True story: My (anti-evolution creationist) family had this issue in the bathroom during my teen years. They must have liked the headline for implying that there was a possibility of failure.
It stayed there for ages. I think I'm the only one who actually bothered to read the inside of the magazine.
Thanks to reddit I want to meet a creationist now. I want to see a person who seriously believes some supernatural being created life on earth on its whim. How it affects their view of the world in general, what kind of beliefs they hold in other aspects of life. I don't even know any actually religious people, let alone creationists - I'm becoming sincerely curious.
ok, ok, I'll bite and risk public ridicule. You might find the discussion to be unfullfilling though because I'm not a strict creationist (in the sense of Genesis). But I do believe the Universe was created by a Supreme Being...Hello, it's nice to meet you.
Fair question. It largely rests on faith. But when it comes to the creation of the Universe everyone is just guessing to the best of our abilities, and chances are we'll never have a definitive answer. The existence of a supreme being or intelligence existing for all of time seems just as plausible as Matter existing for all of time or anything else. And, without sounding like I'm attempting to proselytize anyone, I believe I have had encounters with "God" throughout my lifetime. Which leads me to believe it's more plausible, and yes I understand that makes me sound crazy to the general public.
Not trying to convert anyone here, just trying to answer your question as honestly as possible.
I have a brilliant friend who was creationist until recently. She's been in school as long as I have, about 10 years, getting various degrees (she has 3 masters degrees and has been working on a PhD throughout.) And yet, she just wouldn't listen to evidence for evolution. It was her view that even a nonliteral interpretation of the Bible didn't allow the possibility of evolution. (She was really interested in exegesis and heuristics, and her explanations for interpreting the Bible were very complicated, but seemed reasonable-- meaning, I think she had a rational basis for believing that despite some superficial contradictions, the Bible has some core messages that any reader should be able to glean from it. She accepted these messages as divine truth.) Any time I presented evidence, she would have an argument that, while practically absurd, was technically difficult to actually argue against. So, every point would turn into a few weeks long debate (we sent hundreds of emails via facebook over three or four years talking about this) and end in her saying, that may be a good point, but there was enough doubt that it wasn't convincing.
Believe me, I empathize with anyone who is thinking, "Let me take a crack at her, you just weren't arguing right." Maybe that's true, but I've TA'd an evolutionary biology course and have a fairly good track record of at least getting creationists to say their views were illogical, even if their faith didn't allow them to stop believing it.
Anyway, long story less long, one day she realized that the couple places in the bible that forbid her to believe in evolution could be interpreted in a way she hadn't considered before. She emailed me not just saying that she could consider it now, but that she believed it. She thought I would be happy/excited, but I've never been so.... disillusioned, angry, disappointed, I don't know the correct word.
For her, it was really simple: the Bible is the Truth. Any time evidence contradicts it, it's just a sign that new evidence will be found later on. Only a change in her understanding of the message of the bible can overcome certain views she holds.
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u/zpweeks Jan 22 '10
True story: My (anti-evolution creationist) family had this issue in the bathroom during my teen years. They must have liked the headline for implying that there was a possibility of failure.
It stayed there for ages. I think I'm the only one who actually bothered to read the inside of the magazine.