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August 27th, 2012
11:31 AM ET
Bill Nye slams creationismBy Eric Marrapodi, CNN Belief Blog Co-Editor (CNN)–Famed TV scientist Bill Nye is slamming creationism in a new online video for Big Think titled "Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children." "Denial of evolution is unique to the United States," Nye begins in a YouTube video posted on Thursday. The video quickly picked up steam over the weekend and as of Monday morning had been viewed more than 1,100,000 times. Nye - a mechanical engineer and television personality best known for his program, "Bill Nye the Science Guy" - said the United States has great capital in scientific knowledge and "when you have a portion of the population that doesn't believe in it, it holds everyone back." "Your world becomes fantastically complicated if you don't believe in evolution," Nye said in the Web video. Creationists are a vast and varied group in the United States. Most creationists believe in the account of the origins of the world as told in the Book of Genesis, the first book of the Bible. CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories In the creation account, God creates Adam and Eve, the world, and everything in it in six days. For Christians who read the Genesis account literally, or authoritatively as they would say, the six days in the account are literal 24-hour periods and leave no room for evolution. Young Earth creationists use this construct and biblical genealogies to determine the age of the Earth, and typically come up with 6,000 to 10,000 years. Your Take: 5 reactions to Bill Nye's creationism critique The Gallup Poll has been tracking Americans' views on creation and evolution for the past 30 years. In June it released its latest findings, which showed 46% of Americans believed in creationism, 32% believed in evolution guided by God, and 15% believed in atheistic evolution. During the 30 years Gallup has conducted the survey, creationism has remained far and away the most popular answer, with 40% to 47% of Americans surveyed saying they believed that God created humans in their present form at one point within the past 10,000 years. Survey: Nearly half of Americans subscribe to creationist view of human origins "The idea of deep time of billions of years explains so much of the world around us. If you try to ignore that, your worldview becomes crazy, untenable, itself inconsistent," Nye said in the video. "I say to the grownups, if you want to deny evolution and live in your world, that's completely inconsistent with the world we observe, that's fine. But don't make your kids do it. Because we need them. We need scientifically literate voters and taxpayers for the future. We need engineers that can build stuff and solve problems," he said. Creationists' beliefs about the origins of the Earth are often a narrow focus, based in large part on religious beliefs, and while they reject evolution as "just one theory," they often embrace other fields of science and technology. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter In "The Genesis Flood," the 1961 book that in many ways help launch the Young Earth creationism movement in the United States, the authors write: “Our conclusions must unavoidably be colored by our Biblical presuppositions, and this we plainly acknowledge." Their goal for the book was to harmonize the scientific evidence with the accounts in Genesis of creation and the flood. The idea of creationism has been scorned by the mainstream scientific community since shortly after Darwin introduced "The Origin of Species" in 1859. By 1880, The American Naturalists, a science journal, reported nearly every major university in America was teaching evolution. "In another couple centuries I'm sure that worldview won't even exist. There's no evidence for it. So..." Nye ends his video. soundoff (14,640 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 Next » |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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"God did it!" is a cop-out designed to protect you from needing to answer hard questions. Why look for an answer when you can just credit God?
http://www.actionbioscience.org/evolution/benton.html
"Our understanding of the shape and pattern of the history of life depends on the accuracy of fossils and dating methods. Some critics, particularly religious fundamentalists, argue that neither fossils nor dating can be trusted, and that their interpretations are better. Other critics, perhaps more familiar with the data, question certain aspects of the quality of the fossil record and of its dating. These skeptics do not provide scientific evidence for their views. Current understanding of the history of life is probably close to the truth because it is based on repeated and careful testing and consideration of data.
The rejection of the validity of fossils and of dating by religious fundamentalists creates a problem for them:"
"Scientists can use different chemicals for absolute dating:
•The best-known absolute dating technique is carbon-14 dating, which archaeologists prefer to use. However, the half-life of carbon-14 is only 5730 years, so the method cannot be used for materials older than about 70,000 years.
•Radiometric dating involves the use of isotope series, such as rubidium/strontium, thorium/lead, potassium/argon, argon/argon, or uranium/lead, all of which have very long half-lives, ranging from 0.7 to 48.6 billion years. Subtle differences in the relative proportions of the two isotopes can give good dates for rocks of any age.
