Can evolution be considered a religion?
203349
Most religions center around a god or numerous gods, except for atheism, which is not really a religion. It is just a lack thereof. Therefore your question about evolution being a religion - no, not really. Evolution is more like a theory. People either accept it, or don't. But it's not their way of life. I hope you see what I mean.\n\nTo clarify - most religions are made up of religious texts/chants/hymns. Religion is a very strong belief in something that guides peoples lives to do righteous things.
500192
You haven't defined your terms - what is Darwinism? what is this religion controversy? why didn't you say scientific controversy?\n\nThere certainly is a controversy among fundamentalist Christians yet there is none among biologists – doesn’t this seem curious? Most creationists believe the literal account found in Genesis and scorn science in general. Most biologists believe the modern synthesis of evolution and genetics, and understand it has nothing to do with religion.\n\nIf you want to know more about evolution and understand why most educated people consider that it’s proven beyond doubt, check out these websites:\n\nhttp://www.talkorigins.org/\nhttp://evolution.berkeley.edu/\nhttp://lifesciences.asu.edu/evolution/\nhttp://mcb.harvard.edu/BioLinks/Evolution.html\nhttp://www.nap.edu/readingroom/books/evolution98/\nhttp://explore-evolution.unl.edu/
58170
Once people believe in something it's hard to "set it aside"  I am a scientist by nature so evoluton would be hard not to believe in for me.  I think in this case school is required to teach evolution, but you can teach creationism in church and at home.
564415
Well, the Bible is a book of faith, "Origin of Species" is a science book.  So when I want to enrich my faith, I go to the Bible.  When I want to understand evolution, I read, well, something more current than Darwin, but you get my point...
137134
Many religions...like Hinduism and Buddhism have embraced science, but also maintain certain traditions (like religious rituals, etc). And there are some western religions that do the same...well denominations or sects of western religions would be a better way of saying it. Some have evolved up to a certain point, and some are retrograding back to earlier times because they believe those times were more 'holy'.\n\nAnd the Baha'i religion (one of the youngest) not only teaches that religions evolve over time (which if you go back and study the histories of religion and what they believed at different time periods you'd see they are evolving...well some of them) and the Baha'i religion even teaches that new religions emerge to meet the demand of religion when other religions are failing to evolve.\n\nI'm a Hindu, though. That is why I know they embrace science so much and yet also keep to certain traditions (some traditions are just cultural and have nothing to do with the religion at all so as a westerner I don't observe them).
184485
Islam agrees with Both.... God is The Creator, and He is also Evolver. these are one of the attributes of God in islam. Whereever there is a Creation, He is "The Creator", Whereever there is an Evolution, He is "The Evolver"\n\nIt depends on which evolution you are talking about .>>>> Islam does not believe that humans have been evolve from monkeys??? \n\nThis evolution is not a fact. thats why it is called as "darwins THEORY of evolution"\n\nIslam belives that God created the whole universe... and we know ,, that after big bang there is a continues evolution in the universe. God says in Quran that first human being was "Adam" , and he was a complete man. Islam believes that "God is also the evolver">>> and we know ,, that when child borns,,, he is not able to sit properly ,, and evolution of his body does takes place. and child grows up. whereever you see,, there is a design in teh evolution... because there is a designer behind that. i.e GOD ALMIGHTY. ... GOD IS THE CREATOR AND SUSTAINER OF ALL THAT EXIST,,,, God makes that child to grow up. SO! WHERE EVER THERE IS A CREATION... GOD IS THE CREATOR,, WHEREEVER THERE IS AN EVOLUTION. GOD IS THE EVOLVER. \n\nTHESE VERSES OF QURAN MIGHT HELP YOU..hope this is clear to you\n\n\n30:27 God begins the process of creation; Then repeats it; and For him it is most easy. Yusaf Ali \n\n24:45 And God created from water every living creature. Some of them walk on their bellies, some walk on two legs, and some walk on four. God creates whatever He wills. God is Omnipotent.
507591
Yes, of one sort or another.  Considering that religion is really just a way of explaining the world around us, and considering that some branches of science require just as much faith as some religions, we can assume that (in one form or another) we will always have religion.
659557
Either you believe Gods Word or you dont.  There is no inbetween like believing God allowed evolution.  God said He created everything in six days, do you take it by faith or do you need proof.  Their's the 2 choices.  Its not that difficult.
459523
No matter what secular society tells you Evolutionists have absoulutly 0 evidence in there favor. If you really get into you find all their evidence was made or miss diagnosed. Believing in evolution is as much of faith based as any other religion.
91426
"Dr" Hovind is a complete charlatan, and the arguments as far as Earth's rotation and the distance to the moon are fradulent.\n\nIn any case, I know a number of people, including one who is a priest, who believe in both God and evolution.  In this viewpoint, God is more of a supreme architect who created the basic structure of the universe, and evolution is one of the ways in which this universe operates, giving rise to life in all its complexity.  It's a reasonable viewpoint, given that you can neither prove nor disprove God.  Personally, I don't find God necessary, so I don't include such a being in my view of reality.  Can I prove this?  No, not really.  But a believer in God can't prove to me that this being exists, either.  As far as whether you're a creationist of an evolutionist, I'd say you're an evolutionist since you believe that life diversified through evolution.  Darwin was also a believer in God, although not a personal God you could communicate with.  His viewpoint was much more like the school of theological thought that was very popular at the time called Deism, which proposes a God that exists as a permeating force, but which does not perform miracles, or give prophecy to individual humans.  In other words they view God as more of a force of nature than an anthropomorphic God.   So, if the originator of the theory of evolution could believe in God, and felt that he was learning about the works of this God by understanding nature, then I'd say someone who believes in God and considers the process of evolution to be one of the achievements of that God is an evolutionist.  \n\nThe idea that a belief in God and acceptance of evolution as a scientific throught are impossible to hold at the same time is a straw man set up by religious con men who are mostly interested in controlling people's thought for the purpose of building up their own political power.  By creating a false dichotomy, they can get people to isolate themselves from other schools of thought, which makes them easier to control.
