 |
|
|
|
  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.  |
|
|
|
|
| Part of 
The earth IS flat. It's space that's bent... PROVE ME WRONG!!! 😉
Just kidding.. Kudo's Bill Nye.
@scottobryan
" The earth IS flat. It's space that's bent. "
Well done... made me chuckle.
Peace...
If the bible is flat wrong about where we came from, why should we trust it about where we are going?
Prove the wrong.
You're no Christopher Hitchens. He had a brain and used it.
Noah's flood never happened. Also, snakes don't talk. Anything else?
I saw a parrot talking though. How do we know if God's snake wasn't actually our parrot???
How come none of these guys came up with this interpretation! (Of course, gos's day is not like ours, his snake may also be not like ours).
If the earth is result of chance random processes, then so are you. If you are the result of chance random processes then so is your brain. If your brain is the result of chance random processes then so are you thoughts, and they cannot be trusted. How do you know you're thinking correctly?
@Tom ... some education you have there. Who said that life is random? It isnt. Evolution is influenced by environment. The beginning could very well be random but that doesnt mean that everything else is random. Your argument is called a fallacy made by people with generally small IQs. Get a clue.
The bible basically says we came from dirt. What does evolution basically say?
Evolution says that through processes of mutation and natural selection life has diversified into all of the myriad of forms alive today.
Seashells on top of mountains, fish fossils in the desert. Numerous cultures with there own verbal and sometimes written history of flood "fables" . Scientist are like Christians, they often use "evidence to draw a picture to support there predetermined believes. Did the flood happen, well I am going to keep a open mind on that. The jury is still out or at least I think so, although you might have information I don't.
it is always good to let Captain Kangaroo, Pee Wee Herman, Buffalo Bob and Bill Nye do your science thinking for you
Lots of information available, try the Nova program "Revealing the Origins of Life". Knowledge will put all gods in the garbage over time and none to soon.
@just a john
nope
Yeah 'cause there's no way what he's saying has any merit just because he's done children's programming. That's a good leap in logic. Rocket scientist, much?
Any one of them could run circles around you.
@tom tom...
nope
I'm a dumb wh0re.
I fvck my pencil sharpener.
ONLY FOR THE NEW MEMBERS OF THIS BLOG:
AND THE INFAMOUS ANGELIC/CREATION CONS CONTINUE TO WREAK STUPIDITY UPON THE WORLD
Joe Smith had his Moroni. (As does M. Romney)
"Latter-day Saints like M. Romney also believe that Michael the Archangel was Adam (the first man) when he was mortal, and Gabriel lived on the earth as Noah."
Jehovah Witnesses have their Jesus /Michael the archangel, the first angelic being created by God;
Mohammed had his Gabriel (this "tin-kerbell" got around).
Jesus and his family had/has Michael, Gabriel, and Satan, the latter being a modern day demon of the demented. (As does Obam and his family) (And Biden) (And Ryan)
The Abraham-Moses myths had their Angel of Death and other "no-namers" to do their dirty work or other assorted duties.
Contemporary biblical and religious scholars have relegated these "pretty wingie/horn-blowing thingies" to the myth pile. We should do the same to include deleting all references to them in our religious operating manuals. Doing this will eliminate the prophet/profit/prophecy status of these founders and put them where they belong as simple humans just like the rest of us.
If you believe in God because there is only life on Earth, or only because the Earth is 10,000 years old, or because man can not create life, then your beliefs in God can be in question. My beliefs do not hinge on that. If you can create a "life form" that only proves that you designed it, and guided it (sounds like creation??). Even if that last statement is untrue, proving that life exist outside of what was once believed does not disprove the existence of God. Just because we make assumptions (and are wrong), does not mean that God is "dead", or the Bible is untrue.
If Jody Foster can make a movie about 13 consecutive prime numbers being sent from an intelligent life form (the movie Contact), and mapping the human genome is as complex as scientist have proven, then why is it such a jump to say that we were designed by an intelligent being (who I narrow down to be Jesus). To string millions and billions of nucleotides into a sequence that makes living beings able to live and reproduced, and then say, "Well TIME (little god), made that possible through many, many small changes over time", is also a lot of faith. Science is great, I love it, and science can't prove God exist, but it also does not disprove God.
Though if you are a scientist you understand that until a hypothesis, such as god exist, has supporting evidence, the null hypothesis is what should be accepted.
