Thanks for the many comments, OJ, I appreciate it....

2008-07-27T17:00:00.000-05:00

Thanks for the many comments, OJ, I appreciate it.

In my experience, when a theist talks about "evolution", typically they really mean what we would consider metaphysical naturalism, the idea that everything in the universe is the result of unguided, blind "chance" with no divine intervention or intention of any sort necessary at any step along the way. That's part of why it's frustrating to follow debates between creationists and scientists, they're using the same word to mean two totally different things.

Still, I agree, "God did it" is ultimately the answer of every theist to every question about the physical world. Some think He did it with the undetectable delicacy of a master surgeon, others with the blunt force trauma of Jason from the "Friday 13" movies, but the answer's basically the same all the time.

I also think it's a bit of a dodge for scientists to use "abiogenesis is not part of evolution". It's technically true, but it's a subject that's at least very closely related to biological evolution (it has to start somewhere) and one I think we need to be confident enough to say "we don't know ... yet" to.

For an atheist, the question is not, "who made me?...

2008-07-27T15:51:00.000-05:00

For an atheist, the question is not, "who made me?" but "how come I'm a human?" So far, evolution is the best explanation of how we came to walk the planet.

Evolution, contrary to what many theists would have you believe, says nothing about the big bang, etc., just about the development of life on Earth. The jury is still out on the question of the origins of the universe, but "God did it" is not the default answer for any big questions that we are yet to answer.

Comments on Atheist FAQ: But if you don't believe in God, who do you think ...

Thanks for the many comments, OJ, I appreciate it....

For an atheist, the question is not, "who made me?...