I found here while looking for information on Adam and Eve. Of course, I had accepted both were mythical, but if I had found GAE a lot earlier, maybe I would have held on to a literal interpretation.
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Over here, most people (Christians and Muslims) think evolution is satanic. If there was a Dover Trial in my country, ID guys would have won.
Is it taught universally in universities?
In my university (a public one), no. In other universities, it most likely wasn’t. All my university professors were creationists. We even took a course in basic population genetics, and the professor who taught it never mentioned natural selection or genetic drift. Creationism and ID hold sway in Nigerian universities.
Interesting as even creation scientists here would teach those topics. Did you learn more on your own?
@Michael_Okoko what is your religious position? You live in Nigeria right?
I think you would find those who would teach it, but its unlikely. I took several courses in biology and biochemistry where evolution should have been mentioned, but it never came up.
Yeah. Pondering on the origins of enzymes (my favorite subset of proteins) led me to the talkorigins website and Larry Moran’s blog, Sandwalk. In class, my professors would attribute the origin and diversity of proteins to special creation by God. I accepted that explanation, but it wasn’t satisfactory. Today I am on PS.
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I still identify as Christian (Roman Catholic).
Yeah.
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Why are you a Catholic?
Taking off my raging atheist hat, I am Catholic for the following reasons:
First, I was born into a Catholic family. Although we drifted away for some time, we returned quite recently. I am not a “real” Catholic yet since I haven’t been baptized, but I will start Catechism classes pretty soon.
Second, I think the Roman Catholic Church is most likely the true Church due to its age and closeness to the early periods of Christianity. She has a pretty ugly history, but she did quite a lot of good too.
Third, I find RCC teachings sound and well elaborated. I disagree on several issues, but generally I am ok with its teachings from a strictly theological point of view.
So these are reasons why I still identify as Catholic, but if your question had a deeper intent, really seeking to find out why I am still a Christian despite my atheist stance on religious topics, I would say this:
I no longer believe Christianity is the true religion, but that doesn’t mean I can’t identify with it. There are lots of benefits from associating with the Church and It would be difficult living in Nigeria as an atheist. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying I want to be an atheist, but I find it attractive and quite reasonable. I think I will forever be a Christian, albeit with a critical mindset.
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Welcome Michael, it is great to have an African perspective here. How are the opportunities to take advantage of your education? You seem to have a lot to offer.
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So you believe Jesus died for your sins and rose again or not? Or mostly generally accept certain ideas of the Bible to be beneficial?
Welcome, Michael. I have been appreciating some of your posts in other threads.
After reading this thread, I’m thinking that you are younger than I had assumed. Note that there’s nothing wrong with that, and my appreciation of your posts does not depend on assumptions about your age.
I’d prefer Michael 
I really don’t have much to offer. I don’t do research, but hopefully I will start soon. Just think of me as a layman.
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Thanks. I definitely need to improve more. Conversations here are also strengthening my English writing skills.
You guessed right. I am below 25. I am guessing most of you here are older and/or retired. Most of you here seem accomplished too, and its wonderful having to dialogue with you all.
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Both. Inasmuch I don’t buy the entire story of Jesus dying for us or resurrecting from the dead, I realize that to be a Christian they must be accepted as truth, so I take them as such. So while I might rail against such claims, I still accept them.
Ok. I don’t understand such a position, but obviously it’s up to you to decide what truth means in your own life. Thanks for responding.
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Hi Michael
My full acceptance of Christianity is only 2 years old and I credit @swamidass for pointing me in this direction. A couple of resources that convinced me of this are:
-a case for christ by Lee Strobel
-the Bible project YouTube animations which can take you through the entire Bible in around 24 total hours. When I was able to put the whole story together and see the connection of the Old Testament with the New it was very persuasive to me that the resurrection is real.
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Been there (not Lee Strobel though). It still doesn’t cut it for me. If I was on PS, 8 - 10 years ago, I would have been arguing for creationism and theism as well. I used to defend the genocidal acts of God in the Old Testament. I cringe when I think about it, but back then I used to tell myself that the Egyptians (and others who suffered God’s judgement) deserved it for disrespecting God. My perception of reality has really evolved. Its very unlikely I will return to my former ways.
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I’m really curious about that. If you take away natural selection and genetic drift, what’s left in a population genetics course?
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