I was actually being conservative on the numbers. America likes to streamline their beliefs to fit many niches. Differing from how to baptize to what is a sin, you'll find ample differences across the nation.

And not all of them agree on Christ or the Second coming. Do you feel that you could comfortably sit within the walls of the Westburo baptist church where hatred is taught in the name of god? How about a white supremacist or KKK religious observance where only certain races will be accepted?

But even if you ignore the extreme differences try getting two churches of the same denomination in differing states that both teach the same thing. We were "Church of Christ" attendees in Ohio a...

I was actually being conservative on the numbers. America likes to streamline their beliefs to fit many niches. Differing from how to baptize to what is a sin, you'll find ample differences across the nation.

And not all of them agree on Christ or the Second coming. Do you feel that you could comfortably sit within the walls of the Westburo baptist church where hatred is taught in the name of god? How about a white supremacist or KKK religious observance where only certain races will be accepted?

But even if you ignore the extreme differences try getting two churches of the same denomination in differing states that both teach the same thing. We were "Church of Christ" attendees in Ohio and went to a "Church of Christ" in Tennessee - it was like going to Mars!

And don't even get started on how the various churches talk about the rapture! From Jesus in a spaceship to resounding trumpets to second virgin births - take your pick!

Trying to lump Christianity together as if they all share common beliefs is an exercise of mental convenience. But its not reality.

And its this very fact that makes ridiculing religion so easy. Everyone shouting a message and trying to set policy based on their belief and even those the purport to share the same god cannot agree on the details and major points of their beliefs.

It IS a ridiculous system that is easily picked apart and the only thing holding it together is a refusal of its followers to admit they are wrong and have been duped. But its not the silly beliefs, ridiculous claims, moronic idealism, or even funny outfits that make them such a target - its the unending assault that religion makes on society. Wheedling its way into every aspect of human life from entertainment to government to education to medicine to industry to anything.

So when religion (Christianity most commonly) sticks its nose in my business then it gives me the right to be critical of it if it fails its own claims.

I think belief in evolution is silly and anyone that thinks beings as complex as humans, as well as every other organic being on this planet just arose from the muck, are living a fantasy in order to distance themselves from a just God.

A perfect example how someone who believes refuses to accept reality, especially if they've put thier religion at odds with something. Evolution is a fact based on years of observation, literal mountains of evidence, facts, research, proven studies, and predictable outcomes.

Seriously, I know its hard to accept, but you may as well deny that the earth orbits the sun if you are going to deny evolution.

This is also another example of how Chr...

I think belief in evolution is silly and anyone that thinks beings as complex as humans, as well as every other organic being on this planet just arose from the muck, are living a fantasy in order to distance themselves from a just God.

A perfect example how someone who believes refuses to accept reality, especially if they've put thier religion at odds with something. Evolution is a fact based on years of observation, literal mountains of evidence, facts, research, proven studies, and predictable outcomes.

Seriously, I know its hard to accept, but you may as well deny that the earth orbits the sun if you are going to deny evolution.

This is also another example of how Christianity differs because there are those Christians ignorant of science and allowing early interpretations of the bible to clash with concepts of evolution (and medicine and physics and chemestry, etc) and then there are Christians who accept the science and don't find an impasse between their beliefs and it.

Evolution itself fits quite well with the creation story, but the problem is people fear new stuff and when evolution was first talked about those old religious leaders did the usual thing they do with stuff that is new and stuff they don't understand - they denied it. The painted it negatively to their followers and now you have the ignorant mess you have today.

Here is a great link for believers to learn about evolution.

Frankly, believers denying evolution make it easier for non believers to challenge and point out the failings of religion.

Every time I think about evolution, I remember opposable thumbs. Why only us? Why not 'other' primates?
Were we the only ones that required 'evolution'? How easy would the chimps life be if he could grasp as we do?

Remember the 'missing link'? It's never been found. Evolution is still a theory - and yes, science has made lots of discoveries and made lots of conjectures, but still they call it a theory.

