Survey Results: Origins and Evolution

One thing that needs to be noted is that the results of this post in no way relate to the percentage of ATS posters that believe in creationism. The poll was comprised of 7,000+ ATS members and 20,000+ guests. Therefore it is in no way suggestive of the percentage of "ATS'ers" that do or do not believe in creationsim or god since only 30% of those that comprised the total of poll takers were registered members.

This poll only shows the collective views of all those that visit this site not the registered members that post threads on the ATS forums.

Typically, I don't get involved in topics such as this, especially when firmly in the role as the one who designed the survey, but this one is somewhat different.

-sigh-

Originally posted by RevelationGeneration
That taste of bitterness will make you incapable of ever tasting the sweetness of eternal life.

I was raised in an intensely Christian household, my father (now passed) having devoted essentially his entire life to his beliefs. We oscillated between a few different Baptist and Presbyterian churches, but the experience was the same with both -- bitterness, from the church, directed at my inquisitiveness.

At an early age, I was punished by church elders for seeming to accept evolution and cosmological sciences. And then punished even more for pointing out how Lot was perhaps the most evil person in the Old Testament (but that's another story).

It's people like you who are so full of self pride that you are blinded from the truth.

"Truth" is discovered through an individual journey, not dictated through rote sermons inspired by a fallible and purposefully incomplete text.

I'm at peace with my personal truth, and feel wonderful. But getting there was difficult, as barriers were constantly in my path by those professing to posses the absolute truth upon which I must bear my soul and accept their "saviour." The upper boundaries of what constitutes "self pride" are tested by those "born again."

Why is your heart hardened to the teaching of Jesus Christ and the bible?

Why are some (you apparently included) hardened to those who find no solace in those teachings? It happens. Such is not the only path to personal truth, the world is full of alternative paths.

Do you see me or other brothers in christ writing hatefull mesages on forums because we do not "believe" in something?

Yes, with regularity. One need not go much further than ATS to witness the intolerance of those who "follow the teaching of Jesus" directed toward people who embrace science, accept abortion, or hold dear other faiths.

if your so convinced christianity is just a fairy tale, then why are you so threatoned that you feel the need to act in this mannor...

I can only speak for myself, and indeed, my experiences may be unique...

But my personal happiness and well being were once seriously threatened by Christianity. I know the feeling. The anger lingers under the surface like a dark reminder of what almost happened -- but it's contained by my ability to understand, accept, and tolerate... an ability somewhat lacking in Christianity. Perhaps others haven't rationalized or vocalized experiences similar to mine with clarity, and are still finding their path to understanding, acceptance, and tolerance... and until then, still find the anger on the surface.

If you humble yourself before the lord he shall lift you up. - James 4:10

I tried that. I really did. But the result was not lifting... not even close.

Take it easy my brother, all that hatred and resentment will only lead to dark places

Spending time in the dark can be a catharsis, as long as one contemplates what brought them there. Now I'm fully illuminated, the shackles and reflexive guilt of religion completely gone... thanks to my time in the dark.


As for evolution, and this survey...

I think the survey clearly shows the size of the non-vocal majority who opts not to become involved in the debate. And who can blame them?

I'm constantly amazed by the ferventness of some faithful to reject what science discovers. If you believe God created all, then the revelations of evolution and cosmology should be a joy to you -- a wonderful revelation as to the brilliance of your deity and what has been created by who you worship. As to why you don't treat these discoveries as "the more we learn, the more we come closer to God," is one of the most confounding puzzles that rattles my brain. And perhaps one of the reasons, I am what I am.

I expected these results from ATS, but all the non-member participating kind skewers the opinions of ATS members
Makes you wonder. ATS is full of critical free thinkers, this is a sword that cuts both ways.

Here is what is interesting in the recent ATS polls, they show the vast majority of ATS members believe in evolution, but they also support Ron Paul who does not believe in evolution. It seems he is the only person I know that gets the Teflon treatment in this category. Everybody else is portrayed as "Ignorant" that believes in creation and that I find very interesting.

For the record, Old Earth / Old Universe creation for me with the agreement of the age of both the earth and universe from science.

Originally posted by spinalremain


Why? I think evolution is proof of intelligent design. It's a self preserving system. I think one can believe in God and evolution. It doesn't mean someone is confused. It means they think differently from you.

Micro Evolution, yes. There is proof everywhere of that. I do believe that every kind of animal had the genes for all the different adaptation within that species. Look at dogs and how many various kinds of dogs there are. Look at the various kinds of birds, frogs, etc. Each one had the ability to adapt to their environment. I believe God's hands is in on that.

What I don't agree with is Macro Evolution where we evolved out of pond scum, then became fish, then became land dwelling animals, and etc. I don't believe in one kind of species developing into a whole new kind of species. Man did not evolve from the ape. Birds did not evolve from reptiles. There is no proof of it.

If macro evolution existed, we would have found proof by now. God said we would see his glory in his creation from the plants around us to the universe with all the stars and planets shining above.

OK lets put this god thing into perspective, shall we?
if it is written that all things are preordained by god, and that god gave man free will, then when train wrecks, plane crashes and building collapses occur that kill hundreds of people simultaneously due to mechanical man made error, where is the free will and reasoning behind the preordain that god wields? how is this possible? does god preordain that 250 passengers on an airliner were all going to parish due to a bomb detonation on board the aircraft?

now can you see how ludicrous the bible is ?

did god preordain that Jim Jones was going to have a coo-laid party and that one of his party members were going to shoot him in the back of the head???

