Do religious people understand the difference between absolute truth and that which evidence supports?

I have a "higher" IQ - I consider myself strong in my faith! If you wish to carry this debate, they are no absolute truths. There is always room for interpretation and correction. Religion is not about just a written word but about an inner search for meaning and peace.

I happen to be Christian and within my "family" we have Dr's, RN's, PHD's and more. I don't think we have a "problem" with understanding intellectual pursuits. I think the pure intellectual has a problem with understanding faith! It takes a greater mind to acknowledge that which can not be tabulated or recreated.

Why do you 'lump' all religious people together as if they were not individuals that may be part of different sub-groups of differerent religions, and perhaps even believing in different gods or having different world views or different beliefs about the nature of reality or of truth? Why does it appear that you assume that they were all indoctrinated as childen or that many are not also rational thinkers?

This is not to disagree with some of your statements or your general argument, but an effort to help you to make better or more rational arguments in the future and to help you avoid appearing as if you had the absolute truth and those who disagree with you believe in falsehoods.. Look at your last few sentences and see how you might re-word them, so as to be less prejudiced, close-minded, and irrational.

Your first paragraph from "Rational people look..." to the end of that paragraph; I agree. Your second paragraph, I somewhat agree.

I have done extensive research on absolutes. There are very few absolutes, in science. In theism, there are no limits, to absolutes. And, in philosophy, it is the ultimate basis of all thought, reasoning, or being. I have concluded, that is either true or untrue. Nothing more, nothing less. Hopefully, this is what you may be referring to.

This isn't an absolute. Some religious people are highly educated and have made a choice to live in faith. Some are uneducated and ignorant, and accept anything their religious leader tells them. It would be ignorant on my part to presume them all to be the same. I'm an atheist with an inquiring mind.

Whodat: Atheism is a belief, not a religion. You know that, I'm sure. Does it offend you to call a religious person religious? I'm not offended to be called an atheist.

Norma Jeane: Evolution is a scientific fact with a complete fossil record. It's safe for you to accept it now.

I totally agree. I grew up in the church and the bible was always referred to as the Truth. (note the capital T) They really referred to anything that was interpreted as god's word as 'the Truth,' whether god said it or not.

I think anytime things are considered either black or white, extreme left or extreme right, information gets ignored. That's devastating to the process of learning and growth.

I can accept that there is sometimes only one truth, but I always consider that no one knows definitely what that truth happens to be - at least I don't know.

The idea of god is the end-all. You can't question god and have faith, therefore god is the Truth in the eyes of believers or else they become non-believers.

"If you could rationalize with religious people, there would be no religious people."

~ House M.D.

Honestly, I think there are a lot of people on both sides (theist and non-theist) who don't realize that. There are lots of atheists, for example, who don't question the existence of people like Aristotle, Julius Caesar, and Columbus, yet they (not all, but some) have what seems like an irrational denial about even the possibility that Jesus existed. So it's not just (some) religious people who don't understand the difference - there are quite a few atheists as well.

Btw, your line about being brainwashed as children does not account for people who were atheists/agnostics and became religious as adults.

It could be a side-effect. A scripture in James (forgot the chapter) says that "bitter water cannot flow from a sweet stream", they don't accept the inbetweens...

I'm not sure if its actually explicitly said, but its like doubting the Bible/God. Its just a cultural(refering to Christian culture) taboo. Believing in in-betweens is just something they normally don't do.

Then again, this might be stereotyping. And Correlation does not equal Causation.

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.(1 Corinthians 1:21 NIV)

Do you understand what God teaches?

The wisdom of the world has nothing to do with the wisdom of God. Otherwise, man would be able to understand the wisdom of God through the wisdom of the world. As it is, the message of the cross seems foolish to the worldly wise.

Those who believe in the message of the cross will be saved, but those to whom the message seems foolish, will not be saved.

God our Savior...wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.(see 1 Timothy 2:3,4)

All and I mean all religions know the truth they just do not accept it, so religious ignorants continues on feeding billions of dollars yearly into it, simply unbelievable.

The advice given to combat cot death has changed so many times over the years because the cause is not really known. A christian would not be able to take the new advice as they believe what they have been told without question.