Why do christians/religious always mistake what a Theory is?

Question

This is a direct excerpt from: Physical Anthropology, the Essentials Seventh Edition, which will clear up (hopefully) some mistakes religious people have (most not all) about science and theories and how science works.

Theory: A broad statement about scientific relationships or underlying principles that has substantially verified (true) through the testing of hypotheses.

"Eventually, if a hypthesis stand up to repeated testing, it may become part of a theory or become a theory itself. There's a popular misconception that a theory is a mere conjecture, or a "hunch". But in science, theories are proposed explanations of relationships between natural phenomena. Theories usual concern a broader, more universal view than hypotheses, which have a narrower focus and deal with more specific relationships between phenomena. But like hypotheses, theories aren't facts (READ THIS CAREFULLY). They're tested explanatios of facts (theory of evolution is just testing the FACT that evolution occurs). For example, it's a fact that when you drop an object, it falls to the ground. The explanation for this fact is the Theory of Gravity. But, like hypotheses, theories can change over time with further experimentation...

There's one important fact about hypotheses and theories: any proposition that is stated as an absolute and/or doesn't allow the possibility of falsification (process of testing hypotheses) is not a scientific hypothesis and should never be considered as such. A crucial aspect of scientific statements is that there must be a way to evaluate their validity. Statements such as "Heaven exists" may well be true (that is, they may describe some kind of state of it), but there's no rational, empirical means, based on experience of experiment (no way to say, I have proof of god, or i've seen heaven or the proof of god and heaven exist...) of testing them. 

READ CAREFULLY:

Contrary to popular belief, the purpose of scientific research is not to establish absolute truths, rather, it's to generate ever more accurate and consistent explanations of phenomena in our universe based on observation and testing. At it's heart, scientific methodology is an exercise of rational thought and critical thinking.

THERE... YOU HAVE IT NOW.

And the religious say we ATHEISTS are the ARROGANT ones when we openly ADMIT we may be wrong, but have PROOF for our claims...

So they begs the question... why do the religious always brush off theories like they are just guesses or opinions, when they are not FACTS but they are the TESTINGS of PROVEN FACTS like GRAVITY and EVOLUTION?

Why do the religious shun science as "not correct" or "not knowing anything" when THEIR claims CANNOT be VERIFIED or given PROOF?

Seriously... i'm boggled as one person on this section claims that there is "proof of god everywhere" well, if the proof was there, wouldn't we all be christians/muslim/jewish?

The fact of the matter is that religious types (abrahamic monotheism for the most part) are like sigmund freud... they propose a lot of nice ideas that are colorful and creative, but most of it is crap because they cannot be tested or verified for truth or reliability...

So why? Why do you mock science when it establishes verifiable explanations? Why must scientists and atheists always fight with religious types?

Primal · Accepted Answer

They don't study science so it's only expected

Anonymous · Answer

Your premise is flawed from the very first statement (the rest is just a rant) because you used the word "always" in it.

I know you don't get it, but that means if even ONE Christian or person of ANY other religion, and only ONE time, did not mistake what a "theory" is, it negates your argument.

It might surprise you to know that students at Catholic high schools out-perform their public school counterparts on standardized testing, and have higher rates of graduation and college enrollment, as well.  I guess maybe they accomplish that by not studying science, as one of the more stupid answers on here stated, but I doubt it.  The statistics for this can be found at the US Department of Education website.

______________________
PS -- If you later used the phrase, "most, not all,"  it shows your poor writing skills. 
Your initial statement and the rest of the content should be in agreement.  So your opening statement would have been better written as "Why do Christians/religious SOMETIMES ...."  But it didn't.  You either very deliberately or carelessly used the term, "always."  And that makes anything else you said afterward completely irrelevant because your opening statement is a false premise.

Again, I know you don't get it.

_________________
The final comment you posted about critical thinking skills is ironic, considering the logical fallacy of your premise.

+++++++++
@Dark Lady: Making ignorant blanket statements as you have done shows that you don't really understand the meaning of  "intelligent conversation."

debbie2243 · Answer

science is here because God created all things...and evolution is a myth and a lie not a theory.
Adam named all of the plants and animals..he wasked through the garden in the breezy part of the day talking to God...he had an extensive vocabulary and he was perfect in mind and body.....not a caveman that came from a protozoa.

SCOTGIRL...you get a better education about creation from the bible....scientists from around the globe have researched the bible to find treasures beyond belief...and galaxies mankind did not comprehend

Jack · Answer

You sure don't know much about science.

Theory is a general word.  You are applying it very specifically.  Not all theories are based upon testings of proven facts.

You fail.  Try again.

Theories are guesses OR opinions which may or may not be based upon observations.  Further, assumptions may or may not be false.

False assumptions usually lead to false conclusions.  Educated guesses are based upon current understanding/education.

And you call people who practice religion in error?  Specifically it is you who are in error.  There are plenty of atheists who know this stuff.  Why don't you?

Oh yeah...you just like to argue and insult people with whom you disagree.

Dark Lady · Answer

They do not want to be disturbed by the facts, even when the presenter is also of their faith. Instead they wish they could just get out the stones and clubs and beat them to death. They would rather be delusional and wrong, then have truth and be right, all over silly little books. Tragic waste. I avoid having intelligent conversations with those sorts, it would not be intelligent, nor really a conversation. (Psst..Try explaining to my neighbors the internet is a good thing, they will want to tar and feather you, so imagine how far you get with things like gravity and evolution)

? · Answer

The operative word would have been "some" but you completely through that out the window.

not everyone is like this and if someone believes in God and says that there doesn't have to be physical or scientific evidence to make others see, then that's their faith.

judgmental

word · Answer

Here's what I want to know.. how creationists think a STORY is more valid than a theory...

I wish they understood that the bible isn't a science book. They're missing the point

Lizzyyyy · Answer

I know what a theory is because I actually find Science interesting. <----That statement just proved your 'theory' wrong that Christians mistake what a theory is (:

sophieb · Answer

Whatever all that was, well christians/religious don't generally mistake what a theory is, but maybe just "some" "people" do.

Anonymous · Answer

It's funny how the new atheism intends to transform every religious person into a creationist :-)

Uncle Bullets · Answer

They will read the same passages over and over again in their bibles, but they won't read what you've written.  Some people are too far out on the ledge to ever be brought back in.  We have to except that and move on...

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Why do christians/religious always mistake what a Theory is?

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