The great and all powerful religion thread!
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Hatebreeder
Pizzicato Heartstrings
skeptik
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Well since evolution is simply genetic mutations, we see it fairly frequently. If you go into an exotic, tropical area, you're likely to see many different types of bird who have all evolved slight differences from each other, yet all have an obvious common ancestor that may not be that far removed, or in fact may still actually exist. Migratory patterns and changes in landscape spark the encouragement of genetic manipulation to meet with the needs of the new terrain, so when some animals migrate to another area, you may see slight changes in a few generations in the sect that migrated, and no change in those who did not migrate. Of course, we don't have absolute evidence of things such as single-cell to multi-cell organisms, but there are things that we know. For example, the question of life emerging from water. There are certain types of fish that exist even today that actually have legs.
Edit: I'm sure somebody else could give you better examples and explanations, as this is not exactly my forte.
Edit: I'm sure somebody else could give you better examples and explanations, as this is not exactly my forte.
Hatebreeder
Pizzicato Heartstrings
I clearly understand the 'adaptation' aspect of evolution and accept it, but the question of complex life spawning from "primordial soup" baffles me.
This is a common misconception. The theory of evolution is supported by a gargantuan amount of evidence. So much so that it is foolish to not believe in it. And even if it wasn't, proving evolution wrong in no way makes God more plausible.
Also the "just a theory" thing is silly. Ever hear of the Theory of gravity? Maybe god just pushes things down to Earth.
Here is an FAQ that has a lot of good info: http://www.talkorigins.org/origins/faqs-qa.html
Hatebreeder
Pizzicato Heartstrings
It's not that I don't believe in evolution, I just want more answers. My school puritanically downplays evolution, so much so that they skip the chapter about it in Biology and instead give you a list of Bible verses to combat certain arguments in favor of evolution. Ever since then, I have always wished to learn more about it.
Hatebreeder
Pizzicato Heartstrings
Yes, very much so. Because the school is not under any control of the state or any sort of government, they have been allowed to teach as they see fit for decades and have no standard of quality for their teachers or their curriculums.
zabu of nΩd
Free Insultation
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Yeah, if that's a public school, I think you've got some complaints to be filing.
zabu of nΩd
Free Insultation
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So basically your parents send you there so that you can get a "good, wholesome, family-friendly education", right?
Well that website is fantastic for learning the basics of evolution. It's good that you aren't willing to be indoctrinated with falsehoods.
Hatebreeder
Pizzicato Heartstrings
Basically. They feel that I would be cheated of a good high school life if I went to a public school, no lie.
skeptik
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As long as you're in a semi-decent area, public schools are perfectly fine. Of course my public school sucked, but luckily I didn't really realize that until the end of high school. I sometimes wish that I would've been able to grow up in a more productive and motivated environment, but there's no sense in bitching about the past.
You do realise that "theory" here is meant in a scientific context in the same way that we have the theory of general relativity, the theory of gravity and cell theory.
Many people seem to interpret the word theory to mean that it's just an idea that someone made up and that no one is really sure if it is true or not. There really is not a single respected biologist (or even scientist in general) on the planet who doubts the validity of the evolution theory. There is still some discussion on the how (for instance gradualism versus punctuated equilibrium), but no one is doubting that evolution has taken place and continues to take place and is infact the reason we are here today.
Anyway, if you are truly interested in learning more about evolution I recomend reading The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins (it's not one of his religion debunking books, it actually focuses pretty much entirely on evolutionary biology). I would pretty much rank it among Stephen Hawking's books in terms of reading pleasure and effectiveness in explaining potentially complex scientific theory in a way that is neither boring nor so complicated that you need a PhD in the subject to be able to understand it. I hear Stephen Jay Gould's books are supposed to be good as well but from what I understand they are also somewhat more controversial. I've not yet read them myself so I have no idea if they are worth picking up.
Anyone know or have other recommendations?
I went to a public high school, but it was a small one of about 250 total where everybody basically knew everybody.
