What people will put on a bumper sticker

[neko_no_kioku]

Evolution=Naturalism=Religion
It's Faith Not Science!

What the hell?! Are people just making this crap up now?! They're equating evolution with religion??? I thought the whole problem conservatives had with evolution was that religion wasn't involved? And how the hell do they manage to equate a scientific theory with a type of philosophy, and

Comments

[catarzyna]

Maybe they are attempting to show a progression from one to the other. That evolution is only a theory. It does seem like skewed logic to me.

[neko_no_kioku]

Well, you have to realize that scientic theories, such as Chaos Theory, the Theory of Relativity, and theories dealing with continental drift and plate tectonics to name a few, are different than theories in the way most people think of them. Typically, when people hear the word "theory" they think, oh, they are just assuming something and they don't have all the facts. But a scientific theory is different. It's based on repeated observable, testable hypotheses. The only reason it isn't a law is because theories only become laws, like the Law of Gravity, when they are just so widely recognized and accepted. But again, even a law started off as a theory which was all based on observations. Things that constantly have been seen to occur time and time again. It's not like someone just said, "Oh, I can't explain why all these changes are happening in animals groups. Let me come up with something. Oh! How about evolution" No. Darwin sat on the Theory of Evolution for years. He did this because he knew he would sound so radical to people

[catarzyna]

I wasn't trying to sound flippant but I do know the difference. I understand in your field you are challenged by what the populace believes to be true versus what is true. I encounter the same in history.

no, it's just the reign of the stupid people right now.

[starjuniper]

I think a lot of people don't even understand what the word theory means when used in a scientific context. It's backed up by tons of evidence in that situation, but in everyday written and spoken language the word theory relates to something which may or may not have any reasonable basis.

Kind of like the idea that "intelligent design" deserves any type of foothold in the classroom. Now, there's a theory, if a laughable one.
I think this needs posting in mock_the_stupid, actually.

Re: no, it's just the reign of the stupid people right now.

[neko_no_kioku]

Oh god, I know! It's like, if you're going to criticize us, at least know what the hell you're talking about and do a little reading about what our own freakin' terms mean. Geez!

[thatbeastagain]

Also, they really should put a comma in there. "It's faith, not science."

[luinied]

Ergh. No, people have been claiming that for some time, sadly. Because, well, their charismatic religious leaders tell them that evolution is just some tenet of atheistic anti-religious faith, and they're certainly going to believe that over, say, actual scientists.

[catarzyna]

Twitches and shudders (and not in a good way)

It boggles my mind how they can perceive atheism as any form of faith. It is the denial of the existence of the Divine.

Warning: generalizing my experiences growing up in a small town.

[luinied]

People who think things along these lines generally listen to what their preachers, conservative politicians, and other right-wing Christians tell them. And those people tend to present a world where everything bad is a result of The Secular, which apparently includes atheists, evolutionary biologists, commercialism at Christmas, doctors who perform abortions, the mass media, everyone in Hollywood except Mel Gibson, anyone who objects to mention of God in government-supported contexts, and homosexuals. And probably a few others that I'm forgetting

[0ct0pus]

They've no idea how balance an equation, either.

[neko_no_kioku]

Hehe, well they obviously don't know science. You expect them to know math as well?