Carson: Theory Of Evolution Encouraged By The Devil

[Sunburn74]

Both good and bad people exists in the world, so I guess that's also illogical.

That's not exactly a refute as it is in no way an apt analogy.

 

[DrPizza]

Did you ever wonder if these people, who are intelligent enough to get elected, are actually that stupid? Or if they're smart enough to pretend to believe in these things so the idiots they represent will keep electing them?

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

There IS no difference...

Every other non-Christian theist would like to disagree with you.

 

[Jeff7]

We have different ideas of "perfectly organized."
The large-scale structure of the Universe is a messy foam.

“Well, I mean, it’s even more ridiculous than that ‘cause our solar system, not to mention the universe outside of that, is extraordinarily well organized, to the point where we can predict 70 years away when a comet is coming,” he said. “Now that type of organization to just come out of an explosion? I mean, you want to talk about fairy tales, that is amazing.”

Only 70 years?
Hang on, I'll drive along at 40mph and tell you where I'll be in 50 microseconds. Impressive, isn't it?
More impressive would be to say precisely where I'll be on October 29th, 2019 at 4:53pm.
And....depending on how accurate you are looking to be, no, we can't do 70 years. Is an asteroid going to pose a threat to Earth? Hang on, let's observe it for several years and figure out how close it might come, plus or minus a hundred thousand miles or so.

Even within chaos, there can be pockets of momentary order. If your visual horizon, both in terms of space and time, is sufficiently small and brief, "order" may be all you see.

Earth's kind of nasty, too.
There's this thin film of life coating the outside. It's so prolific and short-lived, too. Look at what we live on top of: Dirt. It's the thoroughly-decayed remains of dead things, and it's not just a dusting. Over a long enough period of time, it started to pile up everywhere, to the point that it can be a few feet thick before getting down into the clay that's more rock than organics.
In a way, it's kind of horrific. We're even so accustomed to living on top of this layer of ancient death that we even rely on it fully to provide us with food.

I'll bet Carson has no doubts about the science behind the advanced technology he used to perform brain surgery. But of course that same scientific approach, when it leads to - among other things - the Big Bang theory is just a "fairy tale pushed by highfalutin scientists."

And check out some of the crazy technology used in semiconductors, or even flash memory. "Yes, electrons can be enticed to pass right through an insulator without ionizing it. They just kind of......tunnel through it. Sometimes."

But I've never seen an electron do that, so I don't believe it. Satan is pushing those electrons into your flash memory!

Not much when you really get right down to it. But religion, or at least a belief in the supernatural seems to be hardwired into the human species. You find evidence of it going well beyond the beginning of written history.

For a monotheistic god, you at least have a few millenia of history to support the idea. Yeah, that doesn't really count for squat, but if when you're trying to measure levels of ridiculousness, you take your yardsticks where you can find them.

Something like a software bug, really.
"Humans are good at making things. The world is big though. So....maybe this....really big sort of human thing made it? Right? I mean, he'd have to be big and smart to make this? There can't be any other explanation?"

"But where did this big man come from? Did he have parents?"

"Nah, he's immune to causality."

 

[Charmonium]

Wait - you try to be tolerant of most religious beliefs until people demonstrate that they actually believe it? Man, I hope you got some kind of medal for that. That level of tolerance can't be easy.

My point was that there are different levels of unjustified belief. Belief in Satan is on a par with belief in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy and the Easter Bunny.

I'm an agnostic, not a rabid atheist like most people who have an issue with religious beliefs. As I said before, I think the idea of the supernatural is hardwired into us. So people who follow some generic ideology are fine with me. My problem is with people who take a well established ideology and remake it in their own image to serve their own purposes.

This is what fundamentalists do. They pervert Christian, Muslim, or other religious traditions to create something that was never really there to begin with - like the idea of Satan.

 

[MongGrel]

 

[MongGrel]

Did you ever wonder if these people, who are intelligent enough to get elected, are actually that stupid? Or if they're smart enough to pretend to believe in these things so the idiots they represent will keep electing them?

+1

 

[Retro Rob]

This is what fundamentalists do. They pervert Christian, Muslim, or other religious traditions to create something that was never really there to begin with - like the idea of Satan.

You CANNOT be this ignorant:

Job 2:6 - "Then Yahweh said to Satan..."
Matt 4:5 - "The Devil took him [Jesus] along into the holy city"...
Revelation 12:9 - "Down the great Dragon was hurled...the one called Devil and Satan.."

...and many more.

My point is, "Satan" is present in both the Hebrew and Greek Bible, so Satan wasn't "created" by Fundies -- its clearly biblical.

Like I said, shame that you're this ignorant of basic biblical teaching.

 

[kage69]

Is that boy related to Ted Cruz? The resemblance is uncanny.



I'd like to say Carson is just pandering to the religious right with this absurd statement, but after hearing him say some other choice things I'm not so sure it's pandering. This is the same guy who thinks prison rape proves homosexuality is a choice, right?

He and Jindal have a lot in common: both have education and degrees that they shit on when they support young earth creationism soaked idiocy. Gotta love banana republicans and the flipping of their reality switch, really speaks to their character.

 

[retrospooty]

Even neurosurgeons can be flipping idiots.

Is he a flipping idiot, or is he pandering to the flipping idiot voter base? Either way, a resounding "Hell no" on my ballot.

 

[HomerJS]

Someone please tell me why I shouldn't be more worried about this guy being POTUS rather then an intelligent Muslim

 

[HomerJS]

Did you ever wonder if these people, who are intelligent enough to get elected, are actually that stupid? Or if they're smart enough to pretend to believe in these things so the idiots they represent will keep electing them?