313305
Catholics don't think Christianity is at odds with the theory of evolution. They don't try strange concordances to line up Genesis with the fossil record. Instead they accept Genesis for what it is - origin mythology telling us more about WHY God made the world, then HOW, and why it is we fell into a sinful state.'\n\nThe second law of thermodynamics does not represent a problem for either evolution or Christianity. Chaos math predicts that going both past and forward, there will be more entropy in the system than there is now. But it also posits that, since order is one of the rare but possible outcomes of any event, every once in a while, order enters the system dramatically. A theist (or atheist) who accepts the Big Bang will see it primarily in that system. A theist who is a literal creationist will see it in a six day event. Either way, chaos theory is not really at issue.\n\n"Truth cannot contradict truth," the last Pope said. I've never understood why so many Christians make problems for themselves when there doesn't need to be. Personally, I've always suspected this has more to do with human vanity (people in their heart of hearts just don't want to be descended from apes) than any particular religiosity.
378087
It's an urban myth, like most Creationist stories about evolution. In fact, from the biographies I've read, Darwin lent more and more towards agnosticism or atheism as he got older, starting out as a very strong believer in the Genesis story when he set sail on the Beagle, and disbelieving Christianity but still believing in God when he wrote the Origin of Species.
419184
Why should they be mutually exclusive?  The concept of God is in many religions, not just Judeo-Christian ones.  He/She/It is believed in in Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, by the ancient Hermetics and by Hindus just to name a few.  So, if there is a God, it's certainly possible that He/She/It DID indeed cause evolution to take place.  In fact, there are many Christians, Jews and probably a large number of Muslims who believe that.\n\nBelief in God is separate from the literal belief in a holy book.  First of all, a holy book can be interpretted metaphorically.  I think the concept that the six "days" of creation in Genesis may be longer than days now is a perfectly good one.\n\nAlso, many believe that God is ineffable and mysterious and therefore that no words and no book can accurately express who He/She/It is, but only provide us with metaphors that approach but never really get to that understanding.  If that's true, than it's meaningless to say that some holy book rules out evolution.  Science has proven evolution (the only reason we say "Darwin's Theory of Evolution" is that Darwin explained the fact of evolution by the notion of natural selection and it's only that explanation, not the fact of evolution itself, that scientists ever dispute - and even then they only point out that mutation plays a role AS WELL AS natural selection - but I digress).  So, it seems to me that it makes more sense for anyone who believes in God to believe that God caused evolution to take place.\n\nMoreover, there are other ways to look at God besides purely literal ones.  The mythologist Joseph Cambell believed that all myth is metaphor and saw God as a metaphor for whatever is best for humanity.  One can look at God in terms of gnosis, too, rather than knowledge.  Knowledge is the objective truth of science.  Gnosis is how we experience our universe, which is different from objective truth, because of psychology and also because of our own perspectives as living beings trying to make the most out of life.  Many people of many religions have had experiences of the Divine (some of various Deities or and others of a One God).  That doesn't mean that the Divine is literally true, only that they had powerful experiences.  But, if those experiences make us better people, maybe this gnosis of the Divine is still worthwhile even if it's NOT literal truth.\n\nSo, in summary, I think you need to figure out what you mean by "God" and what exactly you believe about God before you can know whether or not evolution is mutually exclusive with that concept.
36008
To answer this question is to resolve FIRST the issue: Is evolution part of a religious belief? If so then it should be banned from public school.\n\nIMHO, it is the opposite of creationism--also a religious belief. In other words both evolution and creationism are religious beliefs. The former being espoused by aetheists, and the latter by bible-believing people. This being the case, both should be banned from being taught in public school to STRICTLY observe the First Amendment. I understand that the core of this amendment is that the State should not favor (or dis-favor) one religious belief over another.\n\nBut, banning the teaching of evolution in public schools is not practical. It will not help children develop analytical minds. On the other hand, teaching evolution while at the same time banning the teaching of creationism is like teaching children that they use only their left hands and not their right hands.\n\nCommon sense and fairness calls for public schools to teach both Evolution and Creation. Let children develop their minds free from bias.\n\nSome on this site will insist that Evolution is not a religious belief it is a theory. But, you are only  playing with words. Would you also agree if someone will say that creationism is not a religious belief but a theory? \n-------------------------------------\nBTW, please read carefully the replies of Zac and the Marker. Their comments just proved my contention that evolution is really a religious belief--disguised as theory.\n---------------------------------------------------------\nwith kind regards.
666119
Its an interesting thought.\nMost popular religions are 2000+ years old and althought many of the basic principles are applicable today, a lot of the dogma isn't.\nWould a modern day religion have a flood story, a 7 day creation story or would the Big Bang be the creation story? Would it be based on science and evolution?\nLooking forward to reading the answers...
515733
Whatever you think about evolution and creation is your own business but to say that evolution is religion is a mistake. Evolution is a science and says nothing about God or salvation; if you think it does, you're mistaken. If evolution is a religion then so is physics and chemistry because evolution is based on the very same principles that tell us everything we know about the physical and chemical world.
658580
LOL thats a touchy subject for religion... I mean if we can modify genes then the natural process of mutation can be proven... And on my god that would mean that they would have less to argue with evolution.