Evolution
What About God?

- debate represents a political and academic struggle as well as a personal one

- people have trouble accepting evidence that contradicts their entire upbringing and belief system

- many Christians are genuinely ignorant of the facts and are afraid of evolution and dismiss it without understanding.

- often use the "Man's wisdom is foolishness" argument to discredit evolution but spare most other science (e.g., insulin, DNA, medicine, etc.)

- Creationist claims are based on faith not fact

- explanations are made by common, uneducated, non-experts.

- the rest of the natural world (especially biology) is so methodic and explainable why would the beginning of life be so magical?

- What if Adam was not an actual person but an ideal meant to represent the first man with an awareness of God?

- Each side often completely discounts the other

- if fossils were laid down in 1 global flood event, why do they appear in multiple strata? Why are human fossils not found with dinosaur fossils?

- many educated Christians find no need for a conflict between the two theories. All evidence compels us to accept evolution in full. Evolution theory explains what happened - not who did it.

- "image of God" has nothing to do with origin or physical appearance.

- personal convictions overpower evidence.

- "Were you there" - a poor argument which is meaningless. Humans are not present for many phenomenon which we have explained scientifically.

- Many Christian environments do not encourage thinking. One cannot point to a scientist and say "You're wrong" without knowing anything. It's absurd.

- "I want to feel" and "I want to believe" are powerful motivators. People want to believe we came from somewhere or someone and that there is meaning to life not just molecules.

- should creation be taught in high schools? Probably, but not in science classes. It's good to be open-minded and informed.

- Saying "There is a God" is as wrong as saying "There is no God." The creation story is probably not true because there is evidence that contradicts the Bible which presents no facts. That is the problem with using the Bible as a basis for argument because it presents no facts

- Decisions against creation teaching are not based on religious reasons but that it is not science.

- What are the facts? Christians often say "I could show you evidence" or "some scientific evidence shows" or "show me evidence of evolution."

- Fairness does not exist in science - it is based on fact. Theories are often testable and repeatable or at least provide the best explanation for the present facts. Cannot teach something just because you like it.

- Beliefs are perpetuated because parents believe them. For example, the "Mom agrees with me" argument.