Burnt Orange Report

I have to agree that creationism is stupid. I can't understand why parents want their children to grow up ignorant, either. That's just wrong.

People need to learn to seperate their faith from their everyday life. I'm a devout Catholic who has a very strong faith in God. But my faith is for things I cannot see and cannot know. That's what faith is, belief in the unseen and unknowable. I know that I can't know God's will, so I just have faith that it is just wat it is.

I spend my everyday life doing my job at the newspaper, writing in my blog or spending time with friends and family. I don't need my faith in God to drive a car or understand the process of evolution or to work the VCR.

It's when people claim to know God's will; to know what God wants and doesn't want, that gets us into trouble. When James Dobson tells us that he knows God does not like homosexuality, he is claiming that he knows the unknowable. He no longer has faith, he has set boundaries.

Those boundaries and that absence of real faith leads to dogma. Faith comes from making a choice. I choose to look at the flowers and wonder why it is they are so beautiful. I choose to look at the stars and ponder the great questions of existence. The who, what, when where and how are all easy; the why requires faith.

When people try to tell you the why, they take away the choice to ask that question for yourself. That is dogma. Dogmatic law doesn't require faith, only obedience. Blind obedience. The only way to have blind obedience is for it to exist in your everyday life.

This blind obedience to dogma that so many preach isn't about faith and it isn't about God. It's about their own selfish wants and desires. Their own power. When people could be asking themselves and God the important questions of existence, they are instead asking Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell and James Dobson. That gives them power and that is what is wrong with their faith.

Byron, you are intolerant and anti-Christian because of comments like "axis of idiots".

Tolerant language = axis of idiots? Scary?

Bible-believers scare you? You spend more time attacking Christians than you do religious Islamist fundamentalists who go around murdering peace workers and beheading American hostages.

You spend more time talking about how Republicans hate gays, poor people, minorities, and puppies - than you do explaining what it is that Democrats love. That's not inclusive, that's not unifying - that's intolerant in anybody's book.

So - get your priorities straight, you intolerant, anti-Christian liberal.

Oh yes... I know I'm just a stupid believer, so you'll forgive me when I neglected to point out that you also are lumping Jews and Muslims into your "axis of idiots".

How tolerant. =) Keep up the good work my friend!

Hmm, Since when does anyone have to be tolerant of stupidity ? That is plain assinine.

Would you be tolerant of folk who believe in Santa and legislated that everyone had to be fat and wear a red hat ? or look like a fricken elf ?

what if my religion said the earth was created by a lizard taking a giant dump, can we have THAT taught in schools too ?

As for fundamentalist Islamist, first, they arent forcing us ot teach our kids this kind of garbage and boggotry, secondly, Last I looked its the fundamentalist christian government of ours that killing thousands of Iraqis too....why are we doing that again ?

Fundamentalist Christians arent holier than thou, just more ignorant and intolerant and hateful, and no level of your rhetoric is going to make me back down from my beliefs, which are soundly grounded in reality and truth.

If we teach creationism in the schools, how are we any different that the predominantly muslim nations that publically fund madrasses, where students learn religion and nothing of practical value? The results have been disastrous for their economies and have created a breeding ground for terrorism.

This is one more reason that are public school system in Texas is in shambles.

Christian fundamentalists are no better than Islamic fundamentalists. One group favors lethal injections while the other prefers beheadings.
Both believe they have divine authority to impose their will and their lifestyle on everyone else. Both believe they have the right to use violence to meet their goals.
Both are a threat to freedom and rational thinking.

Santa isn't real? Way to ruin Christmas asshole.

Byron, you are intolerant and anti-Christian because of comments like "axis of idiots".

Naw I think what the point was that anyone who believes in creationism, Christian, Muslim, Jew, or what have you, is an idiot.

Bible-believers scare you?

Not me. I don't care what you believe, as long as you don't care what I believe. But no matter what you believe, if you think stuff like creationism is good science, you're an idiot.

Just like believing the Sun revolves around the Earth. I hear folks used to get burned at the stake for questioning that.

I used to work at a department store during college, and and a friend of mine who also went to UT (now a grad student) was talking to someone about evolution, and the whole break room started laughing and called her "monkey girl". That is the attitude towards science and learning that bunch--i.e. Christian fundamentalists have. No curiosity, no respect for intellectuals or knowledge. And they call us "intolerant" and "fearful" of their religion and beliefs. I think it is the other way around--the pot calling the kettle burned, if you will. Teaching creationism (as opposed to mentioning it as a theory) is a religious teaching and if they want their children to have the same attitude towards science--i.e. all absolutes, God created the Earth in 7 days and didn't put gays in it, etc. no room for curiosity, no respect for the scientific method--there are plenty of backwoods parochial schools, and a college in South Carolina where they can deny science AND admire a suspicious art collection--classical pices that happened to be picked up in Europe at a bargain price during WW2. Believing in evolution and shaking one's head at some Christians does not make one intolerant or a hater.

Andrea, please explain to me the origin of existence in 100 words or less. I'm quite curious if you can do so, and I'm very respectful if you can do so with absolute scientific accuracy and agreement. I'd be very impressed with your knowledge if you do that.

But again, not the point of my post. That point was "axis of idiots" = tolerant, in your playbook. Wow.

Thoughts:

1) Evolution and the theory that God created the world are not incompatible. Literal interpretation of the story of creation and evolution are.

2) Chris makes a good point. Few people understand the theory of evolution (or relativity). There is disagreement in the scientific community about it as a cohesive theory and it is not simply a choice of I believe we were once monkeys or I only believe what I read in the Bible.

3) Does anyone remember when Carl Everett was with the Red Sox and said dinosaurs didn't exist because it wasn't in the Bible?

Chris, your question to Andrea is an interesting one. Alas, it has nothing to do with evolution. Evolution seeks to explain how life comes from other life, not how life comes non-living matter and certainly not how matter came into existence from nothing.

Chris, your question to Andrea is an interesting one. Alas, it has nothing to do with evolution. Evolution seeks to explain how life comes from other life, not how life comes non-living matter and certainly not how matter came into existence from nothing.

"An online casino won the eBay bidding for a decade-old cheese sandwich bearing what some people consider a likeness of the Virgin Mary and immediately began hawking Virgin Mary Grilled Cheese T-shirts.

'I would like all people to know that I do believe that this is the Virgin Mary Mother Of God,' the ad said. 'That is my solemn belief, but you are free to believe that she is whomever you like, I am not scamming anyone.'"

Cheese Sandwich Bought for $28,000

The seller believes the "image" is the "Virgin Mary Mother Of God". She is an idiot, but I tolerate her. And she has every right to believe whatever she chooses. Then again she did sell a ten-year old grilled cheese sandwich for $28,000.00, so it's debatable how much of an idiot she really is.

As to the origin of existence, it's a mystery. Why do we exist? Who knows? Is it God? I really don't know, and you really don't know either. You might think you do, and you may be right; you may be wrong too.

But evolution provides a good scientific theory explanation of our physiological development.

And what will become of us? "To be, or not to be: that is the question". We're all gonna find out when we die. But then again, maybe not.