problems with religion

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I think that this comment hits the nail on the head. The problem here is not whether relgion or evolution is right or wrong. It is how one communicates with other people or deals with different opinions to our own.

Sunquan your problem is not what you have decided is correct or logical about the formation of the universe it is how you deal with another person having a differnt opinion. I have seen this in both of my parents. One is atheist the other is over the top religious. Both are very extreme in their views because they are the kind of aspies that cannot see another person's point of view. They have produced in me a daughter who has learned to see that other people have opinions different to my own and other views don't make me angry in the way that it makes my parents angry. It is part of the way your brain works and sending you for help was only to help you more easily interract with others it was not a criticism of your views. This is something I have tried and tried to get over to my parents, but they are very set in their ways and I know that it is just the way their brains work and that is all.

and this is why I am agnostic.

I find great value in this statement. I think it helps explain my desire, as an agnostic, for a belief in something more.

Help how"? Its your life and you dont want to dont, Help get rid of it? Why, should I keep others from living their life. Just because something has no meaning to you doesnt mean it has no reasons to others.

SO is the theory of gravity or stellar formation a religion? Why evolution is so special?

Not all of us have this attitude. Really atheist can mean two things, one is the doctrine or belief that there is no God and the other is a lack of belief in the existence of God or gods. So yeah you're partly right which is why some of us divide ourselves on the atheist spectrum. A belief system doesn't always require a divinity but rather an assertion or ideology. If one can only make an assertion without concrete proof and evidence to back their argument up, then yes it requires a certain amount of belief.

i could probably get into scientology if it didnt cost so damn much

maybe i should start a religion

praise be the techno viking

das Techno Viking is pleased by your praise.

I think that cyberscan means that a theory which explains where we came from can be termed a "religion." Gravity holds our feet to the ground. It doesn't explain where we come from. Therefore is not a religion. I was going to disagree and say that a religion must involve a belief in a God, but then I remember Budhists don't believe in God, so I can't argue that point.

So I looked up Dictionary.com and the first definition for religion I found reads:
"a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."

So in a very broad sense evolution does fit into that category, but without the superhuman agency, for most people, though some combine the two. You may say that evolutions carries no moral code, but it does affect the way we as humans behave and what our outlook is. When I consider the world from a Godless point of view, my perspective is different and my opinions are different to those when I look at the same issue from a point of view where I take a God into account. That's why I liked the Einstein quote because I often look at an issue from different points of view and try and work out what to do.

Though I don't think I would have personally used the term religion to describe evolution in a discussion.

Evolution and religion are not incompatible (as hard as the Young-Earth Creationists will argue the opposite, it's true). Taking Genesis literally is simply blinding yourself to all the incredible things in this universe, and it makes me sad that some people are missing out on that (and angry that some are making others miss out on it as well).

Also, this happens to be the 666th topic I've posted in.

EDIT: to the above poster, evolution actually has a much more limited (although still vast) scope: it deals solely with the diversity of life. It doesn't deal with the origin of life or the origin of the universe.

As I got older my take on religion changed dramatically. I began to read about the histories of religions, I began to read on the beliefs of my ancestors as I dug deeper into my family tree (got one branch back as far as 100BC).

What I came to see is that so much of what passes as organized religion today is the product of corrupt men who wanted nothing but power and to control the masses.

But at it's foundation man has always looked to the skies and looked to his gods. So is it a predisposition for man to have a mental need for something or someone out there?
And does the faith one may may have for whatever gods one believes in ring more true when it isn't motivated by a need for power but for nothing more then some inner peace?

Tolerance is about accepting the beliefs of others without getting your panties all knotted up.

I'm a Christian, and I make no apology for it. If you believe otherwise, I respect your right to make that choice. I've accepted that trying to browbeat you into believing is not going to work, so kindly not do so to me.

It's not a matter that you don't believe and someone else does...it's that you got into a heated argument over it. That was not necessary.

But surely that is why Darwin began writing and researching his origin of the species theory - to explain the origin of life without a God. - musicboxforever says, being Esmer again. (which side is she on?)

Wait, what? No, no, no. He was baptized and raised Anglican, and he even studied theology at Cambridge. He embraced the idea that God governed the physical universe through natural laws; this was known as natural theology. Here are his thoughts on the subject: "I do not think I hardly ever admired a book more than Paley's Natural Theology: I could almost formerly have said it by heart."

Even late in his life, when his beliefs changed, he was not an atheist. He said so himself, in fact.