Trying to understand evolution

[Minimalist]

God, Evolution, Big Bang, etc....it gives me a migraine.

"God" will remain ridiculous...like Santa Claus. But you can study the others and learn.

[ignoramus]

Please understand that accepting or choosing to deny evolution or how life originated has absolutely nothing to do with whether god exists or not...
Not knowing how it all works and needing to know is exactly where religion steps in.
They don't want you to question things too much.
You, young man, need to ask yourself whether you want to feel warm and fuzzy or whether you want to getting a better grasp on reality.

Go to YouTube, type in evolution, watch 2 or 3 full length docos and then watch a couple on genetics/DNA.
You WILL be blown away at how accurate and unmysterious it all is.
There are very intelligent people here who know the bible backwards and profess that it is all bullshit ... That feeling deep down side will fade as reality sets in.
It's a natural side effect to your indoctrination.

Welcome and enjoy your new journey...

[Sejanus]

I was raised in a Christian home. I believed in God untl I was around 15-16 years old. And even than, after I strayed away, deep down I believed God existed. I'm 25 now. I'm just now finally accepting and admitted there is no God. Or I should say don't believe there is a God. It's ignorant to say there is or isnt a God. Noone truly knows. But I've been through alot the past 10 years. And I tried. I gave it my all. I read the Bible inside and out. I prayed everyday and put my heart in it. The past 2 years I became extremely full of hate and anger because even though I said I didn't believe deep down I did. And even now after no longer believing I still have resentment towards Christianity. I never gave an honest effort into believing anything other than God but I'm that point now where I'm 100% open and willing to the other possibilities, mainly Evolution.

I've watched a couple documentaries but they always start with the evolution of man. They never start at the beginning. And the beginning is where many of my questions come. I guess I don't know enough about the theory of evolution. I can understand the evolution of man but what about our galaxy. I look at the sky and it's hard to imagine it didn't have some intelligent designer. I've said far more than I intended. All I'm looking for is a documentary that explains the beginning, the middle, and the now of evolution.

I get the feeling a lot of people think evolution is some kind of competing theory with god(s) as the cause of the universe. It isn't. You can easily be a deist and still accept evolution.

Also, Biological evolution =/= abiogenesis. One explains the diversity of life, the other explains the beginning of life. (and abiogenesis isn't as 'sketchy' as some people think)

Here's an explanation of Speciation/Evolution by Natural Selection I gave to some theist who ignored it. http://atheistforums.org/thread-25957-po...#pid666455
Speciation is where a lot of theists seem to draw the line... e.g "durr I believe in micro but not macro evolution hurr durr"

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I'm in a frustrating place right now. I wish I could just move on because I doubt I will ever get the answers I am looking for. But while many can just live there life without answers I cannot. I think a lot of it stems off being brought up in a Christian home and school. Living in that environment and believing in it for so long and than opening your eyes to the deception and lies....it just filled me with hate. And now it's like I can't move on until I get real answers which I know won't happen. But every single day my mind goes back and forth. And deep, deep down there will always be some part of me that believes in God. Its something I want too, but can't shake off. I guess one my biggest questions with any religion or theory is how did it begin? No matter what or who, something was here first. I could never believe in the Big Bang because how can it just appear. But than I as myself how is that any different than God just appearing. It's honestly eating me away; God, Evolution, Big Bang, etc....it gives me a migraine.

The difference is that the Big Bang has evidence to support it. "gawd" has jack shit in that department.

[JDepps]

Ya I'll stick around and browse the forums. Beats the hell out of trying to debate with my family who I just recently opened up to them with how I felt. I did it in a different way than most. I wrote, I guess you could call it a poem? I just wrote how I felt in sort of a rhyme scheme. I felt like I could express myself better doing that. Matter of fact I'll make a thread with what I wrote.

[Ravenshire]

Read Dawkins "The Greatest Show On Earth."

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greatest...1416594796

Unlike silly bible stories there is evidence for evolution and Dawkins lays it all out.

Gotta second this. I've read it once already and it's on my short list for a re-read in the near future!

[The Grand Nudger]

I guess one my biggest questions with any religion or theory is how did it begin? No matter what or who, something was here first.

We don't know. We don't even know if our concept of causality makes sense "before" there was a "time" to be "before". Time is a property of this universe, this existence.

[SteelCurtain]

Read Dawkins "The Greatest Show On Earth."

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/greatest...1416594796

Unlike silly bible stories there is evidence for evolution and Dawkins lays it all out.

Gotta second this. I've read it once already and it's on my short list for a re-read in the near future!

That, and "Why Evolution is True" by Jerry Coyne. Both are very well written. Dawkins' is a little more academic and more of a polemic, Coyne's is likely the most succinct counter-apologetic I've read.

[Jenny A]

I was raised in a Christian home. I believed in God untl I was around 15-16 years old. And even than, after I strayed away, deep down I believed God existed. I'm 25 now. I'm just now finally accepting and admitted there is no God. Or I should say don't believe there is a God. It's ignorant to say there is or isnt a God. Noone truly knows. But I've been through alot the past 10 years. And I tried. I gave it my all. I read the Bible inside and out. I prayed everyday and put my heart in it. The past 2 years I became extremely full of hate and anger because even though I said I didn't believe deep down I did. And even now after no longer believing I still have resentment towards Christianity.

Well, you are an atheist now. Lacking a belief in god is the definition of atheism. The thing is, it isn't a philosophy. It's just a lack of belief in god.

There's no real need to go on and believe something else. I don't know a lot of things. I don't know if there are other universes. I don't know where the material came from that exploded in the big bang, though it seems clear there was a big bang. I don't know how life got started, though obviously it did because here it all is. It obviously evolved and I'm pretty sure that natural selection had a big part in it. But if evolution was disproved tomorrow, there'd still be no evidence of god.

And you what? I still have a good meaningful life not knowing. "I don't know" is often the best and the wisest answer.

[I see a couple people beat me to The Greatest Show on Earth.]

I never gave an honest effort into believing anything other than God but I'm that point now where I'm 100% open and willing to the other possibilities, mainly Evolution.

Don't go looking for belief if by belief you mean faith. Read a little. If evolution makes sense, believe it. Richard Dawkins The Greatest Show on Earth is a good place to start. If you don't mind long winded Victorian prose, Darwin's The Origin of the Species, is actually very clear. There's a reason he convinced so many scientists of his day. If you finish reading and you're still not convinced I'll disagree with you. But, it won't be proof of god. It will just mean you still don't know. And I don't know will still be a pretty good answer.