Atheists, "Do you have a better explanation than the Garden of Eden for the origin of Meisosis reproduction?
957169
That's a new one. As a biologist I've never come across the notion that meiosis is explained by the Garden of Eden. \n\nScience is about understanding processes and mechanisms by investigation. No answer is ever complete. Every answer begs a further question. The explanation "God did it, let's stop asking questions and celebrate him" is absolute anathema to all biologists.
581800
Sorry, this took longer than I thought it would.\n\nYou seem to be already convinced that science is favors evolution more than creation.  Modern science was invented by Christians.\n\nHere is some stuff about mitochondrial eve.  http://www.archaeology.org/9609/abstracts/dna.html\nSince the original DNA study was done, it was found that an error had been made and that the actual time of Eve's existence was only about 10,000 years ago.\n\nHuman foot prints chasing dinosaur footprints.  http://www.bible.ca/tracks/taylor-trail.htm\nNow we know the real reason they are extinct - they were delicious.\n\nYou've probably heard of the tectonic plate theory (continental drift theory), but have you every heard of the Hydroplate Theory.  The latter does a much better job of explaining things in a more scientific manner with more geological evidence to back it up.  In other words, it supports the Bible story of a global flood.  See here: http://www.123helpme.com/view.asp?id=13091\n\nThat's all I have time for now.\n\nPS-You won't find ANY of the above in your science textbook.  Its called CENSORSHIP which is why you weren't told about the existence of all this other scientific evidence.
947651
I agree completely: This quote sums it up for me:\n‘Nature, you say, is totally inexplicable without a God. That is to say, to explain what you understand very little, you have need of a cause which you understand not at all’  Holbach.\n\nThat's the reason I'm an athiest. And please guys, don't pray for me. Let the "rapture" get me ...
158936
There was a special about this on the Discovery Channel (or maybe it was History, I mix them up all the time) that used the question of the possibility of Jesus's mother Mary conceiving a child while still being a virgin.  They base it on scientific theory of course and not on a belief in procreation by a Divine source.  In the end, they came to a conclusion that it is possible, and has happened at some point in the past, although i can't remember if being a hemaphrodite was a prerequisite or not.
932759
Interesting but contrary to Scripture. I understand the problem you're considering and offer this as a possible solution...\n\nAdam and Eve were perfect and it took several generations before the degenerating gene pool became severe enough to forbid incest.
56610
Well you see, as yet, no one has ever been able to find any real historical proof of the existance of this couple.  Sure, there have been all kinds of interpretations of various discoveries, that this or that "must mean" something else.\n\nBut this is a great question, as it simply points out a fact:  Genetically, how did one couple spawn so many different races?\n\nThere was an earlier question on this subject, where it was pointed out that even in the bible there are references to the existance of others, outside Eden, with whom those cast out must have mated.\n\nAt any rate, there must be other factors involved.\n\nThis being the case, then Adam and Eve can be supposed to have whatever genetic and racial characteristics you want to assign.  Who could proove otherwise?
748480
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.
1146048
this story is actually the reason why i don't believe the bible. for one all that water had to go somewhere. yes, people argue that it evaporated. but even now, just as it has always been, when the water evaporates it doesn't disappear. its still there just in the form of clouds. so wheres all this water at? and the 2 of every species thing is just idiotic...its almost like they don't want us to believe it by putting forth a story so ridiculous. i NEVER believed it. even when i first heard it around the age of 3 in Sunday school. how could you believe this?
1102877
Does mainworry ever post comments himself, or does he just copy and paste all the time?\n\nGenesis is the intro to the bible.  It is full of ambiguous stories aimed at giving a meager beginning to mankind.  It has preposterous stories like building an ark.  If such an ark were built, It would have been a half a mile long.  On top of that, it would have been built out of wood.  And then... here's the best part.  If the world were flooded, then the ocean waves would be so insanely huge, that no boat, not even today's American Navy, would have been able to stay afloat!!!  Common sense dictates that you take these stories with a grain of salt.  With no land masses to quell the ocean waves, they would be huge!
1184675
I wrote an article on this. Paste below is a small excerpt:\n\nConsider these next few statements of rational logic. First, there has to be a cause for every effect. The universe had to come from something. There is no natural explanation for how the sun, moon, and stars could come from nothing! Therefore, for every effect, there has to be a cause! This Cause has to come from outside the universe; outside of nature. In other words;...supernatural. When I state "supernatural" I mean; a limitless being outside of time and space. Think about it! The only religion that ever stated otherwise was the biblical concept of Genesis! God always existed, but the universe did not!\n\nSecond, the Cause must be independent of it's effect. It can not be required to depend it's existence upon the universe. For nothing can change from a state of nothingness.\n\nThird, the Cause must be infinitely powerful! If it were limited, it would have to be confined by some other thing. It can not be limited by nothing and if it were limited, it would not be independent any longer. The effect can not be greater than the cause. The Cause has to be greater than the effect! It has to be greater than all the forces of the universe combined!\n\nFourth, the first Cause must be eternal. The creator must exist outside of time. The God of the Bible stated this in Exodus 3:14 and John 8:58. All the other religions honored harvest gods, war gods, moon gods, sun gods, animal-headed gods, fertility gods and goddesses. In fact, most of these gods were restricted to time as well as location. (1)\n\nFifth, the first Cause must be spiritual. Only an entity outside the universe could have created it. It must be beyond the physical elements. John 4:24 states that God is Spirit.\n\nSixth, the first Cause must be all-knowing. The creator created the universe. Albert Einstein wrote, "The harmony of natural law... reveals and intelligence of such superiority that compared with it, all the systematic thinking and acting of human beings is an insignificant reflection." (2)\n\nLast, the first Cause must be a Person. There is design in the universe. For it is balanced by the four fundamental nuclear forces. If altered by the slightest one millionth of a degree, all the stars would cease to exist. The Person would have to be a creator with desires, because the creator did not need the creation in order to exist. Rather, the universe was created out of pleasure! It is not unreasonable to suggest that the Bible is the best explanation.