The first radiometric dates, generated about 1920, showed that the Earth was hundreds of millions, or billions, of years old. Since then, geologists have made many tens of thousands of radiometric age determinations, and they have refined the earlier estimates. A key point is that it is no longer necessary simply to accept one chemical determination of a rock’s age. Age estimates can be cross-tested by using different isotope pairs. Results from different techniques, often measured in rival labs, continually confirm each other.
Every few years, new geologic time scales are published, providing the latest dates for major time lines. Older dates may change by a few million years up and down, but younger dates are stable. For example, it has been known since the 1960s that the famous Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary, the line marking the end of the dinosaurs, was 65 million years old. Repeated recalibrations and retests, using ever more sophisticated techniques and equipment, cannot shift that date. It is accurate to within a few thousand years. With modern, extremely precise, methods, error bars are often only 1% or so."
Genesis 1:1 states, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." There is no time table placed on this statement and we do know that the earth is millions of years old. Remember, this sentence ends in a period. Most people just read on and assume that the second sentence picks up right there and keeps going but between those sentences represents a huge amount of time. The second verse states, "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep." If you look at this sentence in the true Hebrew it was written it makes a little more sense. The hebrew word for "was" can also be translated "became" and the Hebrew word that was translated "without form" can also be translated as "waste". So to help you read it as: "And the earth became waste, and void......." therefore he stepped in with the path of creation that is listed throughout Genesis.
Hopefully this will help you all some. Even evolutionist believe in a Big Bang. Maybe the Big Bang your looking for is "God Said" and Bang it all happened.
God bless you all.
Based on that....did you see the unicorn on your lawn this morning....?
Chuck: You can't seriously be that brain dead? Science and the buybull will never go hand in hand...to claim god did it, you have to provide evidence of god-good luck on that!
I love when someone provides logical statements to try to make a point, then someone else tries to counter with a bland, irrational, and pointless insult.
@liarprevails
nope
The liberal agenda is to eliminate God from people's lifes
Liberal agenda: Separation of Church and State.
Conservative agenda: Christian Taliban
The liberal agenda is to uphold 'separation of church and state'; freedom of and from religion and to ensure equal rights for everyone regardless of belief/disbelief/sexual orientation; etc. Makes so much more sense than 'my imaginary friend said in the giant book of manipulating fairy tales...'.
I am proudly liberal, and my life works just fine without worshipping a god. Whether you worship is your decision, but I'm not going to keep my godlessness any more private than you keep your belief.
no ken, that is not true. also, the jesus you believe in was a liberal too. we just want to have your idea of christian kept out of the public education system that has worked very well in this country for 150 years. if you want to teach your children of nice stories fine, but that is not what the rest of the world works on. we have to teach facts and history and math and science and civics and morales. right from wrong. the religion is left up to the parents if they want to teach it. i think that the golden rule is one that should be taught. to treat people as you want to be treated. it doesn't step on anyones toes, it doesn't teach about a god you may or may not believe in.
My children, open your minds and ears, and watch this clip!!!! NOW
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=75c_1177460897
What?! Santa Claus isn't real??? Neither is the Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy? But this you must have faith in! Although all evidence will direct you toward another conclusion, DON'T YOU BELIEVE IT! Or you will be struck down. Ha!
No one can call themselves a man (person) of science when they close their minds to all possibilities.
We didn’t, but we see truths as they are, not clouded with fantasy.
Atheism is not a religion nor is it a belief.
So Atheism isn't the belief that god doesn't exist?
CarmenSo is so smart. She uses logic. WOW
I don't agree with you. Of course, a scientist has to keep his/her mind open, but that doesn't mean he/she has to keep his/her mind open for idiotic possibilities like existence of the God. Probably, you don't know the meaning of science. Google it.
@rich Right, since science has already found the origin of the universe, Atheism is clearly a fact, not a belief.
@CarmenSo
The prefix "A" = Lack of
Theism = Belief in Gods.
Atheism is a negative statement that says only what one doesn't beleive.
CarmenSo
Theists posit the existence of a god or gods. Atheists reject that claim due to a complete lack of evidence.
The burden of proof is on the one making the claim.
Much like in a courtroom the prosecution is charged with providing evidence to convince a jury to find the defendant guilty. The jurors are asked to render a verdict of guilty or not guilty. They do not find the defendant innocent. In fact the defendant may indeed be guilty but if there isn't sufficient evidence to make that call then they must be considered not guilty.
So in the trial of determining whether or not God exists since you haven't provided enough evidence to support your case I would find God not guilty of existing.
