Science? Religion?
I will first say that I do love my family. My brother goes to a private Lutheran school, and my family would consider themselves Christian. They are not exactly devout, but they certainly believe in a higher being, the idea that the earth is 6000 years old, and that a higher being created all humans and animals on earth.
My brother is the ripe age of 12. He watches TV, obviously, and will occasionally watch programs on NGC, Discovery Channel, etc. And today he brought up something about a person mentioning the rock formations in La Crosse are about 1 million years old. And then started talking about the rock formations in the Grand Canyon, that he saw on TV, being some million years old. And he's like "They were saying something about the earth being 1 million years old". I corrected him by saying it's actually 4.5 billion years old. And then he's like "How do you figure something like that out." And my dad mentioned that they use scientific testing for that. Then my brother went on about the bible and what it says, and that the only thing that are proven are those in the bible, etc.
I understand he's 12, but what particularly irked me about this conversation is what is to come. I mentioned something that these two differing beliefs, the earth being 4.5 billion years old vs. 6000 years old, is basically science vs religion. And my dad mentioned something about how it's been this way for many years when my brother questioned that. Then my stepmom chimes in and is like "they can't prove any of this stuff, it's just theories, blah blah".
Sure, you can never prove anything in science, BUT when there is a theory about something, that is pretty damn significant. Once an idea becomes a law, that is as close to being proven as can possibly be. The thing that irked me about this though is that she acted like what is said in the bible is the proven way earth is, and that faith has a stronger base than science. She didn't outright say it, but this is the impression I got.
I really do not like religion vs. science debates. I'm sorry, but things that require "faith" and "just believing" to exist do not hold a lot of weight for me. You simply cannot test those things--this is the sole reason why I am agnostic. Sure, that does not mean that things like a higher being (or beings) or the supernatural do not exist, but because it cannot be tested, I will simply not acknowledge it. It is really hard for me to believe something if I cannot see it, and the ability to test ideas and come to conclusions based on data classifies as evidence for me. Is there any verifiable evidence for beings of higher power? No. And no, the bible, the torah, the koran, or other religious scriptures out there are not evidence.
I respect everyone, even if they do not hold the same beliefs as I do. And the only thing that prevented me from getting into an all out debate about this is the fact that I highly respect my family. If it were any ol' chap trying to preach about faith being more verifiable than science, then yes, I will debate even if I do not like them.
Yes, being agnostic in a family of Christians is rather awkward. Although, I will say that my dad taking middle ground in this stuff is rather cool. I'll soon be out though.
On a side note: I want a hot pocket.
My brother is the ripe age of 12. He watches TV, obviously, and will occasionally watch programs on NGC, Discovery Channel, etc. And today he brought up something about a person mentioning the rock formations in La Crosse are about 1 million years old. And then started talking about the rock formations in the Grand Canyon, that he saw on TV, being some million years old. And he's like "They were saying something about the earth being 1 million years old". I corrected him by saying it's actually 4.5 billion years old. And then he's like "How do you figure something like that out." And my dad mentioned that they use scientific testing for that. Then my brother went on about the bible and what it says, and that the only thing that are proven are those in the bible, etc.
I understand he's 12, but what particularly irked me about this conversation is what is to come. I mentioned something that these two differing beliefs, the earth being 4.5 billion years old vs. 6000 years old, is basically science vs religion. And my dad mentioned something about how it's been this way for many years when my brother questioned that. Then my stepmom chimes in and is like "they can't prove any of this stuff, it's just theories, blah blah".
Sure, you can never prove anything in science, BUT when there is a theory about something, that is pretty damn significant. Once an idea becomes a law, that is as close to being proven as can possibly be. The thing that irked me about this though is that she acted like what is said in the bible is the proven way earth is, and that faith has a stronger base than science. She didn't outright say it, but this is the impression I got.
I really do not like religion vs. science debates. I'm sorry, but things that require "faith" and "just believing" to exist do not hold a lot of weight for me. You simply cannot test those things--this is the sole reason why I am agnostic. Sure, that does not mean that things like a higher being (or beings) or the supernatural do not exist, but because it cannot be tested, I will simply not acknowledge it. It is really hard for me to believe something if I cannot see it, and the ability to test ideas and come to conclusions based on data classifies as evidence for me. Is there any verifiable evidence for beings of higher power? No. And no, the bible, the torah, the koran, or other religious scriptures out there are not evidence.
I respect everyone, even if they do not hold the same beliefs as I do. And the only thing that prevented me from getting into an all out debate about this is the fact that I highly respect my family. If it were any ol' chap trying to preach about faith being more verifiable than science, then yes, I will debate even if I do not like them.
Yes, being agnostic in a family of Christians is rather awkward. Although, I will say that my dad taking middle ground in this stuff is rather cool. I'll soon be out though.
On a side note: I want a hot pocket.