The real religion?

[RoadRunner79]

RoadRunner

Who says you can't test evolution?  You test it by drawing inferences about "missing link" species based on what fossils you can dig up.  If you later find the species you're looking for, it confirms that your inferences were correct.  Happens all the time.

See, you don't understand what "testing" is.  It doesn't necessarily mean guys in lab coats sticking electrodes up monkey's asses or whatever.  It means you are actively looking for data, ideas, or really any way to demonstrate that a theory is false.  And that's where your testimony fails-- it doesn't actively seek contradiction; it is part of a tradition where the suspension of disbelief is considered a virtue, and the seeking of contradiction is considered heretical.  This is not a good environment in which to seek truth about the real world.  It's also, in my opinion, an anti-theist position-- because if you think God is REAL, then you will seek to understand his universe as perfectly as possible.  Instead, you fixate on the authority of 2000 year-old testimony from uneducated desert dwellers.  If God is real, he must think that's incredibly stupid, and maybe a bit insulting.

Evolution has the advantage of being useful.  It explains things we can see, and is not currently challenged by any other theory of why animals are the way they are.  Unless, that is, you consider the 6-day creation story a useful and water-tight theory.  But if you do think that, be prepared for the derisive laughter of anyone who doesn't share your preferred cultural mythology.

BennyBoy,

Thanks, I appreciate this post, and think that it is much closer to a thoughtful discussion, then what I have been seeing. I think we could have an interesting discussion on this, if you wanted to make another thread. This isn't really about evolution, unless you consider the argument techniques given in this thread as valid. (But I think with that type of hyper-skepticism you can question anything and everything). I'm not interested in debating this here in this thread, but I would wager, that I know precisely what you are referring to by your test and inference to a missing link. Not because I am clairvoyant or anything like that, but because you don't have a lot of option to choose from and I think that "happens all the time" is a bit of an overstatement.

I also think that you have some misconceptions regarding Christianity, shown here. FYI, I do believe in a six day creation, and find it useful. I also acknowledge, that the word used for day, has a number of meanings other than 23 hrs and 56 minutes, that some contend. I did notice, that when you went for evolution to the creation account, that you also changed from useful, to useful and water tight. Why is that?