Atheism means you DONT believe in any god. You don't believe not to believe in any god. Atheism is as much a religion as bald is a hair color, or off is a TV station.
Two thousand years ago multiple religions were the cultural norm. The belief in multiple GODs (the word GOD is taken from the 6th century CE Germanic language) was widely accepted and only varied by type (and special abilities) depending the region you lived in. None of the Bible stories were ever PROVEN (BAR NONE) and they were will written long after the events supposedly happened. The only thing that changed was the names used to describe the GODS, from Sumerian times the supreme God was called “An” when have evolved to the current Christian name “YAHWEH”. To make a finer point the only thing that really changed was the “story teller” . Each story teller went to great lengths improve his or her deity to the reader. Also remember they didn’t have much on the burden or nor was proof really a requirement. These writers create wondrous feats of magic that go beyond the basic physical laws of nature. You find the very same Creation (according to the Sumerian) stories written thousand years earlier, only the name has changed to meet the current popular God in use. Of course when any questioned these stories, the same standard answer “God says so” . But yet the same people will question any other believers of different religious sects like the Jehovah Witness and Mormons and then label them as “whack–jobs” , but they fail to see Christians are no different. The major difference is modern man has proven through scientific exam the laws of nature and how man really works and YES we evolved from lower forms of life and YES Apes are our distance cousin (deal with it).
I’m not interested in changing anyone beliefs, that is for you to decide. If believing in whatever you wish to believe make you feel better about yourself, please continue. But stop with trying to make these stories sound if they are true. No ONE (BAR NONE) has ever seen any God (outside of the occasional burring bush and always alone), parted the Red Sea or the Jewish Sea of Reeds or even a damn pond or have they ever turned anyone to stone, pillar of salt or into your favorite color. If you ever attempt (and a few have) to use any of the stories mention in the bible as a test of scientific theory and then use them in court for defense, by invoking the angel Satan made me do it, or God said so, then who are you to say “He’s lying”, in short mold the fantasy into your reality.
To finish, I’m very happy with my life and YES I know I’m going to die as it is very much a part of life. I’m not so vain or fearful about what will happen that I need stories to comfort my fears. I know I will live forever, I can see it every day with the next generation and I sigh with relief, that they will make the world a better place. Enjoy your life, do what you can to make it better, don’t live in fear of unknown.
Stephen F Roberts: “I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”
Interesting...there are many accounts of people seeing God, and many accounts of multiple people, including large groups, seeing Christ after he died and was resurrected, and of seeing angels ascending to "heaven". However, because we are not able to recreate these events at our whim, we have dismissed them as "false" or "unreliable". Seems the scientific community doesn't like to accept eyewitness testimony of events that they can't go back and see for themselves...
There are also many accounts of "God told me to do it" which result in a verdict of "guilty"...
There are also many accounts of people who insist they were abducted by aliens...or witnessed BigFoot. People you could actually speak to in person today. Would you believe their testimony? The main problem is that all the accounts of Jesus rising from the dead are just stories in a book. Written by people who never met Jesus decades after he was crucified.. Not very credible evidence.
Religious, as alcoholics, deny the truth and seek out drinking buddies.
Okay WASP, since you put your faith in evolution, why do we have a need to fly and haven't grown wings rather rely on airplanes, why do we have a need to live forever, yet your evolution does not supply it. Yet the Bible has answers, evolution has no answers only what is convenient at the time to believe.
A Primer in Evolutionary Theory
There are 5 laws in the Theory of Evolution.
1) Evolution as such.
This is the understanding that the world is not constant, nor recently created, nor cycling, but is changing; and that the types of enti.ties that live on it also change.
2) Common descent
This is the understanding that every group of living enti.ties that we know of on this planet descended from a common ancestor.
3) Multiplication of species
This is the understanding that species either split into or bud off other species, often through the geographical isolation of a founder species.
4) Gradualism
This is the understanding that changes take place through the gradual change of population rather than the sudden production of new individuals.
5) Natural selection
This is the understanding that individuals in every generation are different from one another, or, at least some of them are. In every generation some individuals survive and reproduce better than others. Their genes multiply.
Evolution is fact.
Even the Catholic church accepts that!
There is an ever growing mountain of evidence from different branches of science accu.mulated over more than a hundred years that verify evolution.
Creationists have yet to advance a single shred of evidence to support their assertions.