But please explain what the belief in any of the gods that have been created by man have done for the betterment of mankind? Not just your bible god but the god of the taliban, ie., that just beheaded a group of teens for braking the rules? Sure it is barbaric, the talibann are still in the middle ages, but please do not forget, christians, been there done that, we have just evolved a bit!!!!
Belief actually disqualifies you as a scientist.
The bible teaches a lot of good values, and has some great stories, but I can't except it as fact. I mean it's explanations are convenient and easy, but Science is so much more real.
Conversely nothing you stated supports the idea of a god. Further, just because one can design another life does not make one a god as science has now proven. Lastly, a scientist by definition cannot believe in a god because that would require assumptions that cannot be proven which is unscientific. Sorry but you are either a scientist or you are religious. I have no problem with religious folks but you must understand that from a scientist point of view, we cant trust religious people for the simple fact that they are anti-science via their own beliefs.
Prayer changes things
so does meditation
Please don't feed the troll.
Truth is always welcome and never trolling. God bless
Just sayin' and Truth be told are its other handles, feel free to ignore those as well.
Actually that's not true at all! What is true is this:
Agnostic Atheism is Healthy for Kids and Grown-Ups Too!
It's really best for all people including children to have an agnostic approach to god, and an atheistic approach to all religion. It keeps things simple for kids, and let's them be all that they can be. They just need to be taught that some things, like all religion, are just made up by salesmen and politicians from long ago; and that other things, like god, we really don't know a damn thing about.
Atheists have strong minds, and don't run and hide their misdeeds within their religion (and by doing so, disserving society).
So instead of praying to make-believe people, get a good cup of tea and go on and sit down and collect your damn thoughts. My goodness.
mama kindless
@troll alert
nope
@kindless
Nope
says nope to nope
I'm sorry "Atheism is not healthy for children and other living things", but your assertions about prayer and atheism are unfounded. I notice that you continue to repeat unfounded ideas and falsehoods. Would you like me to recommend a book on Alzheimer's? It may help with this problem.
Prayer changes things
Proven Again
I will find my pants any moment now. God bless
@just sayin name thief
nope
Prayer changes things.
Posting that message is the most fun I will have all day.
Except for abusing your gerbil.
@ atheism is not healthy for children and other living things name thief
nope
I'm the gerbil, and I enjoy every minute of my experience with Atheism.
@tomtom ,the...
nope
nope
This is the most fun i will have all day.
Are we going to play hide the gerbil again soon?
yep
Prayer changes nothing. Just ask the people in the path of the recent hurricane that have homes under water.
Just remember this, while you teach your children the fairy tale as fact on this side of the world, parents on the other side are teaching almost the exact same fairy tale to their kids as fact. The fairy tales are basically the same with just a few slight differences, but those differences are what makes them special and unique. These children are taught that people who believe the fairy tale with the slight variation are wrong and wrong is a sin. These children are taught the the wrong believers are evil and should be put to death for believing the wrong fairy tale.
If you ask me, religion should be outlawed until the age of 18, at that point reason and logic should dictate what they believe, not fear and ignorance.
Ill take antibiotics and years of experience and study, Thanks.
What i think is funny, is that the quote discredits itself. People were taught the earth was flat. That was what science said, and as far as anyone was concerned was scientific fact. However the bible, since its creation, has always taught the earth to be round. The bible has always been accurate, science always changes based off of the data available. I'm putting my faith in the book that has never been proven wrong. Science is always trying to catch up to it...
oh, look! a troll!
how original you are!
Noah's flood has proven to be a fiction.
Just until a few hundred years ago, the church KNEW that the earth was the center of the universe too.
Cant tell if he is joking or not lol.
Huebert educate me. When did someone prove the flood a fiction?
Ok, what I'm most discouraged by when it comes to Bill Nye's response is that he's assumming that either one is a young earth creationist, or an evolutionist. What if I'm a progressive creationist who agrees that the age of the Earth is billions of years old but that God spoke into existence each of the species we have in the fossil record. What if I'm a theistic evolutionist who believes God was guiding the process of evolution.
I graduated from Berea College with a degree in physics. The head of the department (who also happens to be the highest tenured faculty member at Berea and earns the most of all the professors there) is a Muslim who says he has no problem with people saying that God caused the Big Bang.
I don't think BIll Nye would have an issue with someone that believes in theistic evolution. They still have the science of evolution correct, but don't understand occam's razor.
I agree with Scott's post. Creationism (as in the term) is the rejection of Evolution in favor of the literal bible translation. I see no reason why one can't believe that God has a hand in evolution. I can't see why people can't look at the universe in wonder and say "Wow.. God really is cool. Look at all this stuff!!" Why did God give us the capacity to observe, reason, and problem solve if he wanted us to never question the world around us.
