As any truly successful person can tell you (meaning successful in all aspects of their lives, not just the financial portion), success is impossible if your core beliefs conflict with reality.
"No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other." - Matthew 6:24. When any of your beliefs conflict with reality, your subconscious is forced to try and serve two masters. The result will be failure, not success.
And we know that one of the most widely held and entrenched beliefs is that of religion. But to hear the non-religious people tell it, religion cannot possibly be reality and only superstitious idiots with low I.Q.'s would be religious. So then a thinking person must ask, "Why, then, are almost all of the most successful people and the most intelligent people religious?" The following are just a random smattering of those who claimed their religious beliefs were paramount:
DaVinci, Michaelangelo, Renoir, Rubens, Rembrandt, Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Handel, Rachmaninoff, Vivaldi, Bronte, Browning, Chaucer, Dante, Dickenson, Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Bacon, Descartes, Kierkegaard, Maritain, Rousseau, Pascal, Copernicus, Brahe, Einstein, Faraday, Galileo, Newton, Pasteur, Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Adams, King James
NOBEL LAUREATES
Einstein, Planck, Heisenberg, Schrodinger, Millikan, Townes, Schawlow, Phillips, Bragg, Marconi, Compton, Penzias, Carrel, Eccles, Murray, Sir Ernst Chain, Wald, Sir Derek Barton, Anfinsen, Khon
OTHER SCIENTISTS
Burnell - discovered pulsars
Penfield - world reknown neurosurgeon
Pert - Discoverer of the opiate receptor
Wickrasinge - worked with Sir Frederick Hoyle
But the question remains: how does one go about reconciling religious beliefs with reality if, in fact, evolution and not creationism is fact?
So I have decided to have a little fun with this, and I hope most of you will enjoy it. I have surfed the internet chat rooms and boards looking for comments concerning the issue of Intelligent Design vs Science and evolution, and they are posted here. Following each is my comment. I find it truly amazing that so many people go to such lengths to prove to the world how ignorant they are of simple facts.
"You ask what happened one second before creation? Numerous things. This univerese has been here forever and the right particles and minerals formed together to create what we call Earth."
[REPLY] Nice try, but not even close. Creation is obviously the point where all those things you mentioned were created. If they were created upon the instant of Creation, then they obviously could NOT have existed prior to that. This person's argument is simply that everything that was created somehow already existed before it was created. Nonsense. He is also saying the universe was not created at all - it has always been here. But science says that is a physical impossibility - nothing can exist until it is made to exist.
"And being that humans evolved from other life, the eye was already formed at the time we came to be. So that is a moot point."
[REPLY] The only "moot point" here is that the person who wrote this is completely uneducated and misinformed. First, there is no proof that humans evolved from other life, which is why evolution is still only a theory. And his assertion that the eye was already formed does not address the issue that was being discussed - that the way the eye works still stumps scientists who cannot attribute it to evolution because of its complexity.
"There is proof of evolution all around us every day and it has nothing to do with god."
[REPLY] Um, don't think so, Einstein. First, once again - there is no proof of evolution. None. There is proof of adaptation within a species to environmental changes, but that is not to be confused with evolution. Evolution says that every living thing evolved from some other species - from microbe to a worm to a fish to an ape to a man. There is not one tiny shard of evidence, let alone proof, that Man evolved from any other species. But even more important, this person's assertion that any such evolution "has nothing to do with God" is absurd. Assuming for a moment there is a God, would He not be at least smart enough to instill in all life the ability to adapt so that we could survive changes? Evolution would not disprove God - it would actually help to PROVE God.
"science is fact-based. Religion is based in personal opinion"
[REPLY] Science claims to be fact-based, and in its pure form is likely to be so, except that even science is imperfect, because there are so few absolutes, and man tends to insert his own opinions into it (can anyone say "Global Warming"?). For example, science once believed the Earth was flat, and the Sun revolved around the Earth. Until 112 years ago science believed a woman's womb traveled around her body, which explained the menstruation period. As for religion being based in opinion, that is not quite true, either. Much of what is believed in religious circles has actually been proved to be true. In fact, it now appears that Sodom and Gomorrah have been unearthed, and that they were both destroyed by a great blast at the same time in 2200 BC - exactly the period the Bible claims it to have occured.
"Evolution Has bean witnessed & you can factually put names & dates to all who wrote & brang up those theory's"
[REPLY] Brang? Really? It would be nice if these enlightened atheists would learn how to spell, and learn decent grammar. But just for kicks, I will repeat - there is not an ounce of proof that evolution has actually ever occured. But consider this: evolution, if true, can only affect animate (living) objects. So evolution cannot explain how inanimate objects (dirt, air, planets, rocks, water) came about. They certainly could not have "evolved". And even in your precious science, is it not necessary for something to actually exist before it could possibly evolve?
"If I recall of, all of you church fearing folk thought the Earth revolved around the sun and you were wrong. You all thought the Earth was flat and you were wrong."
[REPLY] Actually, the Earth is referred to as a sphere in Genesis, and it was the "men of science" that taught everyone the Earth was flat and the Sun revolved around it. You really should get your facts straight before putting them in writing.
"Evolutionary theory is not falling apart in any way, shape or form outside of the minds of peon America. It's so strong, we are able to make accurate predictions based on what we know about it. For example, we can assume by our similarities with apes and monkeys that we share a common ancestor."
[REPLY] There has not been a single "prediction" for evolution that has come to pass. Not one. On the contrary, the island that Darwin studied: Darwin claimed his theory would be proved out on that island within 100 years because of the constant adaptations of some of its indigenous species. Unfortunately, that never happened. And while there may be great similarities between YOU and monkeys, do not assume we are all that backward. And for you to "assume" anything at all only proves the point that your opinion is one founded in ignorance. There are planets similiar to Earth - that does not mean they evolved from Earth.
