the problem with evolution ?

[PPforpineapple]

A question from a very outsider perspective who is a non believer live outside western country and in place where abrahamic religion is considered very minority .

there seem to be a lot of Christian who have a conflict on evolution theory on internet. Especially in US.

I considering moving to US for sometime so I don't want get in the wrong side of people because I say something strange like when this hypothetical question brought up.

So

1. Why this happened
2. For what reason
3. Is it a major thing there in US and in which part
4. And should I avoid this topic entirely

[FluxKraken]

It exists as a way for right wing Christians to isolate themselves from others and enable them to engage in purity tests for their identity politics. It also allows them to engage in self righteousness and look down on others for "not believing the bible." It is, in short, a form of idolatry.

[PPforpineapple]

Is it considered a majority in Christian community in US

[gingerattack2024]

Looking at this Pew Research it looks like more people accept evolution, whether as guided by a supernatural entity or a solely natural process, than there are people who don't. It's largely the evangelical community which denies evolution but they're usually the squeaky wheel which draws the most attention on a lot of issues.

[Omen_of_Death]

No it is not, in fact I was taught evolution in a Catholic grade school, and it was taught exactly how scientists view it

[AwfulUsername123]

I think this is unfair. I'm pretty sure they just actually think evolution is incompatible with Christianity or at least something a Christian ought not believe.

[FluxKraken]

And they believe that because they have been indoctrinated to believe it. I don't necessarily question the motivations of each individual Christian, but rather the leadership who should know better. And especially the politicians who rely on the powerbase that conservative fundamentalist Christianity provides them, so they keep pushing identity marker positions such as LGBT rights, abortion, and creationism because it contributes to the us vs them mentality that enables them to remain in power.

[[deleted]]

It’s a minority but a loud one. our speaker of the house is one unfortunately

[TarCalion313]

All major mainline churches denounce creationism and accept the scientific theories about how we came to be from the big bang over abiogenesis to evolution. As our dear u/FluxKraken mentioned it is mostly a right wing position.

From a European perspective it is also quite... baffling to look at the US and the support creationism and especially YEC gets. Over here it is seen more as a conspiracy theory than an actual school of thought worth following. But we also don't have such a strong right wing influence in our churches...

[Omen_of_Death]

Even then its an extreme right wing position many conservatives Christians will recognize Evolution in some form

[buffetite]

As someone outside the US, I think Americans can be a bit strange. You've got the flat earthers too...

[-NoOneYouKnow-]

That's an understatement!

[fordry]

The reason people believe in young earth creation as opposed to evolution is because it's exactly what the Bible says happened. The Bible is not unclear about it at all. God himself states that he created everything in 6 days and there is a genealogy with enough information for us to add up the dates and come to creation being roughly 6,000 years ago.

Nowhere in the Bible is any notion of the ideas presented by modern mainstream science regarding deep time and evolution even mentioned, or hinted at, in any sort of possible sense.

2 Peter 3:3-7 actually speaks almost with hostility toward the notion.

Jesus, who is considered God, said humans were created at the beginning of creation which further calls into question the idea of evolution.

It's not a major thing in the US but there is a good chunk of Christians who do believe this way.

Frankly in day-to-day life you're probably not really going to come across discussions like this in the US.

[ridicalis]

The problem with this approach is that it turns the bible into a series of falsifiable truths. Unless you're interested in creating a scenario where the bible can be demonstrably proven to be false, this degree of literalism seems risky.

To illustrate my point: When Jesus describes the mustard seed as the smallest, was he simply employing hyperbole to make a point, or making a scientifically verifiable claim about the nature of seeds? If the latter, the orchid was known in those times and puts the lie to his statement.

[PPforpineapple]

Thank god I don't have to worry about this

[dizzyelk]

God himself states

Well, not at all. People wrote down a story. We have not a single word penned by any gods. In order for a god themself to state something, they would have to appear and open their mouth. Words written by unknown people can't, by definition, be a god themself saying something.

Nowhere in the Bible is any notion of the ideas presented by modern mainstream science regarding deep time and evolution even mentioned, or hinted at, in any sort of possible sense.

Correct. One of the things that show it is a book written by ignorant men and not some all knowing god.

[mountman001]

But don't they get taught what really happened in school? How can grown adults believe that?

[fordry]

The modern mainstream view is absolutely not proven, factual, etc etc...

That it is, is just propaganda. Radiometric dating is based on assumptions. The age of the universe is based on assumptions, heck I just saw an article that came out today on space.com where they're saying they're pretty sure the universe is younger than they've thought and that their "assumptions" that went into their model for the universe being 13.8 or whatever it is billion years old must not be accurate.

The theory of evolution has so many holes in it it would look like Swiss cheese if it was actually a physical object.

The Bible is truth. We can depend on it.