OK I am not going to question any religion about the beliefs about creation here.
My question is why are religious beliefs contradictory to science. I think in many religions Hinduism among them there is a bridge between the 2.
1. Hinduism believes the earth is a diety. Mother earth and it is a definete mention in most mythologic tales.
2. So everything on this earth was created by mother earth.
3. Water, and creating of the first protein molecule via lightning was an act by mother earth.
4. Mother earth supported and guided the progress of uni celled organisms to dinosaurs to humans.
So really I dont see how god didn't create life as we know it.
However most hindus dismiss evolution almost right from the get go.
Cool.
Buddha.
Oh man, this discussion is going to get offensive SO fast! haha
Are you primarily referring the christianity? From reading what you wrote, you said you wondered why most completely seperate religion from science, and then say that hindu is connected to science.
To be honest, the only religion I really know much about is christianty, but that's because in the country it's treated as if it is science, and it's handed to you as fact your entire childhood. I could possibly comment on my theories behind that one religion, but I don't really know too much about any others, so if you do it might help get responses to your original question.
Only about hinduism and to other religions that refer to the earth as a god/deity. I dont believe christianity does that so its not my focus.
The other fact that I didn't explain is - hindu's are almost as strongly opposed to evolution as christians are. I just call that nuts ... :cookoo:
Cool.
Buddha.
I teach with several biologists who believe both in God (Christianity) and in evolution. They are not fundamentalist Christians; most are Methodists. They see no conflict between the two. They believe that God created the Earth and then used (or allowed) evolution to further develop it.
As per hindu beliefs, earth is god, of course Brahma is the creator, maybe can be understood to mean created the universe.
Of course Shiva is the destroyer. Presumably he can destroy the whole earth.
Vishnu is the sustainer, and routinely he destroyes everything on the earth. Like armageddon. When evil starts to overtake good, boom, he sets the clock back by destroying most everything with a sentience. Earth, and rivers and hills and oceans are left intact. Neutron bomb ???
Every yug, which is ~100,000,000 years stuff gets destroyed by vishnu who appears as an avatar - fish, tortoise, pig, dwarf, lionhead-human body, rama, parasurama, krishna etc. We are now supposedly in kali yug, the last of the yug's and at the end of this, its all getting destroyed, and the end is near. He will in this avatar which is appropriately named Kalki avatar will appear as a horseman.
BTW all of these deities are mortals, just that they have varying lifespans. Brahma is something like 400 billion years old and has 1.6 trillion year life span.
Man has existed in the time brahma went to the bathroom or maybe its a joke they started saying and we now cannot separate it from the true mythology.
Cool.
Buddha.
Well, as an Atheist (how many posts and replies have I started like that.) I have a view. Christianity has obviously influenced me because I was bought up in a Christian society and in Christian schools. I hold what perhaps might be call "Christian values" although I find that phrase innacurate as most religions, philosophies and societies have something very similar to the commandments as core values.
I know many people who are Christian, "mainstream" if you like who don't have a problem with Darwins view of natural selection etc they see it as part of God's miracle of creation, and why not. I have only ever discussed this sort of thing with one moslem, a fellow biker, and he seems pretty receptive to the idea of evolution, religious people might prefer to see it as on-going creation perhaps.
I Britain, and Europe today there are many Pagans, I called myself Pagan once, who believe in the Idea of "Earth God or Goddess" and/or Sun God which is pretty close to the Hindu way of thinking.
As to why followers of this or that religion do or don't believe in some things, search me. In UK there is a problem with getting minorities to donate blood and organs, so much so that it was assumed that it must be forbidden in the Qoran/Koran- It is not, in fact it fits in with charity being one of the requirements of Islam but every time I go to my regular blood donating sessions I tend to see a hall full of white people.
I will not get into the merits or demerits of Atheism and religion because it is not likely that I will influence anyone nor be influenced. You have to sort these things out for yourself. My golden rule for everyone is that you can't choose what you believe, it would be very easy if you could. I can't get a grip on religious "beliefs" that are based on the principle that if you believe you will survive into some afterlife or won't fry in Hell. If it were that simple life would be a breeze.
My mother is super christian. I grew up going to church twice a week, every week of my life until I was 16. I eventually decided it wasn't for me and stopped going. Funny thing is, the reason I stopped going is because I used to get bored during the Sunday sermon, and I would just sit there reading the bible. I read enough messed up things that I decided it wasn't for me. Not because I didn't care, not because I was unholy, but because I considered myself to be at a higher standard than some of the things that book says are OK.
So for me it's never really been a matter of believing or not, because at this point I just don't really care either way, but I have to say I'm beyond the point of just 'wanting to be saved' as people put it. If I went to church every week and tried to pray, and by some chance god is real, he'd know I was faking. You can't force your self to love/believe in someone/thing you don't. More importantly, if god is real, he made me this way, so how would it be fair to judge me in the end.
....and lastly, the most important point, is that not believing in evolution is ridiculous. It's cool if you want to say we didn't evolve from single celled organisms, but people and other animals change. We've seem people change over the last couple hundred years, even if it was simple things such as height. Who's to say how much we may have changed over millions of years.
My favorite is when people say that god put dinosaur bones straight into the ground as a test, and that dinosaurs never actually existed.
hey, you ! the unemployed guy with tons of spare time to contemplate stuff again....
GET A JOB !
At some point I'll find a religious persuasion that agrees with me. RIght now I'm stuck between earth, spirit, alcohol, and all the things that don't get along with those things.
This joke was once told to me by a friend of mine back in 1993.
By the time we finished that conversation I has come back @ him with a equally bad one.
His joke.
The same place as the dinosaur bones the archeologists found a pre historic pig.
What is the pig called.
Jurassic Pork.
My come back, no its not.
Its a dino - suer (said like sewer and that in hindi means pig)
Cool.
Buddha.
Quote from: trumpetguy on October 19, 2009, 01:31:04 PM
I teach with several biologists who believe both in God (Christianity) and in evolution. They are not fundamentalist Christians; most are Methodists. They see no conflict between the two. They believe that God created the Earth and then used (or allowed) evolution to further develop it.
Or in my case idk about the ape to man part ( im christian/baptist) maybe god gave man the gift of learning? to further theirself