Bex wrote:

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Well, you can dissect it, analyse it, repeat yourself thrice, make all kinds of comparisons or insinuations, get yourself all worked up in the process and hold up the Pwcca rule book, but I don't think you'll have much impact on the opposition.


You say this as if to suggest that you will have an impact on your opposition. I'm making a statement, whether someone chooses to agree with me or not, I'm not trying to amass a following of converts.


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I do not believe it's a scientific fact, I don't believe it's much different from any other belief system.


Neither do I. Belief systems are belief systems. I couldn't agree with you more on this. But it sure as heck ain't a religion! If a Hindu believes the number 13 is bad luck, his superstitious belief in the number 13 is not his religion. Hinduism is his religion.

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That's my opinion, I'm free to express that and I have repeated this before.


Yep, you most certainly are. And I wouldn't dream of encouraging you otherwise. So too am I free to retort and enter a debate with you.

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What's this got to do with one kind of animal becoming another? Or a big explosion that you can't prove took place, or promordial soup etc etc. Absolutely nothing.


None of the above have anything to do with evolution. I don't know of a single text book which refers to an animal "becoming" another.

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You've admitted yourself that you're religious and believe evolution as well...is there a problem for people who believe in Creation to believe in Christ? Is this also a "no no" in the rule book of Pwcca?


Uhm, what the heck are you talking about? You can believe in the Native American gods for all I care, I'll still contest that evolution is not a religion inasmuch as it contains no ritual, days of holy reverence, spiritual beliefs or, most importantly, deities. You're right, gravity's proven and the theory of evolution (not to be confused with the fact of evolution -- change in allele frequencies over time) is not. I did use other examples however. It is NOT a proven fact that a fish aquarium lowers one's blood pressure but there is evidence which points towards this and some people believe it through and through. According to the same logic you ascribe the theory of evolution to be a religion, would the belief in fish tank's lowering blood pressure also then be a "religion"? Now, before you nitpick and start discussing the ins and outs of fish tanks, bear in mind it is AN EXAMPLE to prove a point. If you don't like that example I can think of another. Some people believe too much violence on TV leads to added violence in the real world. Is this belief a religion? Honestly, yes or no. If the answer is no, I'd be interested in hearing why evolution is a religion. If you're not saying it's a religion then we don't need to have this debate. Right now I am talking about the numerous posters who call evolution a religion. I'm not debating that it is or isn't a belief. I'm saying it's not a religion.

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I don't know all Creationists, therefore I do not know if all of them believe in God as being "Jesus". So I cannot comment on all of them. But you're free to come to any conclusions you wish over it, it really doesn't concern me.


OK. Uhm.. thanks for the permission?

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Comparing this to plants or aliens/ufos doesn't quite add up


It was meant to illustrate a point about comparing beliefs to religion. If I believe UFOs exist, does that mean my belief in UFOs is a religion? Again, a simple yes or no to this question will suffice. I'm trying to understand how you define religion. I ask this because if you define the theory of evolution as a religion then, by the same logic, a person could have, literally 100 religions. They could be a member of the Church of Christ, the "Church" of Evolution, the Church of Walking Under Ladders is Unlucky, the Church of I Believe Alcohol is Bad (I mean, that is a belief, after all -- though who knows what gods someone of such a "religion" worships, or how they can worship the I Believe Alcohol is Bad gods alongside all the other gods at the same time). I'm just looking for some clarification on this. So just to recap, I'm trying to determine by what logic evolution is a religion but believing something like ... "Marti Gras is a stupid festivity" or "I firmly believe that mullets are a stylish hair-cut" is not a religion. Yes, believing in evolution is a belief. That much is self-explanatory and I don't think anyone's arguing that. But if I can call evolution a religion then can I call "I believe coffee is bad for you" also a religion? Or can we just come to terms with the fact that belief is belief and religion is religion (the latter of which comes equipped with any number of rituals, practices, holidays, deities, and so on)?