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Would someone--Jim V, Frvcvs, Smack, et. al--please explain what evolution has to do with theism or atheism? And please, if you would, actually explain, rather than talking about how stupid I am, why belief in evolution would preclude belief in the existence of God.

Please note, God is not a physical cause that would be in some sort of competition with other physical causes. Neither is God a hypothesis to fill in the gaps between physical phenomena. To attempt an answer the question of God's existence, we would have to ask not how did we get here, or how did matter change its form, but "why is there something rather than nothing?"

This question has nothing to do with evolution or science. The suggestion that there was a grid of nothing but a pure relation of forces that gave rise to physical phenomena does nothing to answer this question. The question is not how did a prior undifferentiated force become articulated into matter, but why is there such a web of forces to begin with? Why not rather nothing?

Only when we experience this question in its full weight can we begin to wager an answer to the God question.

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Hey Perhaps,

First of all, the existence of evolution, which cannot be denied in the sense that animals/plants/viruses evolve all the time, and specifically the concept that Man evolved from a more primitive species (BTW the theory does not state that Man evolved from Ape or Monkey, but that they all evolved from a common ancestor) only contradicts theism for those that believe in the literal interpretation of Genisis - i.e., Adam and Eve, first humans ever and all that followed are the incestous offspring of those two. If you do not subscribe to the literal interpretation of Genisis then you can believe in evolution and a god. However, believing in evolution does wipe out a good chunk of the Christian god mythology.

As for your other query, you're, imho, very hung up on the concept that there has to be a "knowable" answer to the origin of the universe. For you it seems that if science cannot provide a definitive answer then religion must be the answer. Why? Why isn't it just unknowable at this point in time? Considering the extremely limited reach of our experiences within the universe it's actaully astonishing that we been able to come to as much understanding as we have, but there isn't a scientist out there that will tell you that we know all the secrets of the universe and have it all figured out, quite the contrary. Any real scientist will tell you that the more we figure out and understand, the less we know but that's okay. To think that we have the answer to such an enormous question of "how did the universe come into existence" is so unbelievably arrogant it's astonishing that someone would have the cojones to assert that they do know. Which is what all the religious believers assert.

When looking at the history of religion, not just christianity, not just western religion, ALL religions, including those of indigenous peoples, it is painfully obvious that religions have always been used to explain what Man doesn't understand and as Man's understanding of the world has increased the roled of religion has decreased. Is this really so hard to understand? Just compare Greek mythology to Christianity. The Greeks used gods to explain thunder, rain, earthquakes, famine, flood, etc. Now I'm sure you find that quaint and silly now. Therefore, isn't it quaint and silly that christianity tries to explain that humans came from one man who was made from dust and from a woman made from his rib? Or that when you die you either go up to the heavens for everlasting bliss or down to hell for eternal agony?

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"It makes the Mach 5 look like a vagina!" - S.Archer

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