Theists: What is your stance on evolution?

[Agnostic1]

Hello,

 I am a believer in the Big Bang and in evolution. Maybe this question has been asked (many times?) before, but I am new. I have watched tons and tons of TV shows and YouTube videos on evolution and read many books. It is accepted as fact by many (most) scientists. What do you believe with regards to evolution? Do you believe that modern humans have only been on the planet for a few thousand years? That all animals on the earth have only been here a few thousand years? What about dinosaurs? Do you believe that the Earth has only been here a few thousand years? To me, it is impossible to dispute the age of the earth (billions of years) or the reality of evolution but, again, I want to hear what you have to say. Thanks, in advance.

[Neo-Scholastic]

Evolution happened. Beyond that IMHO the distinctions between chance, necessity, Providence and choice are so blurry and difficult to parse that attributing evolution to a preferred metaphysics has little value.

[no one]

If you write a well constructed, heart felt, letter to Keith Richards, he might tell you. He was there.

[Ranjr]

To answer all of your questions would take too long.  Would you care to leave out questions about the age of the earth and equally dispensable, and ask the one that matters?

[Paleophyte]

Young Earth Creationism doesn't work because you need vast amounts of time for various physical processes to have occurred during. Trying to get them to work quickly requires violating the fundamental forces of the universe and/or a deity that's a liar.

Old Earth Creationism doesn't work because humans appear on the scene only recently. Trying to create them at some dim time in the past and hold them static over geological time without a single fossil gets ridiculous. More so when you try and explain away all those pesky similarities we share with the chimps and our other primate cousins. The entire fossil record ends up a nasty joke and the less said about genetic phylogeny the better.

Intelligent Design doesn't work because it's just creationism of one form or another wearing a fake moustache and suffers the same flaws.

Theistic Evolution doesn't work because it requires a god that ignores millions of years of barbarity and suffering before finally doing anything about it, and then only for a few paleolithic goat herders in the Sinai Penninsula.

[Silver]

You mean evilution?

[Ranjr]

Not that there's anything wrong with being a paleolithic goat herder.

[T.J.]

Back when I was still a Christian I knew very little about evolution because other Christians have done a good job at convincing me it wasn't worth the time to look into. I find it interesting that even the Catholic Church accepts Evolution as a fact, but of course they put God at the front of it as being the cause for everything and the events of evolution just being the explanation even though this greatly contradicts their bible. But at least they're willing to acknowledge evolution to an extent. That's progress right?

A long time ago I watched a debunk video at a church that mentioned that dinosaurs are briefly mentioned three times in the bible. I cannot remember where, but they noted three examples of dinosaurs, which are probably seldom descriptions of random beasts they just believe are dinosaurs. But there are certain Christians that believe dinosaurs lived at the same time as man and were killed off by man after the Fall of Man in Eden.

[Angrboda]

Evolution happened. Beyond that IMHO the distinctions between chance, necessity, Providence and choice are so blurry and difficult to parse that attributing evolution to a preferred metaphysics has little value.

So in other words, she's a fine date so long as she keeps the bag on her head.

[Ahriman]

Evolution is whatever, I mean it happens all the time. Even now, in the present age, technology is changing the way humans communicate. I would call that evolution. But it's not a big deal, no need to go full blown nerd mode over something as basic as evolution.