Why does evolution matter?

[Unix]

Certainly the idea that our society should be governed in detail by the supposed word of god is an impediment to real progress but not all religion is like that.

Some just get great comfort from it and do not attempt to impose it others at all. Many British Christians, esp. COE and Baptists, (not to be confused with that "Baptist" church in the US) fall into that category. They are no threat to the rest of us.

The problem is not religion but human nature. Take away religion and other irrational ideas will soon fill the gap. Political views can be just as extreme and damaging. ISIS/Al Quaida/Bocu Harem have got to kill an awful lot more people before they catch up with Pol Pot, let alone Hitler, Stalin or Mao Zedong.

None of those you mention did what they did because of atheism and they were all raised with religion. It can be argued Hitler was a Catholic and used God in a lot of his speeches. That being said, Nazism and Communism are similar to religions in that the followers believe in concepts and ideas in faith usually handed down from authority figures.

[xoggoth]

I didn't say it was for atheism, they are just political creeds. People can be irrational about adherence to all sorts of ideals whether god comes into it or not.

Worse maybe, at least one cannot prove god does not exist whereas communists still believe in it despite the failure of every Communist regime. I don't know how many times I've been told by some lefty, when I've pointed out the economic failures and oppression, that the USSR, China, Vietnam, Cuba etc were not really communist states. They have this ridiculous idea that a perfect communist state where all things are held in common, where everyone will happily share with those they do not know regardless of relative contributions, can some day be a reality. Pity about human nature.

[NotAllThere]

None of those you mention did what they did because of atheism ...

Well, excepting Hitler who embraced a myth that could be considered a religion in its own right, they were inspired by non-religious ideologies and communism is an atheistic ideology.

So if your vision is true, you'd not only have to dispose of/evolve out of/educate away from all religion but you'd also have to dispose of/evolve out of/educate away from all ideologies (and maybe ideology is what you mean by religion, seeing as you seem to consider that you can a religion without a god or other supernatural element). Call me a pessimist, but I don't thinks that's going to happen - especially as your vision itself is an ideology.

You could restrict it to all harmful ideologies, but what is considered harmful is a matter of opinion. Creationists consider evolution to be harmful, as (according to their interpretation, not held by all, or even the majority of Christians) it contradicts the bible, belief in which is the only way to avoid hell.

[Mich the Tester]

Watching a Channel 4 thing about extremist schools last night, Muslim, Jewish and Christian, and it was big deal that some were teaching creationism.

...

Seems to me that some people treat atheism or science as religion, requiring people to believe in them even when it does not really matter.

There are a lot of people struggling to get on in life; unemployment, tulipty dead end McJobs, poor health choices and so on. Evolution is a pretty fundamental part of modern science, and our economies are now driven largely by scientific discoveries; IT is an obvious example but there are many others. I'm concerned that if big important chunks of science are left out of education then many people, probably those whose chances aren't the best anyway, will simply not have the opportunities to get on in life that was once the ideal of universal education. OK, so not everybody can be a microbiologist or an astronaut. But microbiologists need lab assistants who may want to learn more about science; don't allow that kind of opportunity to be cut off early in life.

I'd also say that knowledge itself is a form of wealth and can be a source of great pleasure to people.

[OwlHoot]

As a significant token of "received knowledge", creationism is a sort of bellwether in that once people accept the theory of evolution they free themselves from the obligation to believe that everything in their religion is literally true (without necessarily rejecting it entirely).

It's ironic that some Christian fundies are still so hung up on evolution when Christ himself would almost certainly have been an enthusiastic adherent!

Behold, a sower went forth to sow;

And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:

Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:

And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away.

Others fell among thorns, and the thorns came up and choked them.

But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit,

Matthew Ch 13 v 3

[Old Greg]

I didn't say it was for atheism, they are just political creeds. People can be irrational about adherence to all sorts of ideals whether god comes into it or not.

Worse maybe, at least one cannot prove god does not exist whereas communists still believe in it despite the failure of every Communist regime. I don't know how many times I've been told by some lefty, when I've pointed out the economic failures and oppression, that the USSR, China, Vietnam, Cuba etc were not really communist states. They have this ridiculous idea that a perfect communist state where all things are held in common, where everyone will happily share with those they do not know regardless of relative contributions, can some day be a reality. Pity about human nature.

Almost nobody has a view of a perfect communist state. Utopian socialism fell out of fashion 100 years ago.

[alluvial]

Herring gulls and black-backed gulls: Evidence for Evolution - page 10

And what was the moth that changed colour when tree bark was blackened by local factories during the industrial revolution?

[SpontaneousOrder]

Only a small minority of people believe that any and all religious teaching damages children's minds. Very few people seriously hold that religious belief is a symptom of insanity.

But it's nice to know that atheists are also capable of living in la-la land.

So sanity is statistical then?

[SpontaneousOrder]

do you have kids ?
did you ever tell them about father Christmas ? or the easter bunny

No quite yet.
My other half and I have had this conversation. The plan is to go with the flow until they ask "Daddy... is that really father Christmas?" at which point we'll say no. Father Christmas is a character just like batman or whoever.

The ideal is to be able to say to my child that I have never knowingly told them a lie.

Clearly some truths will have to be disseminated in packages that a child is able to understand.

[evilagent]

Evolution matters since it is more reasonable than believing that mankind was created from dust or from a clot of blood. (or even a spare rib).

It is a emotional or psychological barrier to overcome that we came from the same stock as chimps.
And we have sufficient biological overlap that we can receive pigs heart valves as organ replacements.

Non-evolution, ie, religious perspective requires a belief on some sort of divine superiority of some form. This in turn becomes a specific superiority over other humans, sadly.

As for the Cambrian Explosion.
We can discuss that by looking at evidence at arriving at a reasoned explanation.
Or, alternatively, ignore it if you believe it happened more than 6,000 years ago.