Creationism vs. Evolution

So I'm working on an article for my paper about an upcoming three-part series being hosted at a local church. They're bringing in some former scientist who now believes in creation. After doing a few interviews, I'm interested in everyone's take on this whole "debate" thing.

I have no problem with people believing in whatever they want to. But, I guess I'm one of those old school "scientific method" and "scientific fact" kind of guys ... just a stick in the mud when it comes to evolution.

This really does seem to be an actual point of contention in politics, but I really don't know why people care so much or get so upset about this whole "evolution" thing. What does everyone else think about this stuff?

 

Where's the poll function when we need it?

 

The world was created 5,000 years ago. The Bible says so. Fuck science.

 

There is no "debate"

I think Charles Pierce sums it up best in his brilliant 2005 Esquire article, "Greetings from Idiot America".

http://www.esquire.com/features/ESQ0207GREETINGS

The country was founded by people who were fundamentally curious; Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin, to name only the most obvious examples, were inveterate tinkerers. (Before dispatching Lewis and Clark into the Louisiana Territory, Jefferson insisted that the pair categorize as many new plant and animal species as they found. Considering they were also mapping everything from Missouri to Oregon, this must have been a considerable pain in the canoe.) Further, they assumed that their posterity would feel much the same as they did; in 1815, appealing to Congress to fund the building of a national university, James Madison called for the development of "a nursery of enlightened preceptors."

It is a long way from that to the moment on February 18, 2004, when sixty-two scientists, including a clutch of Nobel laureates, released a report accusing the incumbent administration of manipulating science for political ends. It is a long way from Jefferson's observatory and Franklin's kite to George W. Bush, in an interview in 2005, suggesting that intelligent design be taught alongside the theory of evolution in the nation's science classes. "Both sides ought to be properly taught," said the president, "so people can understand what the debate is about."

 

Funny you bold that passage, JR. You, CP and Bush have more in common than you think when it comes to "teaching" people about religion.

 

If one is creative, they can combine the two philosophies into one.
Since the Bible doesn't specify a day as 24 hours, it's possible that one day was a few hundred or thousand years and God refined the animals and humans over time to the form they're in today. It's entirely possible that the Almighty's definition of a day is different from man's definition of a day.

 

You're kidding me?

Did you actually read Pierce's article? Do you know what the issue is?

It's not a debate about religion, dumbass, it's about science.

 

It has NOTHING to do with "philosophies".

 

Don't know why anyone would think the two are mutually exclusive. Obviously, many do.

 

You're right. Poor word choice on my part.

 

Because certain people painted themselves into a corner when they used a literal interpretation of all of the bible as a basis for a political agenda.

How were they to know that people were going to take them seriously?