I'm sorry, but I don't think a human work like the bible, no matter how divinely inspired it may be, and ever hope to explain the totality of a being that created the univers in its entirety. When I talk to my kids about right and wrong, I often have to dumb things down so that they understand because they don't have the experience/higher level thinking requires to reason this out on their own. I see the bible in much the same way. It is a work designed to guide us and allow us to eventually reason for ourselves in a way that's constructive.
@John Bunyan
You Said: mm" a Muslim who says he has no problem with people saying that God caused the Big Bang. "
Well, saying "God" caused the Big Bang is not necessarily in the realm of being able to prove one way or the other...at this point.
Yet, one day, science will most likely*IMO* get to the point where they will be able to answer that question. If you are in Physics, then you are probably quite aware of some of the ideas coming out about what *caused* the Big Bang.
However, to say that "a *Muslim* Physicist has no problem saying "Goddidit" is not very scientific, and certainly biased, yes...?
It's the equivalent of a *Christian* Physicist saying "Goddidit."
Peace...
Berea is not a real college. In the fine print, you can see that it is a Christian bible thumper insti-tute, despite its figurehead Mulsim trying to teach Physics.
John, get thee to a real college, if one will admit you.
*Muslim* that was
@John Bunyan,
great, so perhaps you can get some of the 46% of Americans that think the earth is less than 10,000 years old to change their narrow minds.
By the way, relatively twice as many American Muslims believe in evolution as evangelical Protestants do:
% who agree that evolution is the best explanation for the origins of human life on earth
Total US population ……. 48%
Buddhist ………………..... 81%
Hindu ……………………... 80%
Jewish ………………….... 77%
Unaffiliated …….……….... 72%
Catholic …………………... 58%
Orthodox ……………….... 54%
Mainline Protestant …….... 51%
Muslim ……………............ 45%
Historically black ……....... 38%
Evangelical Protestant ..... 24%
Mormon ………………….. 22%
Jehovah’s Witness ......… 08%
scottobryan If I understand your thought correctly I agree
"Learning the story is fine [of Creation], but it's not science." – Bill Nye
Hear! Hear!
"Learning the story [of Creation] is fine, but it's not science." – Bill Nye
@ME II,
agreed. We've got to get past falling into the religionist's agenda that we atheists only hate.
An uncompromising stance is unhelpful here. If people want to synthesize belief and science, why not let them?
Not long before other life forms are found outside of earth. Someone pointed out the story on another topic that the building blocks of life have been discovered around a young star, could it resemble our system 4.5 billion years ago. Then all creations myths, there are dozens of them made up by humans, are going to have to be re-written or abandoned. Theist evolution and intelligent design are pretty lame attempts to keep our man made gods in the equation, long past time to be rid of all of them.
So when life is found elsewhere that is somehow supposed to change things, or discredit Christianity? The bible continually speaks of an alien creature that can take on either physical or spiritual form, I have no evidence and it is only an opinion but I think we will find plenty of life forms, and other life bearing planets.
I like you hate the corruption of what should be believe systems that benefit mankind mostly by organized religion in this "fallen" world.I think that Islam could well bring about a very destructive third world war. But all this hasn't convinced me there is no loving God but rather that there is a devil and a little pesky thing called free will.
Way to go Bill....and we also have the same last name. 🙂
I am a Christian. But that does not necessarily mean I am a Creationist in the strictest sense. It is really easy to reconcile science and faith. I believe that the Big Bang happened, but was a tool used by God to create the universe. I just don't think everything formed from a blob of protein in an ocean–I think God created a base set of animals, and evolution then took over. But other than that, I don't understand why Christianity and science can't coincide. God set things in motion, but then that motion took over. Makes sense.
That makes you a deist, not a Christian. Science and Christianity are incompatible.
@paul.....
Makes sense, not really. With some building blocks of life being found in clouds of gas and dust in space, complicated molecules, and the results of Dr. Venter creating a life form using a synthetic DNA code, science is coming to the conclusion that no god is required to start life.
@Atheus,
why can't people decide for themselves to believe in a concept that God initiated the big bang and planned evolution as his method for 'creation'.
32% of Americans do this, and most of them believe in Jesus Christ as God, so they are demonstrably Christians.
Science and Christianity are not so incompatible as you might think.
Science and fundamentalist evangelical protestantsim are incompatible, but I'd be more careful with your definition of "Christianity" sir.
