quote:
Those are, in fact, religious beliefs - they are beliefs supported only by the literal reading of a set of holy texts, and are held only by the faithful of the source religion.
They may be (and are) held by others, and faithful of the 'source' religion (whatever that is) may
not hold them, but take a non-literal view. That is why debates about 'creation vs evolution' are of no absolute value, because for many (a majority, worldwide), perhaps all, there is no reason to believe that creation was not
via evolution. As has been mentioned, the only useful purpose in debate is to ensure that fundamentalist views are not taught as science, a cause that theists and atheists alike may support- in the interests of continued prosperity and civilisation!
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It's pretty obvious that believing that the world was Created by God in 6 days roughly 6-10,000 years ago is a religious belief.
It isn't obvious at all. It is not a religious belief
per se. It carries no religious import of itself. It is a belief that some hold as true, but it is not a religious belief, because it has no religious significance in itself. Some say that it is a prerequisite to religious belief, yes, but others of the same ostensible belief say that beliefs about the method of creation are neither here nor there. Some who oppose religion think that by disproving YECism they dispense with religion based on the book of Genesis, but they are completely misguided. If religion is to be opposed, it must be opposed honestly, on its
essential grounds, on its
necessary consequences, not on the views of those who may deliberately adopt phoney religious views in order to provide straw man arguments for their friends to oppose. And YEC beliefs are so mind-bogglingly inane that this must be the situation in the USA. It's the measure of the apparent desperation of Americans to come to terms with both God and Mammon. It's really just a giant white flag.