(June 2, 2014 at 2:49 pm)BlackMason Wrote: I got to thinking about what the real issue we as atheists have with theists.Aside from "they believe in god, and I do not" both the issues and their importance vary greatly from person to person. I'm not pissed at theists. It wasn't that long ago that I was one of them. I am concerned with religion to the degree that it can impact my life negatively, either through direct action or through attempts at forming or changing laws and regulations.
Aside from that, the situation isn't that different from my different tastes in politics or economics or any number of areas in my life where I can have differences of opinion. Think about it-- people have attacked and even killed other people over political opinions and even over sports allegiances! Granted, I think the intentional walk is an abomination, but I wouldn't kill anyone over that issue! At least, I'm pretty certain I wouldn't...
"Well, evolution is a theory. It is also a fact. And facts and theories are different things, not rungs in a hierarchy of increasing certainty. Facts are the world's data. Theories are structures of ideas that explain and interpret facts. Facts don't go away when scientists debate rival theories to explain them. Einstein's theory of gravitation replaced Newton's in this century, but apples didn't suspend themselves in midair, pending the outcome. And humans evolved from ape- like ancestors whether they did so by Darwin's proposed mechanism or by some other yet to be discovered."
-Stephen Jay Gould
-Stephen Jay Gould
