Sure, just as long as they aren't taken as fact, i'm fine with that interpretation. Just to utilize another popular theory that athiests use, but don't actually believe in would be the "Flying Spagetti Monster". It is a theory, it doesn't mean it exists, but it is one used as a creation point of view. Oh boy, this could take a while... To give you cliffnotes... I was about 10 years old. I was on a vacation with my parents when I had a dream about our house getting broken into. I still remember the dream clearly. It was basically like flashes showing certain small clips. I saw where the house got broken into, I saw 3 things that were stolen, I remember my mothers bible getting flipped through on the kitchen counter. I told all of this to my mom when I woke up but she blew it off. Later in the day we found out that our house got broken into, and the 3 things I had mentioned were 3 of the major things that were stolen. Not only that, but the door I told my mom about getting hit with a baseball bat was the door that got broken into, and when we got home, her bible was sitting on the kitchen counter opened. I don't even know why I had the dream... but, I've always been able to go back to it and view as evidence to me that there could be something supernatural. Science won't be able to explain it.
Why would they be taken as fact? they are theories. is it a fact that different species share common ancestors? yes it is. Does the theory of evolution explain how this happened? Yes it does. What part of that don't you understand? The flying spaghetti monster isn't a theory. it's a parody to mock theist beliefs. So presumably you were able to give the police accurate descriptions of these burglars, The licence plate of the car they were driving and their home address? No? Oh, So it was just a coincidental dream then.
According to wikipedia (the source that you are also referring to) it is a theory. Although no one truely believes in it, it is a theory. It was developed as such for protest of the ruling in Kansas to teach intelligent design in public schools. I'm not here to discredit evolution. Why are you getting so angry? Is it because you are trying to force evolution down peoples throats as THE explanation for where we came from? This is no more viable than the flying spaghetti monster. It isn't proven, it isn't an absolute fact. In my personal opinion, it never will be. Actually, I was. Although I was only able to see the backs of them throughout all of it. Also, as mentioned, I only saw small clips of it. I never saw any vehicle. It seems like a pretty big coincidence to me. I've never had anything like that happen again. Its okay if you don't believe me, I knew you wouldn't.
unfortunately, for you, your "personal opinion" regarding the validity of evolution is entirely worthless and based on nothing but the wholesale abandonment of your integrity when faced with something that contradicts and ancient creation myth. Common decent is a fact and if you disagree it's because you haven't read enough. Is a big coincidence not more likely than divine intervention from an invisible man in the sky? remember when you said before that your experiences could have no other possible explanation? That wasn't true was it? 10 year old children also have a tendency to elaborate and, well, make things up. it's not entirely implausible that you had a dream which, after the fact, could have appeared to have been a premonition.
I have read plenty on this topic. You yourself even admitted that you can't take everything you read about evolution as fact because it is a theory. Just because people have stated that evolution could be a plausible explanation doesn't mean that it should be accepted as truth. It isn't a proven theory, if it was, we wouldn't be sitting here debating it. You yourself have not solved this debate that has been going on for centuries. As mentioned before we got started on this topic, as long as you can acknowledge that your idea isn't perceived as being the absolute truth, then we can discuss it. Otherwise, you are just arguing for the sake of arguing. I hesitated telling you my story because I knew you wouldn't believe it. The only reason that there is a possible explanation is for that reason. Thats fine though, stick your head under a rock, it doesn't bother me any. Since you believe that there was a small possibility that this could be coincidence. Do you believe that there is a small possibility that intelligent design is true?
No, what i said was that the theory of evolution can't be a fact because that isn't what theories do. Just like gravetational theory isn't a fact, tide theory isn't a fact and knot theory isn't a fact. Evolution by common decent it's self is a fact though, Just like the existance of gravety, knots and tides are facts. Theories can't be facts, They explain facts. I find it hard to believe that your persistent ignorance regarding this point is a result of anything other than intellectual dishonesty. This "debate" that has been going on for centuries has entirely consists of scientists understanding evolution and understanding that it happens and the religious repeating "but it's only a theory". There is no debate in the scientific community. It's amazing how the vast majority of people who don't accept evolution are the ones who don't even know what a theory is. What is even more amazing is how people who are obviously entirely ignorant on the subject feel as though they are entitled to express an opinion regarding it's validity. So a coincidence is impossible and the most likely cause was that god wanted to let a 10 year old boy know what the back of a burglar looks like and tell his mum that someone is reading her bible? Your trouble is that you want to believe this shit so much that you are willing to latch onto anything that you believe supports your fantasy.
So, is the Flying Spaghetti Monster a fact? Because there is a Flying Spaghetti Monster Theory (also known as the Pastafarian theory) ... My point is that just because there is a theory on a certain topic doesn't make that topic a fact. Lets look at the actual definition of a theory taken from the almighty webster dictionary: theory - a: hypothesis assumed for the sake of argument or investigation b: an unproved assumption. You can't say just because there is a theory on evolution that that makes evolution a fact. I can tell you a theory about how the sky is naturally red. That doesn't mean that just because I made a theory about it that it is all of a sudden true. So please, lets step back and realize that evolution is nothing more than a theory. It has some evidence I'm not denying that. It is far from proven though. Refer to the above on what a theory is. You are pulling for something that isn't real. You keep calling me ignorant on this topic, but you keep stating evolution as a fact, when it remains to be a theory. As far as science only pointing against intelligent design is a myth. For example, we've all heard of "cause and effect". When it comes to the big bang theory, it is all revolving around atoms colliding at some point in time. What caused them to move? What was before the atom? What caused the atoms to collide? There are plenty of questions left that remain to be unanswered for that theory. In my personal opinion, those scientific questions point at an intelligent designer. No, i'm not saying its impossible. I'm saying highly unlikely and I believe it to be divine intervention. I'm no more willing to stand by my beliefs as you are on your own. In fact, i'm not the one that developed a whole blog on my beliefs or calling you "ignorant" on a topic simply because I disagree with you.
