Evolution & religion can coexist, according to poll

[MrE2Me]

55% of those who participated in this poll still think the theory of evolution can coexist with religion, while 39% say it can't, and 6% are unsure.

Nothing earth-shattering, but I do wish the number of "No"s was a lot higher than the rest.  Until science and religion are forced to do battle, nothing will change.  I agree completely with Sam Harris's thoughts on religious moderates (you can read some of them here).  It's a shame people have become so good at compartmentalizing these things, in order to live with them both simultaneously.  I'm normally not pro-conflict, but this area is a big exception.  These are conflicting ideas, and should be treated as such, regardless of whose feelings might be hurt in the process.

[Squid]

Most religious people I know who accept evolutionary theory either hold some idea of guided evolution or hold the "god set things in motion and now is hands off" idea.

[MrE2Me]

Yeah, but it always amuses me that this omnipotent, all-powerful being decides to do virtually everything the hard (or at least complicated) way.  Why would He bother to set such a long, convoluted process in motion when he could just as easily (and much more quickly) have simply created each creature spontaneously?  It's ridiculous when you think about it.  I don't care how "mysterious" His ways are, it's just plain silly.

[Squid]

Yeah, no one ever said rationalizations were necessarily rational.

[SteveS]

Haha, my personal favorite answer for inexplicable behaviour on the part of god is that he did it to create a "test of faith".

Honestly, religion hanging around, even coexisting with evolution, doesn't bother me nearly as much as someone proposing that we teach kids evolution is wrong.  What Squid said here,

Most religious people I know who accept evolutionary theory either hold some idea of guided evolution or hold the "god set things in motion and now is hands off" idea.

seems to hold for Americans in general.  Here is a 2005 poll showing 51% of Americans believe god created humans, and another 30% believe that humans evolved but with god's guidance.  These are the numbers that really make my teeth itch.

[Whitney]

I'd like to see the number of yes votes go a lot higher, not lower.  A person can be religious and accept evolution in full...there is nothing about evolution that automatically pushes a deity out of the picture and it's about time the public realize that and quit trying to teach ID or pull evolution from schools based on warped views of the theory.  Science and realigion shouldn't be viewed as tied together but that doesn't mean we need to make people choose one or the other.

[liketolearn]

theism and evolution are not logically incompatible, but i think that people who claim to believe the bible literally cannot in good conscience claim that macroevolution is also true.

[Chad]

Jesus loves you lol

[Bella]

I have a theory that most who voted "yes" consider it more of a "live and let live" question...

[donkeyhoty]

Oil and water can also coexist.... we all know how that goes, though.

[McQ]

It's a shame that polls like that even get put out there. There was no clarification of what was meant by "religion" at all. I guess it was assumed that all people are American and christian.

That poll is worth absolutely nothing except to serve as a bad example of polling.

[Asmodean Prime]

55% of those who participated in this poll still think the theory of evolution can coexist with religion, while 39% say it can't, and 6% are unsure.

Nothing earth-shattering, but I do wish the number of "No"s was a lot higher than the rest.  Until science and religion are forced to do battle, nothing will change.

If science is the only front on which atheism can attack Christianity, it cannot succeed. It is a complete myth that science contradicts Christianity, spread about by atheists and, most of all, fundamentalists, who know very well that their case is a complete fraud. Never mind science, Genesis 2 contradicts Genesis 1, if they are both understood to be literal truth. Fundamentalists must accept either that God is a nincompoop, or his revelation is allegorical in these chapters at least.

[rlrose328]

55% of those who participated in this poll still think the theory of evolution can coexist with religion, while 39% say it can't, and 6% are unsure.

Nothing earth-shattering, but I do wish the number of "No"s was a lot higher than the rest.  Until science and religion are forced to do battle, nothing will change.

If science is the only front on which atheism can attack Christianity, it cannot succeed. It is a complete myth that science contradicts Christianity, spread about by atheists and, most of all, fundamentalists, who know very well that their case is a complete fraud. Never mind science, Genesis 2 contradicts Genesis 1, if they are both understood to be literal truth. Fundamentalists must accept either that God is a nincompoop, or his revelation is allegorical in these chapters at least.

I'm not sure from your answer where you stand... but are you brave enough to use your name when stating an opinion?  And science may not be the only front on which we can attack Christianity, but it IS the most effective.  

Dinosaurs on the ark?  A man making a meal for 5000 from a few loaves of bread and some fish?  A man rising from the dead?  The entire creatin story vs. the big bang?

Science can argue against each and every one of those quite effectively.

[Bella]

If science is the only front on which atheism can attack Christianity, it cannot succeed. It is a complete myth that science contradicts Christianity, spread about by atheists and, most of all, fundamentalists, who know very well that their case is a complete fraud. Never mind science, Genesis 2 contradicts Genesis 1, if they are both understood to be literal truth. Fundamentalists must accept either that God is a nincompoop, or his revelation is allegorical in these chapters at least.

Science and... reason. I don't think of it as "attack" so much as "mock" and sometimes, "get offended".

Sure, you could try and draw some paralells and say that the dinosaurs were just an experiment to God so he didn't feel that it was necessary to include that in his book... Or you could point out that it's a bunch of crap and people have been fighting science for years because they're worried that their power will dissapear (power that they only have due to the fear of Hell that they spread). For example, the sun does not revolve around the earth... there is more to the universe than us super important humans.  :roll:

Ditto on what rlrose said, too.

[rdm]

The ark story is likewise taken as allegory, so the issue of dinosaurs does not apply.

A man making a meal for 5000 from a few loaves of bread and some fish?  A man rising from the dead?

The point of these deeds is that they are miraculous.