Quote:
Originally Posted by rubecube
Pretty funny that evolution is as commonly accepted by Muslims as it is by our supposedly more enlightened neighbours to the South.
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I went to a symposium on 'Religion and the Human Genome' a couple of years ago. All of the major religions were represented, Islam, Hindu, Atheism, Judaism, Catholic and Protestant, and it was organized by a local mosque.
It all went pretty well, each of the representatives expressing how the mapping of the genome, and evolution, were tackled in each of their faiths. Everyone was very enlightened, and no bizarre deep south theories.
The Muslim representative read a passage from the Koran, detailing a volcano, and dust settling in patterns and such (it's been a while), after which there was a prayer, as follows a reading, I assume. What I got out of it was that Mohammad wrote what could then be interpreted as a direct instruction on the existence of the mapped genome.
Everyone was very nice, and all agreed that genetics were the work of God, and there for us to discover. (Except the Atheist.)
How Islam got to that place made me think of how a religious text could be used to support almost any position. I received insight that I'm not sure was intended. And this isn't slighting Islam, as there are many examples of Christianity finding positive judgement the same way.
Acceptance of evolution isn't always science based.
That was something that I learned.
Clearly, being part of the Canadian educational system, most people there were drawing from both sources, but it made me wonder about people without access to proper education, and believing in evolution as a religious principal, based on an interpretation.