I look at the complex systems of the human body and I've never heard a scientist say that we 'evolved' a venous system or fingerprints as unique as we are. I look at plants, animals, etc...and wonder...why so complex? Why so different? Why would one bird need to mate on a rocky hillt...

Every time I think about evolution, I remember opposable thumbs. Why only us? Why not 'other' primates?
Were we the only ones that required 'evolution'? How easy would the chimps life be if he could grasp as we do?

Remember the 'missing link'? It's never been found. Evolution is still a theory - and yes, science has made lots of discoveries and made lots of conjectures, but still they call it a theory.

I look at the complex systems of the human body and I've never heard a scientist say that we 'evolved' a venous system or fingerprints as unique as we are. I look at plants, animals, etc...and wonder...why so complex? Why so different? Why would one bird need to mate on a rocky hilltop and another in a nest in a pine tree? Life is too abundant and too diverse and too complex to believe in chaos.

But that's just my opinion.

Religious beliefs are as varied and complex as individual people. But the fundamental faith in a Creator is nearly universal - even agnostics recognize 'something'. Get away from comparisons of one over another...it will drive you nuts. I listen to my heart and read the book I consider true and holy because it resonates with me personally. And being free of the need to justify myself or my faith should be as much a right as the right to be black, white, rich, poor, gay or straight. My beliefs just 'are'. And maybe I was born that way.

Every time I think about evolution, I remember opposable thumbs. Why only us?

LOL

Many animals, primates and others, also have some kind of opposable thumb or toe.

Opposable thumb on rear foot of an opossum

* Orangutan - opposable thumbs on both hands and both feet. The interdigital grip gives them the ability to pick fruit.
* Gorillas - opposable on both hands and both feet.
* Chimpanzees have opposable thumbs on both hands and both feet.
* Lesser Apes have opposable thumbs on both hands and both feet.
* Old World Monkeys, with some exceptions, such as the genera, Piliocolobus and Colobus.
* Cebids (New World primates of Central and South America) -...

Every time I think about evolution, I remember opposable thumbs. Why only us?

LOL

Many animals, primates and others, also have some kind of opposable thumb or toe.

Opposable thumb on rear foot of an opossum

* Orangutan - opposable thumbs on both hands and both feet. The interdigital grip gives them the ability to pick fruit.
* Gorillas - opposable on both hands and both feet.
* Chimpanzees have opposable thumbs on both hands and both feet.
* Lesser Apes have opposable thumbs on both hands and both feet.
* Old World Monkeys, with some exceptions, such as the genera, Piliocolobus and Colobus.
* Cebids (New World primates of Central and South America) - some have opposable thumbs.
* Koala - opposable toe on each foot, plus two opposable digits on each hand.
* Opossum - opposable thumb on rear feet.
* Giant Panda - Panda paws have five clawed fingers plus an extra bone that works like an opposable thumb. This "thumb" is not really a finger (like the human thumb is), but an extra-long sesamoid bone that works like a thumb.
* Troodon - a birdlike dinosaur with partially opposable thumbs.
* Bambiraptor - a small, predatory dinosaur, was able to touch the outer two of its three digits together in an opposable grip.
* Aye-aye - small primate once thought to be a rodent
* Bonobo - a frugivorous primate of the genus Pan. A close relative of the chimpanzee.
* Phyllomedusa – A phylum of frogs with opposable thumbs native to South America.

Sigh. I guess much hasn't changed. The whole "evolution isn't true" is mired in ... well ... stupidity. But, if these are the problems you have, we can get you educated right quick.

Opposable thumbs - A simple search on google would have quickly dispelled this misinformation. Honestly, you thought an opposable thumb argument was valid? Reimers actually provided you with a healthy list that should quickly set you right on that score.

Missing Link - Another old one. This one started out in Darwin's day when the fossil record was pretty limited but the argument has survived even when the evidence has done nothing but grow to literal mountain sizes. Go to any museum and you will see your missi...

Sigh. I guess much hasn't changed. The whole "evolution isn't true" is mired in ... well ... stupidity. But, if these are the problems you have, we can get you educated right quick.

