Creationism

Creationism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Creationism is a religious belief that humanity, life, the Earth, and the universe were created in their original form by a deity or deities (often the Abrahamic God of Judaism, Christianity and Islam), whose existence is presupposed. In relation to the creation-evolution controversy the term creationism (or strict creationism) is commonly used to refer to religiously-motivated rejection of evolution.

Such beliefs include young Earth creationism, which takes Genesis literally, while Old Earth creationism accepts geological findings but rejects evolution. The term theistic evolution has been coined to refer to beliefs in creation which are more compatible with the scientific view of evolution and the age of the Earth.

Creationism in the West is usually based on creation according to Genesis, and in its broad sense covers a wide range of beliefs and interpretations. Through the 19th century the term most commonly referred to direct creation of individual souls, in contrast to traducianism. However, by 1929 in the United States the term became particularly associated with Christian fundamentalist opposition to human evolution and belief in a young Earth. Several states passed laws against the teaching of evolution in public schools, as upheld in the Scopes Trial. Evolution was omitted entirely from school textbooks in much of the United States until the 1960s. Since then, renewed efforts to introduce teaching creationism in public schools in the form of flood geology, creation science, and intelligent design have been consistently held to contravene the constitutional separation of Church and State by a succession of legal judgements. The meaning of the term creationism was contested, but by the 1980s it had been co-opted by proponents of creation science and flood geology.

When scientific research produces conclusions which contradict a creationist interpretation of scripture, the strict creationist approach is either to reject the conclusions of the research, its underlying scientific theories, or its methodology. For this reason, both creation science and intelligent design have been labeled as pseudoscience by the mainstream scientific community. The most notable disputes concern the effects of evolution on the development of living organisms, the idea of common descent, the geologic history of the Earth, the formation of the solar system, and the origin of the universe.

Evolution

This forum, I think, may be a "catch-all" for discussions of science, but with a focus on the theory of evolution. As this is an atheist blog and most Creationists like to debate the theory of evolution I found it necessary to create this forum as they like to think that the theory of evolution discounts the existence of a creator (however much I disagree that it does).

Personally, I find the debate not to my liking (or pointedly; not within my rapport), but I find it very interesting to follow these discussions none-the-less.

Rules: Commentary or query involving the topic of the theory of evolution (or any other science-based theories) are welcome.

Evolution - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In biology, evolution is the change in the inherited traits of a population from generation to generation. These traits are the expression of genes that are copied and passed on to offspring during reproduction. Mutations in these genes can produce new or altered traits, resulting in heritable differences (genetic variation) between organisms. New traits can also come from transfer of genes between populations, as in migration, or between species, in horizontal gene transfer. Evolution occurs when these heritable differences become more common or rare in a population, either non-randomly through natural selection or randomly through genetic drift.

Natural selection is a process that causes heritable traits that are helpful for survival and reproduction to become more common, and harmful traits to become more rare. This occurs because organisms with advantageous traits pass on more copies of these heritable traits to the next generation. Over many generations, adaptations occur through a combination of successive, small, random changes in traits, and natural selection of those variants best-suited for their environment. In contrast, genetic drift produces random changes in the frequency of traits in a population. Genetic drift arises from the role chance plays in whether a given individual will survive and reproduce.

One definition of a species is a group of organisms that can reproduce with one another and produce fertile offspring. However, when a species is separated into populations that are prevented from interbreeding, mutations, genetic drift, and the selection of novel traits cause the accumulation of differences over generations and the emergence of new species. The similarities between organisms suggest that all known species are descended from a common ancestor (or ancestral gene pool) through this process of gradual divergence.

The theory of evolution by natural selection was proposed roughly simultaneously by both Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, and set out in detail in Darwin's 1859 book On the Origin of Species. It encountered initial resistance from religious authorities who believed humans were set apart from the animal kingdom. In the 1930s, Darwinian natural selection was combined with Mendelian inheritance to form the modern evolutionary synthesis,[6] in which the connection between the units of evolution (genes) and the mechanism of evolution (natural selection) was made. This powerful explanatory and predictive theory has become the central organizing principle of modern biology, providing a unifying explanation for the diversity of life on Earth.

Secularism

This forum is designed to address the issues of separation of church and state. You need not be of any particular religious ideology (or non-religious ideology) to post here. If you have questions or comments regarding issues of the legality (in whatever country you hail from) of religion intruding into the public sphere then feel free to comment or query.

Personally, secularism is a driving force with me and I hope that this forum will bring forth some insightful and thoughtful discourse.

Rules: Discussions regarding separation of church and state and those issues (current or past) relating thereof shall only be permitted here. Any commentary espousing prosyletization by any scriptural means may be allowed if directly relating to the public sphere and the law "of the land"; ie. constitutional or legal law. No inflammatory attacks will be tolerated.

Secularism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Secularism is generally the assertion that certain practices or institutions should exist separately from religion or religious belief. Alternatively, it is a principle of promoting secular ideas or values in either public or private settings. It may also be a synonym for "secularist movement". In the extreme, it is an ideology that holds that religion has no place in public life.

In one sense, secularism may assert the freedom of religion, and freedom from the government imposition of religion upon the people, within a state that is neutral on matters of belief, and gives no state privileges or subsidies to religions. In another sense, it refers to a belief that human activities and decisions, especially political ones, should be based on evidence and fact rather than religious influence.

The purposes and arguments in support of secularism vary widely. In European laicism, it has been argued that secularism is a movement toward modernization, and away from traditional religious values. This type of secularism, on a social or philosophical level, has often occurred while maintaining an official state church or other state support of religion. In the United States, some argue that state secularism has served to a greater extent to protect religion from governmental interference, while secularism on a social level is less prevalent. Within countries as well, however, differing political movements support secularism for equally varying reasons.

Atheism

Do you not believe in a god or gods? Are you skeptical about what established religion has put forth for the masses to believe in? Do you find the explanations for our existence attributable to a higher power or to some unknown and unknowable supernatural hypothesis for why and how we are here lacking at the least or preposterous at the most?

I suppose then that you are an atheist or agnostic of the highest order. And we welcome you to discuss this in this "haven" within a "haven" of sorts.

Do you believe in a god or gods? Are you truly curious about why atheists are the way they are? About their own personal philosophies?

You're welcome to direct your queries here. Please, be courteous.

Rules (so far): This post is designed to be a forum of sorts for the exclusive discussion of atheism and of being an atheist. Only questions and queries are welcome by theists and supernaturalists. Commentary relevant to the question or query is allowed. It is advisable to refrain from derogatory language or otherwise defamatory statements to individuals or this online community as a whole.

Further guidelines may apply.

Atheism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Atheism, as a philosophical view, is the position that either affirms the nonexistence of gods or rejects theism. When defined more broadly, atheism is the absence of belief in deities, alternatively called nontheism. Although atheism is often equated with irreligion, some religious philosophies, such as secular theology, or some varieties of Theravada Buddhism, lack belief in a personal god.

Many self-described atheists are skeptical of all supernatural beings and cite a lack of empirical evidence for the existence of deities. Others argue for atheism on philosophical, social or historical grounds. Although many self-described atheists tend toward secular philosophies such as humanism and naturalism, there is no one ideology or set of behaviors to which all atheists adhere.

The term atheism originated as a pejorative epithet applied to any person or belief in conflict with established religion. With the spread of freethought, scientific skepticism, and criticism of religion, the term began to gather a more specific meaning and was sometimes used as a self-description by atheists.