What convinced you of Evolution?

I accept evolution because it makes sense of a vast array of biological data, and because no other explanation even attempts to do so. If someone comes up with an alternative that explains the data as well as evolution, I will consider it seriously; if someone comes up with one that does a better job, I'll adopt it. Until then, I'll keep using what works.As for the religion bit, it's complete nonsense. I have a religion, and evolution isn't anything like it. My religion has a founder whom we revere, and whom we quote and discuss every week. It has a set of scriptures, ancient rituals, and a wide range of ethical teachings and philosophical positions. Evolution has none of that. Practicing biologists almost never quote Darwin professionally (I've never read any of his books, come to think of it) and couldn't care less what you think of hiim, no holy writings or rituals (other than drinking beer), and no ethical or philosophical teachings. Evolution is just science, indistinguishable in its main features from any other science I've encountered.

quote:

---

Now, I, by no means am trying to come off as mean or disrespectful here

---

Guess what? You succeeded without even trying.

quote:

---

I am just honestly curious in what would convince someone that a theory with an extremely insignificant amount of evidence could be true.

---

There are two possibilities here. One is that you are actually familiar with the tens of thousands of papers in genetics, paleontology, microbiology, comparative anatomy and all of the other fields of biology that support (and are supported by) evolution, and that you have evaluated all of the evidence in those papers and concluded that it doesn't hold up. The other is that you are not in a position to make the judgment you just made. Which is it?

quote:

---

Definition of Religion- A cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardor or faith.

---

Interesting. You quoted the fourth definition from Merriam-Webster. Would you care to post the first three definitions, and see how well evolution fits them? This definition is an extended, figurative meaning -- lots of words have them. By this definition, the Republican Party, stamp-collecting, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and free speech are all religions. Such a broad definition says just about nothing about the subject.

quote:

---

Now you may think the part about ardor is unlike evolution. But when you think about it, Evolution really is held together by faith in. For if it weren't, nobody would be here right now, for it would have to be the truth.

---

Could you clarify? I don't know what you mean by the last sentence.

quote:

---

Yep, I can clarify. What I meant was nobody would be here, in the forum, if the theory of evolution were the truth. I mean, to put this in a different perspective, if the definition of triangle was untrue or incomplete there would probably be many people arguing over it.

---

Ok, I see. I'm afraid you're wrong, however. Lots of people firmly believe things that aren't true, and are quite happy to argue about them. People believe there were no moon landings, that the Holocaust didn't happen, that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion are historical documents. Mostly I ignore beliefs like that, but when the belief in question threatens my country's schools, my church and my livelihood, I start to pay attention.

quote:

---

1. The service and worship of God or the supernatural (2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance

​

This is way too descriptive for any religion. Buddaism, Taoism, and many others could not exist within this definition. You would agree those are religions, correct?

---

Yup. Kind of makes you think that just blindly applying dictionary definitions isn't going to lead to clear thinking about what constitutes a religion, doesn't it?

quote:

---

Evidence is in the eye of the beholder.
We all as humans evaluate "data" based on our bias and assumptions, ex. is the glass half full or half empty?

---

I see this kind of statement from creationists quite often, and yet I can never get one to tell me what the creationist interpretation of genetic data is.

quote:

---

And by the way, we don't care what a person's degree is in, all we care about is a logical argument.

---

Hey, I care deeply about what my degree is in. I just don't care about anybody else's.