As a matter of fact, the leading rabble rousers in the Creationist world – The Center for Science and Culture (sponsored by the Discovery Inst.itute) openly admit that their goal isn't to teach what they think is fact. An internal doc.ument leaked in 1999 described the Discovery group's objective in pushing for creationism to be taught in schools as "to defeat scientific materialism and its destructive moral, cultural and political legacies". They want to use Intelligent Design as a "wedge" to separate science from its allegiance to "atheistic naturalism".
In other words, they fear that teaching FACTS to children will drive them away from religion.
The teaching that men descended from apes is ridiculous. The very first man looked exaclty as we do today. Yes, keep this "nonsense" away from the children.
"Evolution is fact" – No! Evolution is a "theory"
No evidence? Really? answersingenesis.org is a place to START
@LT: we didn't desend from apes, we came from a common ancestor.
no humans didn't look exactly how we do now, hell we don't look the same as 50 years ago.
the average heigth of a human 50 years ago was far less than it is today, which BTW average heigth today is 6 feet tall, when i was younger i was considered average heigth at 5'8" humans change/adapt over time to their enviroments just like everything else.
lacuna coil " HEAVEN IS A LIE"
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Synapsida
Class: Mammalia
Order: Primates
Family: Hominidae
We ARE apes.
"The very first man looked exaclty as we do today. Yes, keep this "nonsense" away from the children."
Stupidity Alert!
^ ^ ^ Nonsense.
@billnyeisnotmyscienceguy
A theory is what one or more hypotheses become once they have been verified and accepted to be true. A theory is an explanation of a set of related observations or events based upon proven hypotheses and verified multiple times by detached groups of researchers.
In general, both a scientific theory and a scientific law are accepted to be true by the scientific community as a whole. Both are used to make predictions of events. Both are used to advance technology.
Answers In Genesis is a collection of rationalizations, not theories.
Doc Vestibule, Catholics are one of the main groups of Christendom who spread false teachings, of course they would believe in evolution, they can't even teach the bible without adding theories that do not exist in the bible. After the apostle John died (Last apostle) he said the "wolves would move into the Christian congregation and would not treat Christians with kindness. The result, false Christians would compromise with Romans and threw true Christians to the lions, burn the alive, then you have inquisitions that even Islamic faith have anger towards today and throw it in "Christians" faces. Evolution is just another trap by an unseen force (Satan) to blind and mislead. That is how evolution misleads- throws a few truths around so that you'll get hooked, then follows-up with crazy theories or apes changing into "intelligent" beings. So, can you answer when the stage of evolution be for us humans? If you can't answer that, you're banging your head against the same wall- it's quicksand. Bill Nye is speaking out of his buns to say: ""In another couple centuries I'm sure that worldview won't even exist. There's no evidence for it. So..." Where is his evidence. He is just pointing the finger and saying you're wrong without answers. It just lives his audience with more questions.
I treat religion as p-o-r-n and keep it away from kids. If at 18, they decide to believe in bible stuff – that's fine. However the religious don't like that since starting brainwashing at an earlier age lasts much longer keeping their cycle of fear continues. Not to forget, it is fear which enables them to grasp such unusually off balanced beliefs. And if they deny it's fear, they have the makings for a terrorist.
FSM is there, modifying the data with his Noodly Appendage.....poor ignorant Bill Nye.
We understand your delusion.
When this guy lose the bowtie, maybe I'll take him more seriously.
It is really amazing that the people with the strongest belief in the Bible completely misunderstand it. The Bible is a religious book, not a science book. If the Bible is the book of your faith, its purpose is to teach a proper relationship with God and your fellow people. The Bible is not meant to teach geology or biology. Genesis actually has two different creation stories, the six days story and the Eden and Adam and Evestory.
What is even more amazing is that most people have never read the Bible. I mean the whole thing, not just the parts that suit your particular political or social bend. Christians and non-believers are equally guilty.
Religion has its place in society, and the physical sciences have theirs. When either presumes to intrude into the other's field, it tends to look foolish and sound shrill. Religion should not be used to try to deny objective evidence, and the fact that evolution is provable and the existence of God is not should not be used to denigrate another's faith. The creationists need to butt out of science until they can bring in some physical evidence. The militant atheists, on the other hand, need to learn to mind their own spiritual business.
No, we will not mind our "spiritual business", because your "spiritual business" is threatening the future of this nation. We are not a country of individuals, we are a society. When almost half of that society is teaching their children a lie, that threatens us all; that makes it my business. We all have a vested interest in the education of our youth and should not tolerate teaching Bronze Age literature as fact.
