I don't mind talking about this subject till the cows come home, I don't really have a personal stake. But what I highlighted is basically what it boils down to. I'm not going to say the Christian Fundamentalists have a scientific case for creation, but they have a reason to believe it, and it doesn't really have anything to do with the science. So if you meet them on a logical and scientific basis, you're missing the point. From their point of view, and from their peer group, evolution is absolutely ridiculous.
The reason I'm pointing this out, is because ultimately understanding is what is important to me. What I often see is athiests claim that religious viewpoints are stupid an nonsensical, which athiests can define for themselves, but for the same reasons that we exist from an evolutionary standpoint, religious beliefs are evidentally useful. The usefulness is what we need to know. And athiest often don't care any more than just get really angry at the subject and post a flame on the internet, than to understand why religion exists.
My frustration extends also to Fundamentalists, but I get extra frustrated with athiests because they claim to be the more enlightened and rational of the lot.
Yea, I like your viewpoint a lot, I have been basically trieing to follow it for 4 years on this forum. You on the one hand have this cold rational types, who dont accept your opinion if it doesnt make sense. Like back then in the thread when I tried to explain that I wouldnt lay out an emergency plan for still being attractive in case my partner leaves me, cause when I am in love with someone such thoughts just dont honestly cross your mind. But he didnt believe me, to him it was rational that every rational man thinks like that, he couldnt accept that there could be people who think differently.
I myself respect religion a lot, when I was young and in great dispair I even had chats with God myself. I have grown up with many muslims friends, somehow the Turks like me and I like them, they often have from my PoV a very archaic worldview that always ends with a belief that God will help them if all things go wrong. And I always wanted to protect them from misbeliefing in an entity which doesnt exist, but I never understood that it isnt about if the entity really exists, its about believing, belief that gives you superhuman powers.
I have come a long way and I really want to understand creationism; my knowledge of american culture is still to limited to get the answers I need, but I am not thinking any less of them. Its just that always I hear someone saying creationism is true, I feel like I have to rescue him and thats my education, which I surely wiull never get rid of in my life.
I am convinced that when I come to a point in my life when I for the first time will loose the control I have about my life, because of circumstances I cant humanly influence; then I'll have a realisation how belief and hope can feel. I will never belief in creationism or in the christian religion but I am convinced that I'll learn with age what it means or how it feels like to believe.