When faith is shaken . . . .

[STeeLy]

I don't completely ignore it. But theory is still only a theory until they prove it. Though evidence is strong, neither is proven... however, with advancing technology... we may find an answer.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by MarchHare

I believe the Vatican has publicly stated that the scientific evidence for both theories is very strong, therefore it would be foolish to ignore it. Certainly that's the case with evolution; I'm not sure about the Big Bang.

Oddly enough, the Catholic Church is probably the most "pro science" of the major Christian denominations. Only religious fundamentalists who take a strictly literal interpretation of the Bible are closed to accepting scientific theories which contradict Genesis. Catholic dogma holds a more metaphorical view of the Bible, or at least the creation story.

That is true.

The anti-science/evolution people mostly come from various protestant sects (Calvinists, Baptists, Puritans, etc...).

I went to Catholic school and they never told us to disregard science. In fact, we learned all about evolution and the such.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

That is true.

The anti-science/evolution people mostly come from various protestant sects (Calvinists, Baptists, Puritans, etc...).

I went to Catholic school and they never told us to disregard science. In fact, we learned all about evolution and the such.

Needless to say, I am in a Catholic school right now, but I missed out on grades 1 - 4 Science (immigrant... sry for "polluting your country" as some people call it) I have never learned much about the evolution theory... however... how that I'm taking grade 12 physics... they do teach some stuff about the history of physics. So I must say that unlike many other religions... Catholicism is pretty open.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by STeeLy

Needless to say, I am in a Catholic school right now, but I missed out on grades 1 - 4 Science (immigrant... sry for "polluting your country" as some people call it) I have never learned much about the evolution theory... however... how that I'm taking grade 12 physics... they do teach some stuff about the history of physics. So I must say that unlike many other religions... Catholicism is pretty open.

It is probably up to the teacher. I did go to public school for grades 11 and 12, and they didn't teach us about evolution in great detail either. Most of what I learned regarding evolution was in university.

The Catholic church does have things it needs to atone for, but I do think it gets a bad rap. Anti-Catholicism is probably one of the oldest and the most tolerated form of biggotry in the English speaking world. Again, I'm not saying it is not without it's faults, but no culture or religon is, yet we protect most from the kind of judgement the Catholic church gets. At the very least, we save others from open displays of hate.

For the record, I am not a practicing Catholic any more, so I have nothing invested in protecting the church.

BTW, where did you immigrate from. You don't have to say if you're not comfortable with it, I'm just curious. My family are immigrants too. I was the 1st born in Canada.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by FlamesAddiction

BTW, where did you immigrate from. You don't have to say if you're not comfortable with it, I'm just curious. My family are immigrants too. I was the 1st born in Canada.

Hong Kong is where I am from.

I am actually very comfortable saying it because I get different yet interesting reactions from different people... its... kinda weird.

[Superfraggle]

Originally Posted by STeeLy

I don't completely ignore it. But theory is still only a theory until they prove it. Though evidence is strong, neither is proven... however, with advancing technology... we may find an answer.

I wish...unfortunately, nothing can truly be proven. The problem is that all of our "facts" are based on observation. For example, say you see 1,000,000,000 ravens...and they're all black. That would likely lead you to say that ravens are black...until you find a white one. It is reasonable to say that ravens are black...it is reasonable to believe that all ravens are black. It can't be proven, though, unless you could take a census of every single raven in the universe.

Or how about gravity? Does gravity exist? Does it work the way they say it does? It would certainly appear so. But how did they come to those conclusions? They took the phenomenon of things always falling to the ground, made a lot of experiments and observations, and came up with a theory that fits. Unfortunately, that theory is entirely based upon observations, like all theories, and will be disproven as soon as an apple is found that does not fall to the ground. Is there a wackload of evidence that shows gravity exists? yes. Do I believe in gravity? yes. Is it really proven? No. It can't be. All we know is that everything we've observed so far seems to fit the theory.

Theories they are, and theories they shall remain...the only question is how much evidence we can find with which to support them, and how much evidence it will take for people to believe in them.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by Superfraggle

Theories they are, and theories they shall remain...the only question is how much evidence we can find with which to support them, and how much evidence it will take for people to believe in them.

So, what you're saying is that Theory with an adequate amount of evidence is true until proven untrue.

Also, back to that gravity thing... my chem teacher believes that Gravity doesn't exist... it is hard to prove that it exists... but also hard to prove it doesn't.

[Superfraggle]

Originally Posted by STeeLy

So, what you're saying is that Theory with an adequate amount of evidence is true until proven untrue.

Also, back to that gravity thing... my chem teacher believes that Gravity doesn't exist... it is hard to prove that it exists... but also hard to prove it doesn't.

what I'm saying is that's the best we can do. The problem with absolute proof one way or the other is that you can't get it. You can choose to believe whatever you like, and noone can really prove you wrong. All we have is different levels of probability to help guide our thinking.

[STeeLy]

Originally Posted by Superfraggle

what I'm saying is that's the best we can do. The problem with absolute proof one way or the other is that you can't get it. You can choose to believe whatever you like, and noone can really prove you wrong. All we have is different levels of probability to help guide our thinking.

Agreed

[Flames89]

For a fascinating read about human society evolution, I would suggest to all:

Guns, Germs, & Steel

[Calgary Flames]

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Calgary Flames

Hmm, all hockey players are technically walking on water.