No Longer A Christian Because Evolution Disapproves Adam?

Wouldn’t you say, Dan, though, that critical thinking would be hallmark of atheists? Or do you think that there are many “emotional atheists” also? I guess I mostly thought of atheism as an intellectual decision, also.

The evidence doesn’t support that.

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Interesting… I see a similar vein in Dan’s comment above. What a misconception to have. Thanks for the clarification, both of you!

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I used to think that critical thinking was the hallmark of atheism. First I got shot down by more knowledgeable atheists, then I got to see it for myself. There are a lot of emotional atheists, especially among the very vocal anti-theists.

IMO, it’s better if a person can make an intellectual decision about belief, but in practice there are many reasons. I think this is part of the reason why atheists tend to have more education - or rather the other way around - if you have more education, you are more likely to have gone through this thought process.

Speaking for myself, I try to leave a little room for faith, because not everything in life is an intellectual decision. This isn’t a decision based on reason, but one based on feelings that are important to me.

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That said, I know a number of atheists who are keen critical thinkers, but I know some theists like that too. I’ve been nudging a few of those folks to sign-on here, but no luck yet.

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3 posts were split to a new topic: How Did The Eye Evolve?

A post was merged into an existing topic: How Did The Eye Evolve?

What topics do they care about? Have they published anything we can comment on, so as to “lure” them here? :smile:

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most aren’t in academia. Let me work on it a bit more, then we can scheme.

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Looking at the quotations above, this lady was lied to more about science than Christianity, though the conclusions are of course her own.

So, somebody seemingly gave her a literalist view of Genesis.

But somebody else told her that this was disproven as fiction by rock-solid science:

Yet as the Genealogical Adam hypothesis (in Joshua’s template version) says, science does not preclude that literal interpretation, as given, at all, regarding Adam’s origin - and the “creation of animals as distinct entities” scarcely places transformism origins beyond the literary compass of the text, as a host of OECs and prog creationists, not to mention TEs, would affirm.

Neither side seems (on the face of it) to have been interested to build bridges for the writer - though I would say, more crucially, no one on either side taught her how to hold truths in tension pending a rapprochement.

Somehow she gained the idea that whatever is not current science is fiction, and I doubt that came from her Sunday School.

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It’s always problematic to analyze what other people think without their participation in the process. But I will I think it is safe to say she has been misled about both science and religion.

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Remember Chick tracts? That’s what it reminded me of. A Chick tract for atheists.

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I know how. I’ll post it in one of the “eye” threads.

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I have no idea how the author was raised in the christian church, but I am sure that you are aware of christians who see acceptance of evolution as heresy, or at least as an apostasy. In some churches, children are taught that if evolution is true then it destroys all christian belief. When faced with the evidence for evolution, and possible a young Earth, they can feel like they have no choice but to abandon their beliefs.

I think many of us do think this is a false dichotomy, but it is what some christians are taught.

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Holy Mother of God and sweet baby Jesus, I remember first seeing those things (the one set in an imaginative world where Christians are prosecuted by Jews, LGBT people and, for some reason, Catholics) and thinking: what the f*ck is wrong with Christians in the west? (the same thoght I had when I heard of Harry Potter controversy) I still have PTSD from that.

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What a great point!! It’s such a good reminder for any of us regarding being overly dogmatic. It’s so easy to proclaim that we “are right.” And from that naturally flows all sorts of other silly things that don’t need to be said!! Just search for the truth and see where it takes us.

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I’m still a Christian because evolution is basically observed change in species that we observe.

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Or those in Holy Mother Russia…

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Why? What’s going on in Russia?

You know, apart from usual horrors.

Russia is becoming a state where you are either an atheist or a member of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is not really freedom of religion but the state aligning with just the Russian Orthodox Church.

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