Evolution and Atheism - please help

by Fernando 75 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Fernando

  Not being familiar with either, my question is:

  What is the relationship between evolution and atheism?

  I'd love to hear from anyone and everyone, and also from any perspective.

  Without limiting the conversation in any way, I would of course also appreciate comments that are simple, clear, direct and correct (as I don't have the capacity to do a PhD in evolution or atheism).
  
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  Finkelstein

  None really, one is an observational science the other is non belief or acceptance of spiritualism.
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  Landy

  There's no direct relation.

  It's just that if you accept evolution as having happened the way current scientific consensus says it has then it makes God redundant.
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  slimboyfat

  Some say evolution refutes atheism because if evolution is a purely naturalistic and random process that selects on the basis of survival then there is no reason to suppose it would produce intelligent beings who are able to understand their origins. Since we are intelligent beings who are able to understand our origins, including evolution, this suggests there is a direction and a purpose behind evolution beyond merely survival.
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  2+2=5

  Oh boy.....

  I feel a 10+ page thread coming on.

  The Catholic church accepts evolution. Which leads me to my next thread entitled......

  Evolution and God - please help.
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  freemindfade

  They should not be thought of as being related. Atheism is not a religion and evolution is not it's dogma.

  Evolution is related to science and evidence. Often once people begin seeing things this way a biproduct of this is atheism or agnosticism.

  They are separate things. Evolution does pose problems for creationists and Abrahamic religions that try to explain everything from the perspective of bronze age goat herders.

  Evolution = there is evidence of evolution.

  Atheism = there is no evidence of "god"

  Not really the same thing.
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  cofty

  Evolution makes god redundant but not impossible
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  cofty

  Evolution also reverses the biblical narrative.

  We did not "fall" from a state of original paradise. We emerged from millions of years of violence and struggle for survival.
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  Mephis

  .
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  OneEyedJoe

  In general, the relationship is similar to that between belief that Jerusalem fell in 586bc and the lack of belief in the JW doctrine. Evolution is a fact that goes directly against fundamentalist Christianity (and Judaism and Islam) and therefore it helps many to see that if one doctrine if flawed then others may be too.
  It also removes the necessity for god in yet another realm, much the way Laplace did when he proved that the solar system didn't need a divine being to keep it stable. The more knowledge we gain about the natural processes that have gotten the universe to where it is today, the less necessary it is to appeal to a deity to explain things. As people learn to find natural explanations to things, they cast off superstitions, including belief in god.