Category: Faith

Gov. Romney on Evolution (and abortion)

GOP CANDIDATE ROMNEY PROFESSES BELIEF IN THEISTIC EVOLUTION
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney is trying to clarify for the public some points about his religious beliefs. For instance, he says he embraces the theory of evolution but also believes an intelligent designer created the Earth.
http://www.onenewsnow.com

One can only wonder if by “Intelligent Designer” Romney (a Mormon) means the God of the scriptures is that designer. Oh wait, they don’t believe the scriptures to begin with, so the point it moot.

Really this is just political verbal gymnastics. Here are some things he could say:

“I’m for Traditional Marriage.. even for homosexuals”
“I’m against abortion.. but for a woman’s right to choose.” (oh look, he’s already said something like that)

Why the evolution response matters.

The debate over whether Creationism and Evolutionary Theory should be taught in schools has been raging for some time, therefore it is a political issue; and an important one for most conservatives. Those in office should have done the math (or should i say science) but my guess is most have not and just jumped on the “don’t argue with science.” bandwagon. I would have liked to have an “undecided” or “who hasn’t done their homework” show of hands. Regardless of the theology involved, it is a clear example of states rights and the role of the federal government within the local school districts.

Where someone stands on origins also matters because it typically defines their social policies.

For instance, the more you see someone “made in the image of God”, there more you should see the worth of that child or adult; regardless of their benefit to society.

On the other hand, the more you see us as something that “randomly mutated from fish” the more you are going to see all life (human and non-human) as expendable, or as some people having more worth than others who may be “less beneficial” to society.

So yeah, it matters.   I just wish I could ask each candidate a follow up:

Why do you or do you not believe in evolution?   Because there is where you would get some real insight.

Incidentally, Darwin’s Theory is still just that.— THEORY.

“There are gaps in the fossil graveyard, places where there should be intermediate forms, but where there is nothing whatsoever instead. No paleontologist . . . denies that this is so. It is simply a fact. Darwin’s theory and the fossil record are in conflict.” David Berlinski, Ph. D.

Gov. Mike Huckabee Clarifies Evolution Stance

DesMoinesRegister.com has this quote:

“If you want to believe that you and your family came from apes, that’s fine. I’ll accept that,” he said Friday. “I just don’t happen to think that I did.”

As for what should be taught in public schools, Huckabee said he wants “schools to acknowledge that there are views that are different than evolution.”

See my last post for more on the origins (no pun intended) of his comments. 🙂

Ron Paul Campaign on Evolution

  • UPDATE 3a: Edited clip here:

    This clip was changed to a slightly longer version to make sure RP’s full answer was given.

  • UPDATE 2: Ron Paul says “It’s a Theory … I don’t accept it.”
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4af9Q0Fa4Q (question starts at 2:40) Hat-tip: Ray (from comment 40 below).
  • Update 1 (written when I still understood Paul to believe in Evolution): Much to my surprise this post remains one of the most active on my site. So, I think it is necessary to clarify that Ron Paul’s views on evolution alone do not disqualify him from receiving my vote. I like many of Ron Paul’s comments concerning the Constitutionality of various things. It’s where Rep Paul and I have strong common ground. But this is a campaign and don’t let debate sound-bites override the facts. Investigate. Start with their voting records. Now, on to my original post:

As I investigate for whom I will vote, I found the list got a lot shorter after the first debate.

After seeing the clip after asking “who does not believe in evolution.” I shot off this email to the Ron Paul campaign:

On 5/4/07, Ron Shankwrote:

Dear Ron Paul team:

Does Ron Paul believe in evolution? I didn’t see his hand raised in the debate when asked “who does not believe in evolution.”

Thanks for your quick reply.

Thank you,

Ron Shank

They quickly replied.

——– Original Message ——–
Subject: Re: Didn’t see his hand
Date: Fri, 4 May 2007 16:15:06 -0400
From: Ron Paul 2008 Presidential Campaign Committee
To: Ron Shank

Ron,

Ron Paul did not raise his hand during that question, it was Tancredo, Huckabee & Brownback who raised their hands. Dr. Paul is physician and believes in evolution.

For me, this narrows it down to these three to further investigate.

Your thoughts?

Reply to an Unnamed Atheist

I received this comment here, and it’s reply is worthy of a full post.

The Insane Jesus Christ Man is More Sane than the Christians
Jose Luis de Jesus is my favorite religious character of all time. He should be praised for his new Christianity, not because it is true, but because it is more interesting than the old Christian story.

So truth doesn’t matter?

The ironies and paradoxes involved in his attitudes towards Christianity are impressive and make the new Christianity more interesting than older versions. For example, we are expected to believe that Christ has been reborn so that Christianity may die.

Although Jose Luis De Jesus has grandiose delusions, he is not delusional enough to fall for old Christianity. He doesn’t suffer from paranoid delusions. Rather, Jose Luis De Jesus is lucid enough to recognize the need for an Anti-Christ to put old Christianity in the lowly place where it belongs, in the hell of its own making. For his Anti-Christ aspirations, he should be admired.

For Jose Luis De Jesus, the Anti-Christ does not equal the Devil. ‘Devil’ and ‘sin’ are just a few of the inventions of the worst enemies of humankind to prevent it from being intrinsically driven to advance the good in their lives. There is no justification for the presumably saner Christian believer who demands the delusional fear of hellish punishment to compel us to adopt Christian practices.

I agree (somewhat) that “fear of Hell” is not a good reason to follow Christ. But it should be enough to cause everyone to say “what if… what if the Bible is true?” And at least investigate it. Gratitude for the grace and mercy shown to you through Christ’s atonement on the cross is a much better reason. There are others.

No human mind should be required to fall for Christian delusions in order to claim its goodness and morality.

What delusions?

Furthermore, if the claims of scripture are delusional, how can they be good or moral? I’m confused by this line of thinking. Jesus Christ (the real one, not Miranda) was either Lord (as he claimed to be) or he was a liar or lunatic and therefore the entire Christian faith is one of lies and deceit, void of morality. Unless you are making up your own morality – where lying is a good thing – a lot of people do that. But you can’t call it Christianity (in the true sense of the word)

Falling for Christianity is the worst fall from grace of them all. It is the fall from the grace of being in a state of independently guided striving and growing and into the most primitive motivational state possible, the hedonistic and fear driven avoidance of long-term pain in hell and the maximization of long-term pleasure in heaven.

So you are against someone trying to avoid pain? And you are against someones hope for a paradise? This grace you speak of… who gives it to us? We give it to ourselves?? Is it really grace then? Grace is by definition (unless of course you are making up your own again) the giving of something undeserved by the recipient.

Christians are reacting to the grandiose delusional Jose Luis De Jesus who considers himself the new Jesus and the leader of the new Christianity. Instead, Christians should consider that the many beliefs that lead one to fall for Christian dogma are more delusional than the 666 tattooed priest’s belief that he is the reincarnation of Christ returning to correct Christian error.

And with that we come to the big question: So what do YOU believe in???