Howdy!

Of course I'm new here, hence why you are wondering who the heck "BarlowGirl" is... I'm basically no one.A bit about me:
I happened to stumble upon these forums just yesterday while trying to do some research on Chloroplasts and their beginnings... still confused how I ended up here, but oh well.I'm 15, and you can probably tell. Heh hehI'm Roman Catholic, by force really. I'm actually just a Christian in my opinion, but since I'm 15, I'm forced to be confirmed and all the other whoo hoo things involved with the Roman Catholic Church.When it comes to Creationism... don't really believe it. Who can honestly believe that the world was created like the Bible says, even if you don't even take it literally. I hardly know anything about evolution, although the little I do know, it sounds like it explains things better than Creationism ever will. I blame my public school systems for this. I'm in Biology right now, and so far it seems like all I'm going to learn is the "Chemistry or Life" and what not, since my teacher just skipped over the chapters on Evolution in the book, which, didn't help me at all.Why am I here? Because I can be. I'm actually really interested in the Theory of Evolution, so I'm sure you all can help me get up to speed with it all... in time... hopefully. For now, I'm thinking I'll just lurch around for awhile until I have a basic understanding of things regarding evolution.
Hmm... should I change my username? I think I already don't like it. lolInterests:
Soccer, Cross-country skiing, flute, cello, Christianity, Evolution, basically Science in general...Music:
I love music! Christian music actually, thats all I listen to.My Beliefs:
Sure, I may be forced to go to a Roman Catholic Church, however, that doesn't mean I have to believe in it. I wonder what they would do if I purposely didn't do my service hours. Would that mean I can't get confirmed and become an adult member of the Church. Aww... that would be a real bummer!
I don't believe in the Roman Catholic beliefs because of their belief in Papal Infallibility, Purgatory, and Immaculate Conception.

Why should we mind that? We have immature people three times your age and more that post here all the time!

I too hated all that church stuff. Your right, you can be christian without church. There is a big difference between religion and faith.Do you know much about Creationism?Fair enough if your not interested. But there are 2 sides to every story. I suggest Sucuri WebSite Firewall - Access Denied . Look under 'evidence' if you don't know much about creation and evolution.

Two sites that run as counters to each other that you might be interested for the debate:Evolutionist:
TalkOrigins Archive: Exploring the Creation/Evolution ControversyCreationist:
http://www.trueorigins.orgIf you have any questions about anything that you encounter (from either side!), please, by all means, stop by and ask about it.Let's also get a couple misconceptions out of the way here, too.Evolutionist misconceptions about creationists:1) Creationists don't believe that lifeforms change.
2) All creationists don't believe in natural selection.
3) All creationists believe X because creation scientist Y say so.
4) All creationists are uneducated.Creationist misconcepts about evolutionists:1) Evolutionsts think Darwin is infallable. (Correlary: and Stephen J. Gould is his prophet).
2) Evolutionists believe that humans came from monkeys or apes, as we know them today.
3) Abiogenesis, as evolutionists see it, is part of evolution, and is analogous to a "Tornado in a junkyard".
4) All evolutionists are atheists.Thanks for taking interest! Ask any questions you want to. ------------------
"Illuminant light,
illuminate me."[This message has been edited by Rei, 10-14-2003]

quote:

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I'm Roman Catholic, by force really. I'm actually just a Christian in my opinion, but since I'm 15, I'm forced to be confirmed and all the other whoo hoo things involved with the Roman Catholic Church.

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That's basically my life story.------------------
-chris

Welcome to the mixing bowl!I hope you find it entertaining and informative at the same time, as I have.

No reason to worry about being 15 and here to learn. I'm 25, and here to learn as well.I'm also here to be an annoying smart-ass, but I do that everywhere.Anyway, welcome aboard! Pull up a chair, sit a spell.

Dear BarlowGirl:You are most welcome here. I sympathise with your feelings about the Roman Catholic Church. Most people who know me here would be shocked to hear me say that I am not religious. But then neither was Jesus. You can see something of the binding Catholic traditions in Jesus' opponents, the Pharisees, who continually heckled Him for going against tradition by healing people on the Sabbath, when religious tradition dictated it was illegal to do any work. In other words these Pharisees sound like modern bureaucrats. But Jesus asked them whether it was more lawful to save life on the Sabbath, or to destroy it. And He healed the sick anyway. (Luke 6:9) Earlier in the same chapter, the Pharisees said it wasn't lawful for his disciples to pick food on the Sabbath, even if they were hungry so there. Jesus reminded them of the time when David, on the run from his enemies, sought refuge in the Temple of God and ate some of the holy shewbread, which was supposed to be for the priests. By rights he should have been killed for such blasphemy. Yet he wasn't. What Jesus was trying to convey: God doesn't care about religious law or tradition, but merely that humanity should be satisfied. If you read any Bible you'll find this all the way through. I have never read anything about Service Hours or Confirmation or Papal Authority in it - this is just corrupt human tradition.BTW, I must thank mike the wiz for hitting the nail precisely on the head and stating what I said in much fewer words. I also must convey grateful appreciation to Rei for her fair and balanced post, although the subject of abiogenesis is being argued about.[This message has been edited by defenderofthefaith, 10-20-2003]