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comment by Sebaensah
Sebaensah  ·  3956 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: List of scientists who became creationists after studying the evidence

I may be nitpicking (sorry!) but I'd rather have this kind of stuff not in #science considering creationism or the particular list without any scientific references has nothing to do with science itself.

Anyway I understand this is an ongoing debate in some parts of the world. Thankfully I hail from somewhere where the majority of the population accepts evolution. One source I'm checking now (dated 2006) says that in the US only 14% of the population considers evolution as a valid theory. I hope it has changed during the years. What are your experiences on the matter?

Personally I can say I've never met a person who denies evolution face to face.





kleinbl00  ·  3956 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  

"Do you believe in evolution" is not a yes/no question, despite the fact that it's presented as such.

"I do not believe we descended from monkeys" and "I do believe that MRSA evolved because of our use of antibiotics" are positions that are easily held by lots of Americans. On the face of it, the former is a creationist viewpoint while the latter is an evolutionist viewpoint. But keep in mind - "Intelligent Design" allows you to say "I believe that evolution is all part of God's plan" and, by definition, you're a creationist.

That's where "evolution" and "America" comes off the rails - most Americans are perfectly fine believing that there's science involved in their lives, but they get itchy when you say "there's nothing but science in your lives." A wholehearted acceptance of the factuality of evolution means a wholehearted acceptance that Big Sky Father has less power than we were taught at Sunday School so most Americans prevaricate.

And if you prevaricate on the survey, you're a creationist.

Kafke  ·  3955 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I'd say most people I talk to would deny evolution. It's sad, but true.

insomniasexx  ·  3956 days ago  ·  link  ·  

This points out a the way tags work in general. While this is not something that is technically science, people who follow the science tag would probably find a quick laugh and moment of enjoyment out of this. Also, the science tag is still more appropriate than #design or something. So, is the #science tag inappropriate in this case? I don't think so. Others, like you, may feel differently.

user-inactivated  ·  3956 days ago  ·  link  ·  

One of my closest friends, a reasonably intelligent person with a college education, is a creationist solely (as far as I can tell) because he was raised as one. I'm not sure if he's just too lazy to challenge his own beliefs, and I haven't actually talked to him about this in a long time so maybe he has by now. When we did talk about it, my basic scientific evidence was met with platitudes and the word 'faith'. I don't particularly care what he thinks and those sorts of conversations are a waste of time, so I dropped it pretty quickly.

The real crime is that parents begin their children on religion at the same age they begin them on fairy tales. That should tell us something.

Sebaensah  ·  3955 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I suppose you have a pretty good point there. Children are the easiest to manipulate and if one can stick something in their mind it's likely going to stick there for the rest of their lives. Sunday Schools as kleinbl00 mentioned must have played a major role in the development creationism.

Looking at the US religion page it dawns me that majority of US Christians are either catholic or baptist. The prevalence of creationism is starting to make sense to me then. To compare: 97% of the religious population here is evangelical lutheran and the church itself accepts evolution theory without conflict to its teachings.

In fact I'm officially evangelical lutheran too. My children wont be.

thenewgreen  ·  3956 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Did you follow the link? It's been appropriately tagged by the community as #funny

Sebaensah  ·  3956 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Yes, I was nitpicking only about #science . Matter of personal preference I suppose. : )

ecib  ·  3956 days ago  ·  link  ·  

Don't worry, I've got your back. I community tagged it 'notscience'.

cgod  ·  3955 days ago  ·  link  ·  

I wouldn't get too worked up about it, there are no hard fast rules for tags. You don't need to tag stuff and you tag stuff as inappropriately as you like with little to no consequence.