Expelled - The Movie

[Displaced]

sorry if that came across a bit harsh, sorta busy day at work atm, wrote it in a hurry.

[Displaced]

It seems to me that a common facet of "creationists" is a religious upbringing, which in itself seems to be the basis of their belief that darwinism is false and that the bible is correct.

I mean, "get" that you are molded by your upbringing and thus believe that god = infallible, ergo the bible = infallible, thus darwin = wrong. But come on, open your eyes.

I remember researching Creationism in college, and although I don't recall the name of the source atm (Some Australian Creationist) some of the stuff that he was preaching was absolutely incredible to me.

"The earth is between 10,000 and 6,000 years old"
Radioactive clocks anyone? Carbon Dating? no?

"In the past, people lived to be 1000years old, god smites the sinners of today which is why humans only live to be around 80."
Riiiight, thats why our expected lifetime has increased since the dark ages, they mustve been massive sinners back then, and were only "moderate" sinners.

"according to the bible, there is no evidence of rain before Noah, which explans why the world has deserts"...
Yeah, weather is only a 4000year old phenomenon... RIIIIIIIIGHT. Erosion is just an elaborate hoax by our great creator...

"I have never seen any form of evolution, therefore there is no evidence to support Darwinism, thus it is false".
Yes, evolution happens in the paltry 50ish years the guy has been alive.

If you need evidence on evolution, just look at how the reptilian jaw has developed into the mammonian jaw, you can clearly see the movement of the uppermost jaw bones into the inner ear of "modern" mammals over hunderds of thousands of years.

"God has created everything as it is now, nothing has evolved".
Yes, right, DNA chains don't exist, and we haven't "proven" that we are all interlinked by some way, let alone our evolution from more basic ape like forms.

"god is perfect, and has created everything to be the best that it can be"
Yes, we are "perfect", we have something called an Appendix, which is left over from a time when we may have had some use for it, we have serious deficiencies in our eyesight, blindspot anyone? and we aren't the only species with deficiencies. Either your "god" is incapable of creating something "perfect", or you are gonna tell me he has a sense of humor.... or you could accept the fact that we have evolved.

This is a bit OT, but one way I like to put things into perspective are as follows:
Go outside and grab a handful of dirt, that handful of dirt contains around 4 billion different bacteria and other "living" organisms, or about 4x the population of earth.
Now consider how large our planet is, and consider how insignificant we are as humans.
Add to this the rest of the universe.
We are an insignificant spec when it comes to life in the universe, yet somehow we think we are special and created by some omnipotent creator sitting on a cloud and dictating our place in the after life.... :turned:

[Louis XV]

No, I don't. I'm saying that it would take a very long time and there would be many man-ape species in between. So far we have documentation of neanderthals, who look much, much more like humans than apes but theres nothing else.

Australopithecus
Homo heidelbergensis
Homo rhodesiensis
Homo erectus (feel free to giggle at the name)
Neanderthals

And that's just hominids.

In fact, theres not very much documentation of anything other than what we see on the earth today as far as i know.

Here's a big one: dinosaurs.

There are tons of fossils of extinct animals. You've got your dire wolves and woolly mammoths to name some of the more well-known ones. Then there's trilobites.

trilobite


I think I see where you're being confused - the reason why you might think that no new forms have ever arisen is: the old forms don't go away! Just because a species is simpler doesn't mean it's inferior (in fact sometimes it's superior, depending on the environment). Bacteria, jellyfish, worms - they're all still around. Evolution doesn't generate 'better' forms, since 'better' is a function of environment. Humans rule.. but sharks kick our ass under water, right?

[E sharp]

Unless you're queer.

[kthx]

I agree Paul, I have some friends who are Atheists that are nice people, they believe more in Karma than Christian values but honestly they are very similar except for the faith in a god. I am just saying, raising children in a Christian church does instill some sort of morality in a child, no matter what they end up doing in life. I just remember when I was a kid, it was a great community for me to grow up in.

[Izor]

However, a belief in God makes some people act differently. The fear of doing wrong and going to hell is a powerful motivator to do what is right whereas an atheist is not bound by such things.

