Christian beliefs. Some interesting facts I've read are:

1. Darwinism as professed has serious flaws. One is that, the pace as which some species evolved (especially humans) could not have occurred within the time-frame available. Evolution is a very slow process. It would seem that something else had to be involved to account for the changes.

2. Genetic reseach has shown that there is an "Eve". All humans genetically trace back to a single person.

Neither of these facts proves or disproves evolution or creationism. Personally, I believe that Darwinism and Creationism both fall short in explaining what has happened.

The time frame is fairly large - we're talking hundreds of thousands of years just to get from homo erectus to homo sapiens sapiens. What is wrong with that time frame?

Actually, this is consistant with both Creationism and Evolutionary theory - Humans as a species would have to have a common ancestral root, as it is highly unlikely the same species could rise at different times from previous ancestors.

I believe the DNA evidence you're referring to is the study of mitochondrial DNA - that study is a central component of the "out of Africa" theory of human expansion, and doesn't violate evolutionary theory at all, as it relies on competitive advantage . . . eh i'll stop there, read up if you wnat more, it's really nerdy but somewhat interesting.

Anyway - the point is, I agree with your final point - i think we're a long way off from getting the theory "correct", probably hundreds of years, but it's the best thing we have for now.

Having been a biology major, it's pretty hard for me NOT to believe in evolution because there is just too much evidence to support it. I do believe in God and everything, but I don't see much hard evidence supporting creationism. I think that there was some greater being who created the universe, but that nature took over from there. And as for the "not enough time for everything to happen" theory... I don't buy that AT ALL. Some would have you believe that the Earth is only a few thousand years old, which I agree would not be enough time. BUT there is evidence proving that the Earth is much older than that, therefore there would have been enough time.

There's evolution going on around us now. It's in fact one of the reasons that it's so hard to find a cure for HIV.

I don't expect to ever change anyone's mind... but they are certainly not going to change mine either!

My belief: God created evolution.

I believe in evolution, but I believe that there was some force (God, if you will) guiding the evolutionary process.