Originally posted by RevelationGeneration

Originally posted by Centurionx
The mods had to have known this would be a heated debate and could quite literally go to page 99999999999.

Anyway, atheists harden their heart to the point of total spiritual dissolution. Christians...You guys piss me off more than any other religion. You distort the word, you are flesh, nothing more.

Muslims need to learn how to respect woman for what they are, as do many men.

Jews...Don't get me started, what is it, the one hundredth time they have gone astray?

So what are you my friend?

I don't belong to any religion of man, I drink the true spiritual milk that flows from the Father. I am he that walks through the valley of the shadow of death. I am the one who bears the sword and shield of the righteous. I am the Warden of the forest, who protects his earthly mother and shuns the evils of the flesh.

Quite simply...I AM

You laugh at something you have no understanding of, it sounds strange to you so you mock me. You have no sight, no vision, no heart, no soul.

YOU ARE EMPTY, my friend.

reply to post by Vitchilo


No, just atheist loonies.

Thanks for the results ATS.

I thought that the survey left out any eastern thought. It made my answers go all over the place. How is the universe not an active and alive creator "being/thing"? It's like western thought wants nothing more than to impress personal opinions on others even if it requires mental slavery though "hero" type gods and punishment/reward conditioning. Lol.

Never mind

Originally posted by Frontkjemper
reply to post by Vitchilo

 

No, just atheist loonies.

Thanks for the results ATS.

Science is the god of Atheism, materialism its spirit, emptiness of soul it's banner. To exalt oneself is the spirit of atheism, humanism is their goal. To destroy religion it's ultimate goal, but more importantly they wish to snuff out all things of spirit. I have never discussed these things on ATS before, I've always stayed out of these types of discussions saying to each their own. But something clicked.

My goal is to spread the seeds of truth and wisdom, to end lies and death and destruction of the earth, We are many.

reply to post by anumohi


You seem to be mistaking the notion of predestination for a micromanaged bin of automatons with god pulling the strings of the puppets.

Death comes to us all, sooner or later. If folks got to choose against that, there would be folks around who live forever!

Interesting...I'm always entertained with the results of these surveys. The numbers never fail to skew in strange ways. I wonder how many people cast skewed votes just to throw the numbers off....
I'd say the God-Fearing Christians get the short end of the stick here on this one. As they should.

Originally posted by moonzoo7
Interesting...I'm always entertained with the results of these surveys. The numbers never fail to skew in strange ways. I wonder how many people vote in ways just to throw the numbers off....
I'd say the God-Fearing Christians get the short end of the stick here on this one. As they should.

edit on 30-8-2011 by moonzoo7 because: (no reason given)

Yeah they should.

Their own Bible says "Judge not, lest you be judged"

And what do we here from them? Condemnation, instead of spreading the word of life they call people devils and worshipers of devils. And Exclaim YOUR GOING TO HELL! Not knowing they have already judged themselves. The church has become a house of wicked intention, it must be dissolved, and the true spiritual temple will rise.

What if we actually reside in an eternal, evolutionary, recurrence, made with intent to express a reflection of the Godhead or the Absolute?

This denies nether evolutionary FACT or the eternal mystery that is our spiritual experience as we really are, as a "chip off the old OLD block" so speak.

Does anyone out there understand...?

Originally posted by NewAgeMan
What if we actually reside in an eternal, evolutionary, recurrence, made with intent to express a reflection of the Godhead or the Absolute?

This denies nether evolutionary FACT or the eternal mystery that is our spiritual experience as we really are, as a "chip off the old OLD block" so speak.

Does anyone out there understand...?

Yes we are already in this state, we always were. One must merely open their eyes to this fact and cast off the BS so to speak. We are children of the Most high, but if your in darkness you are children of the serpent. This is duality, the serpent represents duality, God = unity.

reply to post by Centurionx


Hurray!!!

Unity in diversity!

God Bless you, and may God bless us all and grant all of us, who seek it, the spirit of wisdom, truth, and love. Amen.

reply to post by PieKeeper


Religion is different than being spiritual and having a belief, religion is a public or an institutionalized entity , most if not all people with beliefs here on the site are not pushing his/her belief on you (def not religion), and it’s a personal belief.


Being scientific typing about how you know the universe is this big or has this many stars is just the same as another person telling you that there is a supernatural being out there somewhere who created us.

You’re “BELIEVING” something you can’t prove yourself neither.


All science did was remove God and replaced it with “Big Bang” something the size of a pea or larger…just exploded with all the known matter we see today out of “NOTHING”….sounds familiar ,don’t it?


Spiritual people here on ATS probably don’t enjoy being called “religious nuts”
They might be victims of religious institutions, but you might be a victim of your source of information also.

**I was surprised by the results…by the way.

In my opinion the meaning of life is 'Experience'.
I 'do' believe in creationism.
I believe that we are all vessels through which our true beings gain experience.
It is my belief that being good or bad doesn't really matter, you will be reborn a countless number of lifetimes; gaining all possible experiences in our world, distance worlds and alternate dimensions .
Your (consciousness/spirit) will guide you to the experiences you are meant to gain in this life, you will be as you were meant to be (Spiritual/Atheist) (Evil/Good) (Sympathetic/Narcissistic).
There is no 'wrong' way to Be, Think or Feel, one life is always as valuable as the next.

I' am sure some of you have read the research reports of Dr. Jean-Claude Perez and his 'Phi ratio' that proves traditional Darwin evolution is a mathematical impossibility. But if you haven't; here is a web link to a limited but concise explanation of his basic research. www.cosmicfingerprints.com...