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I think I've grown up misunderstanding Evolution...could someone clear up some misconceptions I may have? [x-post from /r/Atheism)
I had originally posted this in /r/Atheism but was told I was in the wrong sub-reddit, so I'm moving it here. Ok, I'm going to start out by warning anyone reading this that it's going to be a long post...I'm going to post a "TL;DR" at the end of each paragraph, but if you can spend the time to read it all, I think the answers you'll give me will be more substantial. A little background first: I've grown up Christian. For those of you still reading, I'm not at ALL a "radical" Christian. I don't believe at ALL in shoving any form of personal belief down anyone's throat, no matter the evidence you think you have. I never judge people on being of a different religion (or lacking a religion), and I expect to not be judged as well. That being said, I've had a lot of time to think lately, and I feel as though Christianity sounds a lot like some of the things that are said today in order to limit the thinking people do. I've been taught not to question the Bible, and I've also been taught, with multiple examples, that the Bible never contradicts itself, and I have yet to see a true contradiction. I've always felt that the Theory of Evolution, while quite a bit of it makes sense, is somewhat far-fetched. But again, that's not what this post is about. TL;DR-I've had a classic Christian upbringing; "the Bible isn't wrong, Evolution is, etc." Up until recently, I've thought Evolution seemed a little far-fetched. As I said, I've been kind of questioning my upbringing. This last year I've went without much praying, haven't read my Bible or anything, and I haven't been smote by God. I haven't had bad things happen to me to "bring me back," and I feel like I know why. It's the same thing as a horoscope: when you're looking for it to happen, it does. If I say that everything happens for God's plan, then I'll be able to put pieces together to make anything seem like it's part of some higher meaning. But with the billions of people living on the planet, isn't it kind of arrogant to think that my life really matters in the grand scheme of things? On the other hand, when an evolutionist thinks they may have a new theory, they can seal up any holes in their theory with any foolish idea to make it work. Sometimes it can be proven, I won't deny that at all...science is powerful. But sometimes it is just ignorant to believe everything you hear about Evolutionary theory, and as I said before, I've had a lot of time to think about this. TL;DR-If you're looking for proof/for something to happen, you're going to find it whether it's there or not. I feel that way about praying, horoscopes, and "breakthroughs" in Evolutionary Theory. I recently started watching the TV show Heroes. The whole premise of the show is evolution, similar to X-Men. Mutations have caused the heroes to get their superpowers. Before, I was able to suspend my disbelief for these kinds of shows in order to enjoy them. But a line in Heroes REALLY got me thinking. I went to a private Christian school for 3 years and was taught so many different ways to "prove Evolutionary theory wrong using the Bible," which I never agreed with because if they don't believe the Bible is inspired by God, what makes the "evidence" for it any more believable? Anyway...I was taught how to prove Evolutionary theory wrong, and one of the ways was by discrediting the idea of mutations. According to Evolutionary theory, as far as I know, mutations are the cause of the "advancement" of a species, or transition, however you say it (not an expert on the subject at all). The school taught me to retaliate the argument with "give me one example of a positive mutation." However, while watching Heroes, I think I realized that Christians have it all wrong. TL;DR-I love X-Men and shows similar, and before I realized what mutations actually were, I simply didn't believe that's how Evolution worked, so it was just suspension of disbelief when I watched movies/shows similar to X-Men. At the Christian school I went to, I was taught to use mutations to actually combat Evolutionary theory on the premise that "there are no positive mutations." If my understanding is correct, mutations aren't beneficial. They're meant to wipe a species out, and the animals that survive are able to build up immunity to the mutation. Like cancer: in [x] amount of years, humans should theoretically be immune to cancer if we let it run its course, because the ones that survived will have the genes to combat cancer, and their offspring eventually will as well. If I'm wrong in my assumption that this is how mutations work, I'd like to know, but if that is the argument for mutations being the premise of Evolution, I truly believe I've been taught all wrong, and would like to learn more about Evolutionary theory. This really isn't a post about using Evolutionary theory to disprove Christianity, and I'd rather it not turn into that kind of post. If someone could give me some more misconceptions the Christians have about Evolutionary theory, and the arguments they use to combat it, please post them here as civilly as you are able to, without being offensive. I KNOW there are atheists out there who are able to argue their point without completely bashing Christianity, because I've seen it before. TL;DR-I think I had the idea of mutations all wrong (read the beginning/middle of the paragraph for the epiphany I had while watching Heroes). If my assumption is correct, I'd like to hear an intelligent Evolutionists' explanation of some more misunderstood aspects of Evolutionary theory, especially the ones Christians commonly misunderstand...and I'd like to hear them as civilly as possible, without bashing the Christians...I'm still not really sure what I believe. So again, I've been brought up Christian, but I'm thinking Evolutionary theory may make more sense than I thought. Help me understand! :) more