I'm going to repeat myself one more time and then I'm going to give up on you as a lost cause. A theory is an explanation of a fact. The theory doesn't make it a fact, The fact exists, The theory is an explanation of it. Like i said earlier, Even if the "theory" of evolution is later proven false (which it wont be) the FACT of common decent will still be a fact. This is the mistake you keep making. A scientific theory is far from an unproved assumption. you are using the common definition of "theory", The "theory" in the theory of evolution is a scientific theory. In science a theory is a testable model of the manner of interaction of a set of natural phenomena, capable of predicting future occurrences or observations of the same kind, and capable of being tested through experiment or otherwise verified through empirical observation. For the scientist, "theory" is not in any way an antonym of "fact". For example, it is a fact that an apple dropped on earth has been observed to fall towards the center of the planet, and the theories commonly used to describe and explain this behavior are Newton's theory of universal gravitation (see also gravitation), and the general theory of relativity. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory No, Evolution is a fact. the theory of evolution is an explanation of this fact. Just like the apple falling is a fact and the theory of gravity explains it. I call you ignorant because you keep making the same facile, erroneous point even though i have explained it to you countless times. As for the flying spaghetti monster, The use of the term "theory" is used to demonstrate how dumb creation theory is. the flying spaghetti monster does in no way, at no point, fill the requirements of a scientific theory.
This is seriously going in a huge circle. I'll give it up as well after this post. I'll just re-ask this question and let you ponder on it. Is the Flying Spagetti Monster a fact because there is a theory about it? I would like to also point out this: "For the scientist, "theory" is not in any way an antonym of "fact"."
Although I am a 'devout' Atheist, I have argued with a Christian friend of mine on many occassions (and even went to Church with him once to see what it was like). Eventually we got it down to the point where told me that when he was singing in the choir (with all his heart ), he felt a tingling in his hands several times. I said "what?!", and he again said that he felt a physical feeling in his hands while singing in the Church, which he felt was God. And i've got no comeback to that, unless he was lying or got pins and needles .
No the flying spaghetti monster isn't real. But like i already explained the "theory" of the flying spaghetti monster is a demonstration of how theory is misused by the religious. Just like you are doing here. it's to highlight how dishonest religious people can be, even after something has been explained to them countless times. Everything about the flying spagettii monster is a parody, it's to ridecule the religious and highlight thier facile beliefs. Do you understand now what a scientific theory is and how it works? or are you just going to ignore the fact that everything you have written in this thread has been a result of you not knowing what a word means? yeah, Antonym means opposite of. For scientists a "theory" isn't the opposite of fact. The lesson to be learned here is if you don't understand what a word means look it up before assuming it supports your argument. And you feel qualified to have an opinion on the validity of evolution why? Seriously, You don't even know what simple words mean, So how you expect to understand a scientific theory extensively enough to conclude it's false is beyond me.
I belive in God, thank god i was born in a christian family. I feel his hands in everything in my life, small things, big things.. important decisions, anything i ask him, he gives me, he is looking after me always, and i feel that in alot of ways its real clear.
Through all of these posts my argument wasn't to necessarily get you to debate me on whether evolution itself is fact or not... it is simply pointing out that your belief in the theory of evolution in relation to where we come from does require some element of faith because using your words... "the theory of evolution can't be a fact".
And then you'd have explained nothing at all, because if it was so, the question of the origin of the designer would remain. One believer should only have to think about all the different beliefs and religions and put away his pride for a moment and ask himself if he was born or exposed to other religions/beliefs, he could have had the exact same strong beliefs. And since most religions specifically exclude all other religions as false ones, it is so clear that they're all false.
In the end the main problem is that everyone's TRUTH is different, which means that everyone's THEORY contains some FACTS based on their environment, experiences, and understandings. It's fun to see such creative discussions, however, the only thing anyone needs to know as fact is that WE ARE HERE. Now, what put us here is really irrelevant and most people miss their purpose by searching too long on the "Who or What" that brought us to this point, instead of looking at the "Why". You all are here for a reason - Christians, Athiests, Worshipers of Crack, it makes no real difference. We are all here to manifest the plan of the Divine (call him God, Buddha, Jesus, Being, Charlie, or Susan - it's just a name used to represent the exact same thing based on your experiences and upbringing). We are all different, and yet we are all the same. The reason this discussion is spanning so many pages is because everyone's understanding is different based on their environment. It's why I don't get Bush while others love him. Are they wrong? Absolutely not. Based on their experiences he's a good leader. Do I try and convince them otherwise? Absolutely not. It would require me to reprogram their past, and likewise for me to change my mind my experiences would have to be changed as well. Love and understanding of our different point of views is a great start to ending these discussions. Is there a God? What difference does it make? In the end, we're all going to die whether there's a God or not. What happens after we die? Isn't it important that we prepare for the afterlife? No, what's important is what you do now through kindness, love, and understanding of your fellow man - that which you do unto the least of me, you do also unto me. We are one and the better we are to each other, the better we ultimately are to ourselves.