Opposable thumbs - A simple search on google would have quickly dispelled this misinformation. Honestly, you thought an opposable thumb argument was valid? Reimers actually provided you with a healthy list that should quickly set you right on that score.

Missing Link - Another old one. This one started out in Darwin's day when the fossil record was pretty limited but the argument has survived even when the evidence has done nothing but grow to literal mountain sizes. Go to any museum and you will see your missing links (a.k.a. transitional fossils).

Every fossil is a transitional fossil. Creationists argue that scientists don't provide the fossils to show species changing from one form to another (the transitional fossil), but this is not true. When science finds one then the creationists just point to the gap between that new find and the two existing fossils on either side, ad nauseum.

The "theory" argument - this is the one that shows us when people are completely uneducated about what they argue against. Evolution is real. The "theory" of evolution is just our understanding of it. Even if we are wrong about our understanding of evolution the process still continues. Just as the "theory" of gravity is our understanding of the mechanics of gravity. If we are wrong about the theory we don't suddenly all float off the planet.

Scientists use their understanding of evolution every day to create new medicines to help combat those pesky flu and viral break outs each year because those nasty little buggers evolve.

Finally, one thing that is even more universal than your touted "universal belief in a creator" is a complete universal lack of belief in us all when we are born. We are all born atheists my friend. It is not until indoctrination does anyone begin believing.

That is no museum. It's a crime against humanity. I would find an establishment that taught the acceptance of child pornography or how best to rape and get away with it with no less contempt than I feel with that corruption of knowledge and its builder, Ken Ham.

Two things struck me soon after entering. The first is that this is not really a museum at all. In a museum you expect to find tangible artifacts of some kind, typically with just enough commentary provided to tell you what you are looking at. Real museums exist, among other reasons, to provide a safe place for housing important historical objects that everyone ought to be able to see and enjoy.

Not so with the creation muse...

That is no museum. It's a crime against humanity. I would find an establishment that taught the acceptance of child pornography or how best to rape and get away with it with no less contempt than I feel with that corruption of knowledge and its builder, Ken Ham.

Two things struck me soon after entering. The first is that this is not really a museum at all. In a museum you expect to find tangible artifacts of some kind, typically with just enough commentary provided to tell you what you are looking at. Real museums exist, among other reasons, to provide a safe place for housing important historical objects that everyone ought to be able to see and enjoy.

Not so with the creation museum. This is really just a straightforward attempt at evangelism.

Source

I'm sorry, there was one more paragraph that I found particularly important. It describes why science and religion are often at odds on things and I think it quite relevant to why religion is so weak in its stance. I bolded the point that jumped out at me :

This is standard creationist fare, of course, but it is a useful reminder of how these folks manage to get everything backward. On scientific questions the creationists are relativists. You interpret the evidence your way, I'll interpret it my way. Po-TAY-to, Po-TAH-to. But on moral questions they are absolutists. Their interpretation of the Bible is right and everything else is wrong.

There are two approaches to ...

I'm sorry, there was one more paragraph that I found particularly important. It describes why science and religion are often at odds on things and I think it quite relevant to why religion is so weak in its stance. I bolded the point that jumped out at me :

This is standard creationist fare, of course, but it is a useful reminder of how these folks manage to get everything backward. On scientific questions the creationists are relativists. You interpret the evidence your way, I'll interpret it my way. Po-TAY-to, Po-TAH-to. But on moral questions they are absolutists. Their interpretation of the Bible is right and everything else is wrong.

There are two approaches to conclusions. One is based on the results of examination (science) and the other seeks only that which agrees with it and denies anything that doesn't (religion). I think it quite easy to see why the latter is so easily corrupted when it comes to true understanding.

If you hood your eyes to anything but what you want to see then you will never truly understand or see what is around you. This is why evolution is such a problem for believers - they just refuse to even TRY and understand it and deny it out of hand. That's why we see the same abused excuses over and over - even after they've been answered, disproved, and explained over and over.