"Anti-bacterial soaps kill 99.9% of all bacteria. However, 0.09% of bacteria are left behind.The kitchen is allowed to get dirty again (without allowing in any outside bacteria). Over time, the 0.09% of bacteria left behind will take over the kitchen and grow over every surface. That is just one type of evolution."
[REPLY] This guy would be hilarious if not so pathetic. This proves there are three kinds of people - those who are good at math and those who are not. Just for the record, if you wipe out 99.9% it leaves .1%, not .09%. And just for the record - that is not evolution. It's procreation. You know, boy bacteria meets girl bacteria...(actually they procreate by division). But in no case is that any form of evolution. Example: if you have 100 rabbits in a room, and you kill all but two, would it prove evolution if you returned later to find 20 bunnies?
"I agree, evolution does exist - its been proven and observed."
[REPLY] I get really tired of such ignorant people professing abject lies in order to try and prove the unproved.
"If the "creatioinst" God doesn't make mistakes, how do we explain extinction?"
[REPLY] First, no one ever said he does not make mistakes - remember the Great Flood? He admitted it was a mistake. More to the point, extinction is part of life, just as death is part of life. Every individual dies, and every species dies. Here is a law of science that you evolutionists seem to keep missing - nothing can be created until something else is destroyed. The reason for that is the first law of physics - matter can neither be created not destroyed.
"Intelligent Design is the idea that God was not smart enough to create a system of evolution that could operate by itself without his intervention."
[REPLY] Talk about not being able to see past one's own ignorance. Intelligent Design is the idea that God created everything, AND allowed for it to survive by building in the processes necessary for adaptation. Just because you are stupid, do not assume God's intellect is limited by your own lack of intelligence.
"Why is it that the majority of very intelligent people on this planet do not believe in god, where you will find a survey of the people with lower IQ's will be largely religious."
[REPLY] I took that on at the beginning of this post. Contrary to your warped assertions based on your personal fantasy, the most intelligent people have always been believers in a God. Also, do not start an argument stating "God", and then change it to "religion". The two are not interchangeable. That said, I believe in God. And I have three degrees, including a Masters, I maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout college, and I have an I.Q. that would make you shrivel. I have written 32 books, I write 5 blogs, and earn more in one week than half the folks in this country earn in a year. How about you? The point is, the most intelligent people are religious.
"I figured out there was no Santa Clause (Christian beliefs are nothing but fairy tails)."
[REPLY] Wow! I see you have it nailed. You actually believe Santa is a Christian belief, and you think I'm nuts for believing in God. For the record, Santa has no basis in Christianity, nor in any other religion on planet Earth. The original Saint Nicholas who was a real person was, indeed, Christian, but that is where any connection ends. The creation of Santa Claus was simply an inspiration to make Christmas "important" to children until such time as they were able to be taught the real meaning of Christmas. To teach, you must first gain attention.
"Maybe you need to read Genesis again. Where in the bible were people living on Earth before Adam and Eve? Oh you must mean the people that have lived on this Earth for the past 1.8 million years and of course Adam and Eve and the Earth are only 6,000 years old."
[REPLY] If there is any small truth embedded somewhere in your post, I cannot find it. First, Genesis said on the "4th day" God created Man. Only AFTER the 7th day of rest did He look around and see something was missing, and created Adam. This is fully in keeping with science, which has already proved the existence of species of Man that predates Cro-magnon (modern man). It also fully explains how Cain was able to find a spouse in the land of Nod.
And while we are on the subject, nowhere does the Bible claim that the Earth was created 6,000 years ago. The original Hebrew text, when describing the Creation, used the word "yom", which King James incorrectly translated to mean "day". In truth, the word yom is used for any period of time - day, year, eon...so Genesis actually says God created the Earth in six times, not six days. Since a time could be and era or epoch, that would certainly allow for Earth to be 4 billion years old, and Man to be kicking around for a couple million of those. And it would certainly allow for mutations and adaptations and, yes, possibly evolution.
"Belief in God? Which one? The God argument is bogus because everyone believes in a different one."
[REPLY] I'll bet you are funny at parties, too. First, there is only one God. The fact that different religions all have a different name for Him does not change that. And just because people believe in "different Gods" would not necessarily mean they are all bogus. Or are you just saying that if some people believe in 50 Earths, that would mean ours does not exist because the other 49 are bogus? If I believe there are 100 of you, do you cease to exist because the others are a figment of the imagination?
"Nothing in the Bible has ever been proven."
[REPLY] You should try getting some sort of education. According to the Bible we should not partake of the blood of any animal, yet it was not discovered until the 1800's that many diseases were bloodborne. According to the Bible we should not eat any seafood that feeds on the bottom. It was not until the mid 1950's that red tide was discovered to affect those same creatures and pass it on to humans. The Bible says pork is "unclean", and not to eat it. Trichinosis (lockjaw) was only discovered to come from pork about 100 years ago. Sodom & Gomorrah appear to have been found. Jesus has been historically proven to have existed. Science has proved there was, indeed, a Great Flood. The short take - much in the Bible has proved out. More has been proven in the Bible than has been proved in the theory of Evolution and the "Big Bang" theory combined.
All of that said, here is the nut of it...
Religious beliefs are as sound as any science, and people whose faith is strong enough will find success much more easily that anyone who has no religious faith.
So, don't be afraid to believe. It will do a lot more good than harm. Especially if it turns out there is a God.
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