I am forced to acknowledge your religion, but I am by no means obligated to respect it.
America needs to ban religion.
It is useless, and turns people into dangerous psychopaths that scream about "god".
God is just a theory.
Turns out the liberal agenda is really a socialist agenda. Kill any thought that does not confirm with the current position of thought in the state.
The liberal agenda is education.
@observer
nope
False.
The "current position" is also called "fact." That's why it's the current position. Joe, won't you join us here in the post-1900 era of enlightenment?
People who believe in unicorns and talking animals need education.
@observer'
nope
@Nope.
Yep. They sure do.
Adhering to creationism has one thing going for it: It's so easy. There is so much less to learn, so much less effort to put into studies, so little "book learning" and readin', writin', and a-rithmetic. Our kids wouldn't be so damn elite and know-it-all.
"Belief will always trump Truth."
@LT: nothing made from nothing is "god created the heavens and the earth" so where did god come from?
let me explain; science doesn't say something from nothing. it sates that we know to a few seconds what happen DURING the big bang, not before the big bang.
me i hypothsize that before the big bang, the singularity was in a balanced state, equal pressure inside as compared to outside; something internally caused an inbalance setting in motion the exponentail expansion of the singularity "creating" what we now know as our universe.
thus no outside creator was needed in the "creation" of our current exsistance.
does that explain it clearly enough LT?
Its amazing how difiant both camps are on this issue. As a Catholic, I wonder why it is that they can not see that they are arguing over two sides of the same coin. I believe in Genisis, but it never says anywhere that one of Gods days are 24 hours.
"But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day." Peter 3:8 Think about it – you have been around forever and you will be around forever...whats a day to you? Science does not take God out of the mix, but rather it reveals the sublime majesty of his work. Evalaution is creationism and creationism is evaluation!
origin: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F20E1EFE35540C7A8CDDAA0894DA404482 NY Times review and important enough to reiterate.
New Torah For Modern Minds
“Abraham, the Jewish patriarch, probably never existed. Nor did Moses. The entire Exodus story as recounted in the Bible probably never occurred. The same is true of the tumbling of the walls of Jericho. And David, far from being the fearless king who built Jerusalem into a mighty capital, was more likely a provincial leader whose reputation was later magnified to provide a rallying point for a fledgling nation.
Such startling propositions - the product of findings by archaeologists digging in Israel and its environs over the last 25 years - have gained wide acceptance among non-Orthodox rabbis. But there has been no attempt to disseminate these ideas or to discuss them with the laity - until now.
The United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, which represents the 1.5 million Conservative Jews in the United States, has just issued a new Torah and commentary, the first for Conservatives in more than 60 years. Called "Etz Hayim" ("Tree of Life" in Hebrew), it offers an interpretation that incorporates the latest findings from archaeology, philology, anthropology and the study of ancient cultures. To the editors who worked on the book, it represents one of the boldest efforts ever to introduce into the religious mainstream a view of the Bible as a human rather than divine doc-ument.
The notion that the Bible is not literally true "is more or less settled and understood among most Conservative rabbis," observed David Wolpe, a rabbi at Sinai Temple in Los Angeles and a contributor to "Etz Hayim." But some congregants, he said, "may not like the stark airing of it." Last Passover, in a sermon to 2,200 congregants at his synagogue, Rabbi Wolpe frankly said that "virtually every modern archaeologist" agrees "that the way the Bible describes the Exodus is not the way that it happened, if it happened at all." The rabbi offered what he called a "LITANY OF DISILLUSION”' about the narrative, including contradictions, improbabilities, chronological lapses and the absence of corroborating evidence. In fact, he said, archaeologists digging in the Sinai have "found no trace of the tribes of Israel - not one shard of pottery."
prob•a•bly
Adverb: Almost certainly; as far as one knows or can tell.
Wow, I'm entirely evaluation by your argument.
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! That is a definative answer if I ever heard one !!! How dare we put the Almighty in a box like we do...
My reply was to Evenstar 13 ONLY
Evenstar13,
you miss the point. The verse you quote has nothing to do with the 24 hr day. That passage is only making the point that time is of no essence to God. Time is for man not for God. But if you read your Bible carefully, you will come across where Jesus teaches the 24hr day and he knows because he created it. Day has different meanings in the Bible and you will have to understand the context to know what kind of 'day' is being referred to. But Creation was done in six literal days, unless anyone believes that God is not omnipotent. It was day, it was night: first day. This goes on until the sixth day and the pattern continues today.