@Just a John,
I think you're picking the wrong fight with "no god is required". I agree that no God is required. If they want to believe in God AND evolution, let them. They are the 32%.
It is the 46% (fundies) who believe that the earth is less than 10,000 years old who are the problem here.
@ GOPer – Six of one, half a dozen of the other. I love how "Christians" can cherry pick which part of the Bible they want to believe and claim that is their faith. Either you believe the whole thing or you don't, there is no other option. Get off the fence.
@paulhwatson92,
You were doing okay until, "I think God created a base set of animals, and evolution then took over."
Because the evidence clearly shows that all life that we are aware of had a common ancestor. Even plants and animals had a common ancestor billions of years ago.
@GOPer
The way I see it if we can't win over the sheepies of all religions they will keep giving their financial support to not so much their gods but the leaders of the religions of the world and that is scary. To the christians, I am not picking on you in particular, you lot are so paranoid, but all religions with emphasis on the fanatics. Knowledge will win over in the end, if we are not too late.
@Atheus,
"Either you believe the whole thing or you don't, there is no other option. Get off the fence."
What's wrong with believing that it is allegory and parable and that while some historical descriptions are accurate it is a book of faith and spirituality, not a book of science and history.
@Atheus,
be careful about making assumptions about what I believe. I'm not sitting on the fence here.
The argument here is with people who believe the earth is less than 10,000 years. By casting the debate as atheism or else – you lose any argument with a believer.
@Just a John,
you say: "To the christians, I am not picking on you in particular, you lot are so paranoid, but all religions with emphasis on the fanatics",
Did you actually read what I posted, or are you making a bad assumption here?
@ME II
"allegory and parable" have not been what the boys that are making a good living selling the story to the sheepies. How many times have the religions had to change their dogma in the past because the stories no longer make sense? Bill Nye has it right creationism is equivilant to teaching the earth is flat.
By the way, here's the Pew Forum data on evolution and religious belef.
% who agree that evolution is the best explanation for the origins of human life on earth
Total US population ……. 48%
Buddhist ………………..... 81%
Hindu ……………………... 80%
Jewish ………………….... 77%
Unaffiliated …….……….... 72%
Catholic …………………... 58%
Orthodox ……………….... 54%
Mainline Protestant …….... 51%
Muslim ……………............ 45%
Historically black ……....... 38%
Evangelical Protestant ..... 24%
Mormon ………………….. 22%
Jehovah’s Witness ......… 08%
No surprises about who is at the bottom.
@GOPer
That was a general comment not directed at you, as I think you tend to a agnostic/atheist view, but there are so many christians that feel that critiicsm of religion is always all about them, sorry if badly worded.
Before you can claim that god did this or that you have to prove he exists first. Until then you are just wasting you time.
@Just a John,
fair enough. The real challenge remains the fundies – not religions who are willing to say evolution is God's plan – like the Catholic church.
@GOPer
My hope , though I will never see it, that all crazy religious practices such as the taliban beheading youngstesr because they chose to party, the muslim brotherhood attacking koptik christians, the vicar of christ condemning condoms and the resulting spread of aids, the right o a woman to control her own body, etc. the horror done in the name of religion still goes on.
"It is really easy to reconcile science and faith."
lol.
It's really easy to reconcile anything to anything,
as long as you don't concern yourself with trivial things
like truth, reality, or making sense.................
Atheus wrote "@ GOPer – Six of one, half a dozen of the other. I love how "Christians" can cherry pick which part of the Bible they want to believe and claim that is their faith. Either you believe the whole thing or you don't, there is no other option. Get off the fence."
Yeah Atheus – cause by knowing the whole thing, you will be a much better "two-faced" person since there is so much contradiction built right into christianity via the bible.
@Altheus – Christians believe in christ, not necessarily the bible in the literal sense. Many religions today recognize that in many cases there is no real way to KNOW, so they believe that conscience should dictate actions. Be careful about generalizing people who fall into this group. Saying all Christians agree is like saying all American's agree.
Atheus I think your perception of a Christian and science can't coexist. If someone believes in and attempts to follow the teaching of Christ they are by definition a Christian. I see nothing in his teachings that would clash with science in the way I understand science although those teachings clash with a religion that some people call science because in their world view you cannot believe in God because science can't prove his assistance. I can believe that one day man will develop a way to travel at the speed of light but science can't prove that.
The problem with being against "Creationism" is there is no published policy of what it is, even the Internet cannot agree: http://goo.gl/2Aa0r – not all of these definitions rule out evolution or put a < 10,000 year timeline on the universe.
