Does evolution have to be true for you?

God is real. there is proof in everything we do, everything we see. who we are. i would like to meet a person that could convince me the human race came out a germ in rectal slime.

I see several things that are not really related.

First you ask about evolution. My friend, whether or not you or I believe in it makes no difference whatsoever. It is what it is, and in time, no doubt the theory will have -- well, evolved. I am not a scientist, so while I do think the theory makes more sense than anything anyone else has proposed, it's not important to me. It will not make an enormous difference in anyone's everyday life.

Then you ask about the purpose of my life. Well, shucks, if I knew the answer to that, I'd bottle it and make a million.

My personal opinion is that we are here to make each other happy, to make life better for others, and thereby, create joy for ourselves. I suspect that in this process we gain important lessons that will stand us in good stead in the next plane of existence, whatever that might happen to be.

You say creation has a purpose, and it's nice to know that you have such an optimistic opinion.

Naturally, we all experience consequences due to our actions. That's the way the Universe works. Realizing that we're all connected is the first step toward a nirvana-type enlightenment.

Christians have their story, but it's certainly not the whole story. It's very sad that they just don't get it. Eventually they will, of course, but in the meantime, they cause themselves and their friends a lot of unnecessary pain and suffering.

Ummm...I'm not sure I understand the 'real' question here.

I'm not 'locked' into evolutionary theory. It's simply the best way to explain the changes that we see in species. If proof were presented tommorow that supernatural powers caused changes in species, I would keep an open mind. No such proof is likely, so I'll stick with evolution.

Evolution, by the way, has nothing to do with the creation of the universe or the origin of life. Many people of many different religions accept evolution as scientific fact and the origin of mankind.

As for whether evolution 'protects my belief in nothingness after death'...well, once again, I think you need to educate yourself on the difference between evolution and the origin of life. They are two different things. Perhaps the reason that you have trouble grasping the concept of evolution is because you have never studied it in detail.

Evolution is a fact whether you believe that or not. The Earth is around 4,500 million years old whether you believe that or not. Creationist leaders are persistent and habitual liars whether you believe it or not. That at least is one thing that has been proved, time and time again.

The fact of evolution, the age of the Earth etc has nothing repeat nothing to do with the existence or non existence of any god, whether Apollo, Dagon, Yahveh or any other. It has to do with the supposed inerrancy of the first book of the Bible, which is a mere first draft of a theory of the origin of the Universe written by someone who had little evidence to go on.

I graduated in chemistry a fair while ago. To do that I had to study physics to at least some knowledge of quantum theory. I have read a little on cosmology, astronomy, biology, geology, photography, radio, etc. What stuns me is the incredible and almost disgusting ignorance of so many people of the bare bones of these subjects.

It is as if the efforts of thousands of scientist and investigators, Nicolas Copernicus, Roger Bacon, Isaac Newton, Captain James Cook, Antoine Lavoisier, Charles Darwin, Albert Einstein and Frederick Sanger to mention a few, over 400 years or more had never happened. A major part of western and indeed world culture is a closed book to them.

Some years ago, a Christian lady, the wife of an ordained minister, asked me to explain to her how the seasons occurred. Anything vaguely to do with "science" was a complete mystery to her. She taught high school English. Another Christian, a gentleman this time has a bookshelf stocked with pseudo-science and pseudo-history texts but nothing on factual science, not even bare bones stuff like basic chemistry or physics, the sort of thing taught in elementary or middle schools. He knows nothing, just nothing of these. Neither of these Christians belonged to creationist churches.

You could tell these people almost anything, say it was "science" and that it agreed with the Bible and they would believe it.

EDIT - Evolution has noting to do with the appearance of life on this planet. Evolution is a change in the average genetic makeup of a population of organisms. The appearance of life is not about a population, it's about an individual. Don't let creationist leaders define scientific terms for you, they will lie.

I give this answer a lot because it drives me crazy that people of faith don't use this information to support their arguments, but for all of you faithful people who need some science to back up your argument and for all of you non-faithful people who are looking to expand your knowledge (which includes trying to find the holes in our arguments... perfectly valid) here is a fabulous article that makes the scientific case for creation and the existence of God. I have researched the accuracy and validity of this article (though I am aware I have no credibility with anyone here) with many other resources and it is solid. I will give you the only weakness I could find was with the conversation concerning the Second Law of Thermodynamics... still valid but a bit weak.

It is long so don't start at the beginning. The chapters that most apply to this conversation are 4 and 5, the Law of Cause and Effect and the Law of Biogenesis. Read on from there if you are so inclined.

I'm in kind of a bad mood right now, so I'm going to be pretty blunt. You're obviously a relatively narrow-minded and ignorant person. You're probably going to pick Maggie as your best answer just because she agrees with you, and probably because your narrow-mindedness prevents you from even attempting to understand the conflicting answers. Even if there isn't life after death, if you're alive, you might as well do something that will make your life better. You don't need some kind of reward for your good deeds. If the only reason you do good things is because you're scared of something that you don't have any evidence for occurring when you die, you're very pathetic and cold-hearted. I've seen plenty of nonbelievers do good, and why? Because they enjoy helping people and making the world a better place. Creation doesn't have a purpose, other than to entertain a sick, demented child that enjoys watching people suffer for doing what they consider right just because it isn't exactly as said being wants it to be. Even if I do have to "answer for my life's choices," I'll gladly spit in God's face when he tells me that I'm going to Hell.

Evolution does not "have to be true for me", I merely accept it on its merits, which are considerable.

@Maggie: "Rectal slime"? Got a source for that?

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Christn36, why do you not have a similar problem with "God" suddenly appearing out of nothing?

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To Sean Patrick Arthur Hunter: If I could give you ten thumbs up, I would. You are my hero du jour.

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For the record, here's an indication of how much the asker has investigated the theory of evolution, or the scientific method in general.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=200808...

"Creationists against evolution, do you put any effort into learning what it is?"

Christn36: "I looked into it . It is called a theory, or a hypothesis".

Uh huh.

Evolution is a fact of nature that explains physical phenomena. It doesn't tell us anything about metaphysics or the meaning of life. It doesn't imply that God isn't the creative force behind the universe anymore than it shows that he is. It doesn't tell us that our life choices don't matter or that they do. It just explains biology.

I prefer to live with some unknowns than to force myself to believe something that probably isn't literally true in an attempt to feel safe.

"Does evolution have to be true for you?"

Em, no. I don't think about scientific theories that way. I only go by the evidence.

I do not confuse feelings, cultures, or expectations with hard data.

I do not "need things to be true," I only want things to be explained by the best information at hand. My mind tells me that the scientific method is the least biased process for going about obtaining that information. It has nothing to do with death, feelings, or religion.

Evolution has nothing to do with an afterlife or creation. They are two totally different things, evolution and creation. Evolution explains how living things change over time (LOTS of time) while creation attempts to explain how the world and life were created.

So you see, your questions make no sense.

Many serviceable, even good answers.

Evolution doesn't ATTEMPT to provide the answers to purpose, or the answers to origins of life.

Please attempt to understand the scientific theories before you attempt to bash them.

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@Rickie...The first page of your source attempts to redifine evolution, so, one more failure for creationists.