[PaulOakenfold]

Well you are partially right, I grew up a Christian, with my family making me go to church until I was old enough to stay at home by myself, For the next 12 years or so I was the rebellious pothead guy who smoked weed cause I was so cool and smoking weed is awesome. After that I found a real job, stopped smoking and turned to drinking with friends, went out every night and got drunk at bars etc etc. Anyways, after I met my girlfriend and decided to settle down was when I finally turned back to god, I personally believe but even if you don't you can't really argue the fact that it is a good environment to raise a kid in, if for nothing else than because of the morals that Christianity teaches.

I lived a similar, but more indulgent young lifestyle to you.

I'm Christian, but regardless of what my children decide to believe in when they're old enough, they will learn and most likely follow Christian morality one way or another. They don't have to have faith to believe in the Christian principals that will make their life and those around them better.

Some of the most giving and humble people I've met have been agnostic. I for one believe there's a greater cause, but I don't take what they do away from them, nor those that are individualistic people with absolutely no faith. Love thy neighbor as He loves you.

[Izor]

No, I don't. I'm saying that it would take a very long time and there would be many man-ape species in between. So far we have documentation of neanderthals, who look much, much more like humans than apes but theres nothing else.

In fact, theres not very much documentation of anything other than what we see on the earth today as far as i know.

[MetalHeadz]

How do you go from apes to humans without a very long transition process in between?

You think there was one genetical mutation that evolved 'apes' into 'humans'? Sir, you do not have the faintest clue about the subject you are talking about.

[kthx]

Well you are partially right, I grew up a Christian, with my family making me go to church until I was old enough to stay at home by myself, For the next 12 years or so I was the rebellious pothead guy who smoked weed cause I was so cool and smoking weed is awesome. After that I found a real job, stopped smoking and turned to drinking with friends, went out every night and got drunk at bars etc etc. Anyways, after I met my girlfriend and decided to settle down was when I finally turned back to god, I personally believe but even if you don't you can't really argue the fact that it is a good environment to raise a kid in, if for nothing else than because of the morals that Christianity teaches.

[Izor]

There is harm in instilling the idea "God chose this," into our schoolchildren as a viable explanation for anything. Evolution is a theory supported by evidence, not by story. You teach theory in school and leave faith to home life.

Again back to me being taught in school dinosaurs were killed off by an asteroid. I was taught something...sure wasnt scientific fact

[HateTheFake]

lets get back on track, the movie.

[genocidal]

Sorry to double post but this is a great example of religious ignorance.
Kthx, most likely you have come to your religious beliefs because of influence from your social environment. Just like others came to their non-religious beliefs because of their social environment. Most people are not very free-willed.
To misconstrue Christian teachings and make such stupid remarks does your beliefs no justice. I bet you have never even bothered to read scripture in its full and instead grasp at some warped American-Christianity.

Cool, TagMor made a good post.

[TagMor]

Soon god will smite these non believers.

Sorry to double post but this is a great example of religious ignorance.
Kthx, most likely you have come to your religious beliefs because of influence from your social environment. Just like others came to their non-religious beliefs because of their social environment. Most people are not very free-willed.
To misconstrue Christian teachings and make such stupid remarks does your beliefs no justice. I bet you have never even bothered to read scripture in its full and instead grasp at some warped American-Christianity.

[TagMor]

Everyone who is seriously involved in the pursuit of science becomes convinced that a spirit is manifest in the laws of the Universe - a spirit vastly superior to that of man...In this way the pursuit of science leads to a religious feeling of a special sort, which is indeed quite different from the religiosity of someone more naive.

-Albert Einstein

Einstein was also critical of State Education.
Funny that the inability of State Education to allow the idea of creationism has led to a reverse situation. Where naive people grasp at science as an alternative to religion, just as they once grasped at religion as an alternative to science.

You dont have to pick a side. The two can co-exist. However alot of scientists seem to revel in their own egos and as a method of glorifying themselves, they belittle those with faith as being simple or naive. Einstein was aware of this, and who the fuck are you to question Einstein?