342275
LOL! That is a weird theory, but I know what you mean. It is a joke to think people would take a book as more proof than scientific facts. And a god that is constantly destroying his own creation for political reasons is even more absurd.
654237
The ingredients you find to rationalize your disbelief amuses me! Come on, dude, FLEAS!!!LOL that is your way of proving their's no God!? Weak proof at best. You should go back to the guy who put that into your head and slap him!!!LOL( just kidding, don't do that!) Appendectomies, right? Well I don't remember any of God's prophets killed from a lack of appendix surgeries! Yet God has always healed HIS CHILDREN who love Him. God uses such problems as the appendix to judge grown ups,yet things go wrong, and little children die, but isn't it better that they don't have to go on in this world but rather in a perfect world with their Father? Ohh yea, you believe that's it for the child, no chance, no hope, no love. Your beliefs sentence those children to nothingness and loss. Is that right? The "beef" as you say is in the Bible and you're starving yourself trying to devour the scraps dropped from Darwin's table. But his table is empty by Darwin's own admission. Darwin said "If one could prove that single-celled organisms can split then I am wrong." (I'm paraphrasing) And they can split as your precious science has proven. So why do scientists continue to back Darwin's THEORY? Because they would rather back a lie that they discovered rather than the truth that makes them useless. I'll tell you another miracle of God, friend. The miracle of God changing your heart, and that's the one that's harder than any other, but IT CAN HAPPEN if you'd let it.
65539
I think it's allegorical, and hard to swallow theory, and I am not sure that the lessons it teaches are relevant now-days. Personally I don't think that they (adam and Eve) were exactly real and if they were, their story got passed down over time to a time when people actually knew how to write and by then, I am sure the story had been groselly distorted and embellished. To me the Divine creation of earth and their expulsion from eden does nothing more than to make God a pretty arrogant entity that demans being worshiped and feared. It just seems so unike Him. \n\nThe worst part is that, truthfully, I think that story is nothing more than fabrication on part of humans and one of the reasons why God no longer manifest himself on earth.\n\nAs for Adam and Even being the first humans, well, can someone explain to me why aren't we all plagued with genetic  defects like say when siblings or cousins have kids. It just doesn't make sense that 6 billion people come from just 2 people, whom I would presume would have been jewish and somewheat middle eastern looking. \nSomeone is overlooking the fact that there are white, black, yellow, red, and brown people in the world and that took thousands of years of natural selection and genetic mutation for that to happen. We also know that people roamed the earth over 10000 years ago, so 28 generations before Jesus, with a life expectancy of 40 would not account to that far back. \n\nI am not saying that there is no God, I am saying however that we are being fooled into thinking that he will punish us if we don't act a certain way. Why would he create imagination, self determination and gives us the will to thrive if he didn't like the outcome? Wouldn't he have been able to know this in advance and create something he could control at will instead of by meaking us fearful of him? I think HE deserves more credit thant what churches and the bible itself are giving him.
630075
Well, I think because this phenomena is against : \n\nReligions .\n\nHuman nature .\n\nIt is also one of diseases transmission .\n\nIt's disgusting...\n\nGod Punishment... because he created Eve for Adam, not for another Eve...and Adam for Eve not for another man...
614004
Do you have any evidence to support this theory or is it just wishful thinking? As an atheist I'm open to hearing about different interpretations of scripture, not buying into it wholesale. What is your support for this marriage and "vegan community life."\n\nAlso, what is your evidence for the "polechange?"
615826
Scriptural metaphors shouldn't be taken literally.  The notion that we are created from earth is based on truth. You were created from your mother's food, which was created from the earth by the power of the sun, mediated by genetic programs for plant growth.  You were what she ate!  Now you are what YOU eat.  We are constantly re-"creating"  ourselves by what we eat, all of which comes from the earth, or from the dirt, if you will.  \n\nIt was this basic insight that lead to the metaphor of God, (the sun or the Son) creating people out of the earth.  A quite natural process was turned into "God magic" for the sake of supporting a new religious belief which Muhammed was building up out of a synthesis of Judaism, Christianity, and Arab Paganism and tribal customs.  But it's not magic; just Mother Nature doing what She normally does.
611068
Yes. Judging from the responses I've heard from atheists, Gellman needs to try harder. I don't know anyone who was satisfied with his analysis. Some atheists became angry simply because of the article. lol.