Latter

 

[kage69]

Someone please tell me why I shouldn't be more worried about this guy being POTUS rather then an intelligent Muslim

Here is what I worry about wrt to Carson.

http://www.slate.com/articles/healt..._paul_are_wrong_on_vaccines_delaying_vax.html

Rand Paul is guilty of fanning the crazy too. Both should receive a firm fist to the face, maybe they'd snap out of this of pre-election stupor.

 

[TheSlamma]

In other news, some guy who will never be elected president thinks the world is flat

 

[Jaskalas]

But religion, or at least a belief in the supernatural seems to be hardwired into the human species.

Its a coping mechanism for our ignorance, and a social / bonding mechanism for our survival. The spread of religion was responsible for the spread of literacy back in a day when few people could read. It was responsible for the spread of fellowships greater than one's own tribe.

As messy and horrible as it is, the advent of religion is a perfect insight into the imperfections of the human brain. Biological limitations that can simply be described as a system with analog inputs that fills in the blanks. Sometimes those blanks are beautiful imaginings such as art or fictional stories. It helps to share those experiences with others.

It becomes a problem when that bonding turns to a lust for power and control over others.

 

[Retro Rob]

Its a coping mechanism for our ignorance, and a social / bonding mechanism for our survival.

Then that means the more we know, the less religious humanity is. The evidence points to the opposite, because we've gained TONS of knowledge, yet most people on the planet are still religious, many others believe in a higher power/God of some sort.

Scientists are theists.

These attempts to find a natural way to explain the existence of religion are untenable.

The spread of religion was responsible for the spread of literacy back in a day when few people could read. It was responsible for the spread of fellowships greater than one's own tribe.

Nearly everyone can read, and religion is thriving still...

Just admit that there is no way to explain religion naturally. Fossils don't tell us if people worshipped something or not, nor do they tell us IF they worshipped at all. They don't tell us their likes or dislikes, fears, aspirations, etc.

Best you're doing is hypothesizing (guessing).

 

[Atreus21]

Scientists have also proven beyond any doubt that we can see light that originated from more than 6,000 light years away (and they've also proven the exact speed at which light travels), therefore there is no doubt that the universe is more than 6,000 years old. Or that it is less than 13 billion years old for that matter.

I don't see any mention of Carson being a young earth creationist.

Criticizing/disbelief in evolution = silly.
Ignoring the entirety of the fossil record = really flippin' silly. I don't think Carson does that.

 

[Retro Rob]

Criticizing/disbelief in evolution = silly.
Ignoring the entirety of the fossil record = really flippin' silly. I don't think Carson does that.

That would only affect his ability to secure a job as a biologist, but has zero affect on his abilities as a politician, which is how atheists argue about how does NOT being Christian make them less of an ideal candidate.

Remember, and this is precisely why I mentioned Geocentrism and its 1500 year-old hold on otherwise very intelligent people, that something is "silly" to reject only when most people believe it.

 

[fskimospy]

I don't see any mention of Carson being a young earth creationist.

Criticizing/disbelief in evolution = silly.
Ignoring the entirety of the fossil record = really flippin' silly. I don't think Carson does that.

He thinks the big bang is a lie, and that the earth and all species were created in six literal days, that the flood is responsible for the fossil record, etc. While he hasn't put a strict number on how old he thinks the earth is, that's pretty young earth creation-y.

 

[fskimospy]

That would only affect his ability to secure a job as a biologist, but has zero affect on his abilities as a politician, which is how atheists argue about how does NOT being Christian make them less of an ideal candidate.

Remember, and this is precisely why I mentioned Geocentrism and its 1500 year-old hold on otherwise very intelligent people, that something is "silly" to reject only when most people believe it.

I think the rejection of overwhelming scientific evidence in the service of your religious ideology is a problematic attribute for an elected official.

 

[Retro Rob]

I think the rejection of overwhelming scientific evidence in the service of your religious ideology is a problematic attribute for an elected official.

What does accepting evolution have to do with his ability, for example, to create jobs?

I hope you get my point.

 

[fskimospy]

What does accepting evolution have to do with his ability, for example, to create jobs?

I hope you get my point.

Forget evolution, just think about it more generally. He is willing to ignore mountains of scientific evidence because it conflicts with what he wants to believe.

Are there other areas he might ignore scientific evidence? Isn't that troubling to you?

 

[Retro Rob]

Forget evolution

...obviously...

just think about it more generally. He is willing to ignore mountains of scientific evidence because it conflicts with what he wants to believe.

Like what? Other than what we already know he rejects.

Are there other areas he might ignore scientific evidence? Isn't that troubling to you?

YOU tell ME.

 

[fskimospy]

...obviously...

Like what? Other than what we already know he rejects.

YOU tell ME.

Who knows? It could be anything, which is of course the whole point.

I mean when someone is rejecting something as utterly settled as the theory of evolution, that's a powerful ability to reject reality. He seems like a nice guy, but I wouldn't want someone that ideologically blinded running the country.

 

[Retro Rob]

Who knows? It could be anything, which is of course the whole point.

...OR could be nothing other than what we know he rejects.

Views on evolution don’t actually tell you anything about how a politician will act or how he’ll approach science-based issues.

For example, I do not believe in molecules to man evolution -- I believe God created life, and designed life in such a way that it can adapt to survive and provide variety as a result, but I am a proponent of curbing man-made climate-change, funding research into disease control and prevention, and other endeavors that science can use to improve humanity, as long as they are beneficial.

I just think you're a bigot, quite honestly -- because you're ignoring what a potential candidate can bring to the table simpy because he doesn't agree with you.

Science is more than just one conversation or one issue, or one field.