Well, there's a lot of debate in every religion even among members of the same sect as to what the rules really are. Not surprising
@Kearns,
while we haven't seen the survey questions here – I have seen this data before.
The alternatives in the survey are clear:
46% of Americans believed in creationism,
32% believed in evolution guided by God
15% believed in atheistic evolution.
If you believe in evolution AND God, your answer is in the 32%.
Why is anyone surprised by Bill Nye, The Science Guy, sticking up for science? Why all the hatred from the people who are supposed to be loving their enemies? They were making actual death threats on here; now all the posts have been removed. I bet the FBI is looking over a couple of them.
Lies! That would never happen. Jesus preached love for all.
@Atheus
"Lies! That would never happen. Jesus preached love for all.
August 31, 2012 at 4:04 pm"
now you screaming that we are lying, does that sound like love? or anger?
i think it's leaning more toward the latter seeing love is ever angry. 🙂
want to hear the truth about a book filled with lies?
it was edited by a group of males during a time when no everyone was viewed as equal, the church only exsists because it had such devoted followers that they would die to win wars and converts.........not to mention kill billions in the process throughout history, i give you it was the men in power ordering these actions be followed, but that is how your faith got it's start..........at the end of a sword or spear. it's sad but true.
Wasp you are right in away It did all come from the point of a spear, stuck into a man on a cross to ensure his death, this scenario set up a scene where within 3 days many folks were talking about this same dude raising from the dead healed of all wounds. He still carried the scars of being whipped till most of the skin was gone from his back, nail scars, and spear scars. However not only was he alive but his wounds were healed. When you make a serious study of this event it is fascinating. There are many historians that study these times who seem pretty convinced that this really happened I read a couple of books along time ago that made a convincing case, I realize that doesn't make it so, I think it is true because the red letters of the bible have power. It cannot always be awakened but many have witnessed it, There is a reason so many set store but that book of " fairy tells ". Take a humble sincere approach and read the red print, I ain't God so I don't try a Guarantee it but I got a surprise or two which changed everything for me, there are many who claim the same result.
lol Sorry I butchered that last sentence my payroll lady was talking to me. Anyhow I hope you get the point.
It almost seems to me that some Christians don't believe in evolution... But that would just be silly considering the overwhelming amounts of evidence supporting evolution, compared to, say, the complete lack of anything resembling evidence supporting the existence of their so-called "God". Oh, except for a 2,000 year old book of fairy tales. Almost forgot about that.
The prove of this christian God is based on what they are convinced was a personal experience with this God.
Emotional experiences are not proof of god. You found something that made you happy. You decided to believe in that. Every true believer of every one of the thousands of gods that have ever been worshiped has felt the same conviction you do. So which god is the right one?
So far there isn't a shred of evidence to support the existence of ANY god. Therefore, you might as well pray to your teddy bear.
Bill Nye, thank you for your courage in standing up against Christian dogma and superstition. America needs more brave, smart people like you.
@sue: " the great oak can be brought down by a strong wind, but the mighty reeds sway in the storm."
or atleast i think that is how the saying goes, basically saying strength in numbers, bill can't fight for rational thought alone; we have to take the lead and show our children how to think without the need for dogma and fear to drive them. the church had it's day and age..........our time has come in this age of information and technology to throw off the shackles of religion and as free thinking creatures and take center stage.
WASP: agree.
FYI: I think that is a bend vs break analogy not a safety in numbers one.
Free thinking would mean you think for yourself right?I agree that religion enslaves people Christianity in it's true form set us free Jesus also hated religion. Do you know the difference between true Christianity and religion?
The world is fat, not flat. It has a bulge in the middle. And the Bible makes zero mention of this fact because it is full of lies.
That was a good read.
Is there not story here? I only saw the ti'tle. OK, well the I agree with Bill – lol.
(Is there no story here?)
Maybe it's filed under: "evolvution" ?!
No, no story. Dan and Eric have the Labor Day weekend off.
With now almost 14,000 posts on the original topic:
http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/27/bill-nye-slams-creationism/
has anyone else noticed how slow making a new post is?
OK, my browser wasn't showing the video, which I have since watched. Good interview. I would hate to think of where we would be today if this creationism garbage had been adopted in place of real science further back in US history. Time to nip that sh it in the bud.
"Time to nip that sh it in the bud."
Love it... only, what 3000 years too late? Gotta love the optimism.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usp9eFi-0Aw