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Originally Posted by arloiginla

Well obviously you're a bigger science buff than I am so I would imagine you'd already know the answer to this one, but from what I remember being taught, a scientific law is something that has accepted as being true without a shadow of a doubt. Like gravity. A theory on the other hand is a developed hypothesis (idea) which has enough supporting evidence that it is feasible to believe in as being true.

Gravity isn't a law. There's the theory of gravity, which is less understood than evolution frankly. Your comprehension of laws and theories is flawed.

Nothing in science is known without a shadow of a doubt.

As I've said before, if you're getting these basic things wrong, isn't it reasonable to think that you might be wrong about the bigger things?

Evidence would be proof, or a result of tests and experimenting, that supports your claim, whether thats a hypothesis you made up, or a theory that already exists.

And there's been no evidence for creationism or ID presented in this thread, only vague hand-waving that evolution violates some law. No results of experiments, no confirmed predictions, nothing of the sort.

Thats unfortunate and I honestly feel for you and anyone else who's had to experience that. Some religious kooks think the only way to assimilate people to their beliefs is to tell them they're going to hell if they don't. Unfortunately that's not the way Christianity is supposed to work, although admittedly far too many take that approach.

The Bible itself says that Jesus is the only way to God.

But this isn't education, knowledge, and right and wrong. Comparing the theory of intelligent design to that of the world being flat is ridiculous.

Not really, both are concepts that have no supporting evidence.

Scientific law has taught us that the world is round, anyone who chooses to believe otherwise isn't just delusional, they are wrong.

What law? You're still misusing the term.

If the idea of intelligent design really held absolutely no evidence at all, then why has it not been dismissed completely as a possible theory

IT HAS! That's the point. The only people who adhere to it are those who have already predetermined the Bible is inerrant and therefore the tens upon tens of thousands of scientists over hundreds of years in dozens of disciplines ranging from physics to chemistry to biology to cosmology to archeology to genetics to whatever else have all come to the same conclusion through different paths must all be wrong in exactly the same way, or they're in a grand conspiracy.

The number of real scientists in fields of research relevant to evolution who actually don't believe it are almost nonexistent.

and why is it still being taught in the schools?

It's NOT! It's illegal (at least in the US). Watch this series to learn about it:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/id/program.html

Religious nuts don't have that much pull in society.

They do in the US. Watch that series and see how the religious right has tremendous influence.

I may not be a real scientist like you are or claim to be, so actually my knowledge is deep enough for me personally to believe something and be convicted of that belief and not be swayed by anyone else's viewpoint.
That knowledge might not be deep enough for me to wage a war of words against an intellect like you, but how good of a debater someone is doesn't determine whether their opinions and beliefs are right or wrong.

The very definition of dogma. You will not be swayed, so I can only reason that your conclusion is based on faith and not evidence. You base your stance on something other than science, and just try to use science to support (rationalize?) your already decided upon position. Weak.

If you can't give a good reason for what you believe then you really should question why you believe it. If you can't, well, that's the kind of thing that got us into the dark ages in the first place.

You are right debating skills or being an expert in a field isn't required, but being able to approach something with intellectual honesty is.

I am fully willing to change my mind on evolution, I CAN be swayed, easily. I know exactly what kinds of things would disprove it. What about you? What detailed evidence would be sufficient to convince you that evolution is true?

Again, I said earlier I was done with this thread but just thought I needed to clear some things up, and also the fact that above all I haven't rammed my ideas down anyone's throat and harbour no ill will at all. So science isn't my greatest source of knowledge. That doesn't however mean my beliefs are inferior.

This is an open discussion and participation isn't mandatory, so of course no one is forcing ideas down anyone's throat, and no one I know here would wish ill on anyone.

Would you agree that not all beliefs are equally valid? How does one judge which are more valid than others?