What concerns me more, Blondie, is that you're repeating information from the Institute for Creation Research (now called the Discovery Institute, to hide their nature when they were trying to repackage Creationism as "Intelligent Design" to slip it into schools, since they knew Creationism in raw form would fall afoul of the 1st Amendment's separation clause), an organization quite literally dedicated to spreading horrible misinformation about science because they think it serves their religion to Lie For Jesus™, as we call it.
They're amazingly good at crafting arguments that sound reasonable to a layperson, even a reasonably-well-read layperson, but which are not remotely solid if you know the actual facts behind what they're arguing. I'm not insulting you by saying this; it is their entire mission to fool even intelligent people by playing to your presuppositions and your desire to see the Biblical stories confirmed. As long as they can make it appear there's still a high degree of doubt about the scientific consensus, they win, because people will default to the stories of their social upbringing, the religious story.
Our problem isn't that you're Christian. There are many Christians (including, as I often point out here, my fiancee, who is both a Methodist Christian, right now doing her thing as a Sunday School teacher no less, and also an evolutionary biologist in the field of genetics) who understand the real facts behind evolution. When I see people who repeat the garbage you have swallowed, it makes me extremely sad and even angry, because I know the types of people who are behind spreading that misinformation. They misquote scientists to make them say things they didn't say, they misrepresent articles so people who read popular scientific writings/articles get the wrong impression about what science says, and they try to keep people from thinking that people in my field are more than a bunch of confused atheists making stuff up so we don't have to believe in Jesus. I know that they are deliberately lying because of the way they "quote-mine" scientists out of context, to make them say things it is clear they are not saying if you read the very next sentence/paragraph they wrote. An example is where they quote Darwin as saying "this is a problem for my theory that is hard to explain", while ignoring that the entire rest of the page is dedicated to explaining that very thing, and he was only saying "a problem" as a way of spelling out likely objections to his big idea before explaining the answers to those objections. That sort of misrepresentation can only be done deliberately and willfully, by very dishonest people with an agenda.
It makes me angry because there's no reason for this conflict, or for our nation falling behind in science education, except for their ideologies... and it is very difficult for me not to take the anger out on those who have swallowed their lies. I have to remind myself that you think you are being honest, and are not yourself deliberately lying to me.
Others are less kind about it, because it's hard not to take it personally when we are barraged with the same (stuuuuuupid) arguments, time and time again, and we spend so much time explaining to people that, no, cats don't give birth to dogs and science never claimed that... no, there's no difference between micro- and macro-evolution except the number of generations involved... no, there IS evidence of human-chimp common ancestry that is beyond question... no, we do not say we "came from rocks"... etc etc. Constantly!
So I ask you to forgive those who have been short-tempered about it. It takes the patience of a saint, or a teacher, to be able to explain the same bad arguments time and time again without thinking that the whole culture of people who buy such obvious (once you learn the real facts of science, it will be obvious to you, too) nonsense are a bunch of morons.
They're amazingly good at crafting arguments that sound reasonable to a layperson, even a reasonably-well-read layperson, but which are not remotely solid if you know the actual facts behind what they're arguing. I'm not insulting you by saying this; it is their entire mission to fool even intelligent people by playing to your presuppositions and your desire to see the Biblical stories confirmed. As long as they can make it appear there's still a high degree of doubt about the scientific consensus, they win, because people will default to the stories of their social upbringing, the religious story.
Our problem isn't that you're Christian. There are many Christians (including, as I often point out here, my fiancee, who is both a Methodist Christian, right now doing her thing as a Sunday School teacher no less, and also an evolutionary biologist in the field of genetics) who understand the real facts behind evolution. When I see people who repeat the garbage you have swallowed, it makes me extremely sad and even angry, because I know the types of people who are behind spreading that misinformation. They misquote scientists to make them say things they didn't say, they misrepresent articles so people who read popular scientific writings/articles get the wrong impression about what science says, and they try to keep people from thinking that people in my field are more than a bunch of confused atheists making stuff up so we don't have to believe in Jesus. I know that they are deliberately lying because of the way they "quote-mine" scientists out of context, to make them say things it is clear they are not saying if you read the very next sentence/paragraph they wrote. An example is where they quote Darwin as saying "this is a problem for my theory that is hard to explain", while ignoring that the entire rest of the page is dedicated to explaining that very thing, and he was only saying "a problem" as a way of spelling out likely objections to his big idea before explaining the answers to those objections. That sort of misrepresentation can only be done deliberately and willfully, by very dishonest people with an agenda.
It makes me angry because there's no reason for this conflict, or for our nation falling behind in science education, except for their ideologies... and it is very difficult for me not to take the anger out on those who have swallowed their lies. I have to remind myself that you think you are being honest, and are not yourself deliberately lying to me.
Others are less kind about it, because it's hard not to take it personally when we are barraged with the same (stuuuuuupid) arguments, time and time again, and we spend so much time explaining to people that, no, cats don't give birth to dogs and science never claimed that... no, there's no difference between micro- and macro-evolution except the number of generations involved... no, there IS evidence of human-chimp common ancestry that is beyond question... no, we do not say we "came from rocks"... etc etc. Constantly!
So I ask you to forgive those who have been short-tempered about it. It takes the patience of a saint, or a teacher, to be able to explain the same bad arguments time and time again without thinking that the whole culture of people who buy such obvious (once you learn the real facts of science, it will be obvious to you, too) nonsense are a bunch of morons.
A Christian told me: if you were saved you cant lose your salvation. you're sealed with the Holy Ghost
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
I replied: Can I refuse? Because I find the entire concept of vicarious blood sacrifice atonement to be morally abhorrent, the concept of holding flawed creatures permanently accountable for social misbehaviors and thought crimes to be morally abhorrent, and the concept of calling something "free" when it comes with the strings of subjugation and obedience perhaps the most morally abhorrent of all... and that's without even going into the history of justifying genocide, slavery, rape, misogyny, religious intolerance, and suppression of free speech which has been attributed by your own scriptures to your deity. I want a refund. I would burn happily rather than serve the monster you profess to love.
