I've only met a couple of atheists in my life who've actually read On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection.
This surprised me to discover, since I read it my sophomore year of studying biology, but it was only to be read as a historical footnote, since Darwin's insights are fascinating, given what he didn't know (no one did) about genetics, physics, and chemistry. We read it because we're surprised that any of it turned out to be correct, after more modern methods of testing the ideas in the Theory of Evolution were developed. For instance, rapid DNA scanning began to be possible after the development (by a Christian) of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and this could very well have turned everything we thought we knew about evolution on its head, completely disproving the theory's model and forcing a complete rewrite of all biological sciences... and yet, it did exactly the opposite, providing hard proof of ideas which were harder to prove, before then. There is no longer any question in any serious scientist's mind about the fact of evolution.
Anyone who tells you biologists consider Origin to be a sacred text is lying to you. It's even funnier to accuse atheists in general of that.
The only reason atheists commonly accept the findings of biologists on this subject is that we have no reason not to accept it, no pre-formed ideas that cause us to reject the findings of research on the subject. Christians, on the other hand, flipped out over radical, "anti-Biblical" ideas like the Heliocentric model of the solar system and the wild notion that the starts were suns like ours which might have beings like us on the planets around them (they killed a guy over that one).
So really, what you're doing is projecting your veneration of a text (what I call "Bible Idolatry") onto us. Unfortunately for you, the shoe does not fit. Check your prejudices, pal.
This surprised me to discover, since I read it my sophomore year of studying biology, but it was only to be read as a historical footnote, since Darwin's insights are fascinating, given what he didn't know (no one did) about genetics, physics, and chemistry. We read it because we're surprised that any of it turned out to be correct, after more modern methods of testing the ideas in the Theory of Evolution were developed. For instance, rapid DNA scanning began to be possible after the development (by a Christian) of the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR), and this could very well have turned everything we thought we knew about evolution on its head, completely disproving the theory's model and forcing a complete rewrite of all biological sciences... and yet, it did exactly the opposite, providing hard proof of ideas which were harder to prove, before then. There is no longer any question in any serious scientist's mind about the fact of evolution.
Anyone who tells you biologists consider Origin to be a sacred text is lying to you. It's even funnier to accuse atheists in general of that.
The only reason atheists commonly accept the findings of biologists on this subject is that we have no reason not to accept it, no pre-formed ideas that cause us to reject the findings of research on the subject. Christians, on the other hand, flipped out over radical, "anti-Biblical" ideas like the Heliocentric model of the solar system and the wild notion that the starts were suns like ours which might have beings like us on the planets around them (they killed a guy over that one).
So really, what you're doing is projecting your veneration of a text (what I call "Bible Idolatry") onto us. Unfortunately for you, the shoe does not fit. Check your prejudices, pal.
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.
