ATHEIST I HAVE EVOLUTION QUESTIONS?

I apologise for my fellow atheists' disrespect.

1. Most atheists agree with evolution. I can't speak for everyone.

2. I'll use a modified version of the common example of Darwin's finches here:

A load of birds on an island all eat sunflower seeds. All of a sudden, there is a drought on this island and there aren't any more sunflower seeds for all of the birds to eat. They have to start eating walnuts. The birds with the bigger beaks can eat the walnuts easier, and the birds with smaller beaks can't eat them, so they die, leaving only the ones with big beaks. The surviving birds all have big beaks, and so these genes are passed on to offspring. The bigger the beak, the better chance the bird has of surviving, so only the genes for the biggest beaks are passes down and so this species of birds all have very big beaks.

I hope this helped out understand.

1. Why are you asking atheists? Ask an evolutionary biologist. The only thing all atheists have in common is a lack of belief in gods. There may be a few atheists that don't understand evolution or have some obscure views for some reason. That's because not all atheists are scientists, and their "beliefs" are irrelevant. It doesn't matter what you believe, evolution is scientific fact. The one's who don't understand evolution are the ones who are wrong, and the ones who do understand evolution are the ones who are right. This is a stupid question; you are treating evolution like it is a subjective belief and not an objective fact.

2. Once again, this is probably better explained by a biologist, but I'll try anyway if it makes you happy: "Divergence of species by natural selection." It may be wrong, but hey, I'm not a biologist, and never claimed to understand evolution in the first place. I merely lack belief in gods due to a lack of evidence.

I didn't realise by "in as few words as possible" you wanted a full paragraph. (I didn't bother reading your summary of Christianity by the way. I really don't care what you believe until you can provide some evidence.) I'll try to explain, to the best of my layman knowledge, the processes of evolution. (Even though once again, you should be asking in the biology section.)

The origin of life is best explained by abiogenesis; self replicating molecules arising from non-living organic matter, in what was known as a "primordial soup" that contained all the elements necessary for life. Some molecules disintegrated too quickly, but other molecules were more "durable". The more durable molecules continued to replicate but occasionally a replica was not exact. It had a fault, or "mutation" in it, that made it different to most molecules. Many of these faults caused the molecules to disintegrate too quickly, but eventually, they formed a cell-like structure which was even more protected than the rest of the molecules. These cells continued to multiply and whenever a beneficial mutation occured, the mutated cells survived for longer. The disadvantageous mutations caused those cells to die more quickly. Over billions of years, the cells continued to mutate and the beneficial traits survived while the weakening traits died out. Multicellular forms were produced, then more complex life, then plants, then fish, then frogs, then lizards, then mammals including humans. If you still don't understand the process of natural selection, here's an example: Giraffes used to have necks of various lengths. Giraffes with short necks cannot reach leaves of tall trees. Therefore they die out. Giraffes with long necks can read the leaves of tall trees. Therefore, they survive. This is why we have giraffes with long necks. Almost every trait of every organism can be explained in a way similar to this.

I'm not biologist, so don't take this word for word. Go do some proper research.

- Evolution - change over time, nothing else.

God created the world, space, and time.

- No one has ever produced any evidence of a deity, there is massive evidence of evolution.

Sin cannot exist in Heaven,

- You have not proven god, have not proven heaven and sin is anything you do not like.

Earth is a temporary place in which we live and serve God in order to enter into Heaven.

- This god made man with free will yet tortures them forever for using that free will.

when I bring up basic beliefs that are at the root of Evolution, some people say they are wrong or I don't understand.

- Evolution is not a "belief" it is a fact.

If I asked do you believe in evolution, yes or no?

- That is like asking if you "believe" in gravity.

But what is accepting something to be true if it is not believing it? THEY ARE SYNONYMOUS!

- I "believe" in gravity because it is a proven fact, you, collectively, "believe" in a deity for which there is no evidence. Your "opinions" are not evidence. It is your imagination, not fact.

Basically when an organism produces offspring there is a genetic mutation which causes a change. For example a few million years ago a giraffe was born which had longer legs and neck than its siblings. This meant that it could reach higher and get more food. It passed the longer neck and legs gene to its offspring. Eventually the group with this gene left and created a new species. Obviously that's quite simplified. There are tiny changes over millions of years. A common misconception is that evolution is intelligent. It's not. Organisms just have random mutations that either help or hinder them.

"because when I bring up basic beliefs that are at the root of Evolution"

Evolution is science and is not a matter of belief but of evidence. You can accept the evidence or you can reject it but belief does not come into it. Evolution is the change in organisms over time and the changes are caused by random mutations and natural selection (which is not random). Evolution has been observed in the wild and in the laboratory and is a fact. The Theory of Evolution explains how it occurs.

I am not sure what the "tenants of salvation" are. Do they pay rent?

The environment (both geographical and biological) exerts pressure on organisms. Those suited to the environment survive and typically reproduce equally well-suited offspring. If the environmental pressures change, the definition of what makes a best-suited organism changes, and the cycle continues.

EDIT: There's a simple elegance to it, and it's supported by evidence and observation - those saying it's a theory and not a fact are playing at religious politics and rely heavily upon the ignorance (about evolution) of those they're trying to convince.

1) I doubt it. Even scientists aren't.

2) All living things reproduce. Reproduction produces variation. There are not enough resources for all offspring to survive. Consequentially, those offspring most suited to the prevailing circumstances will have a better chance to reproduce successfully than the others. Changing circumstances and genetic drift lead to genetic changes and speciation. The end.

"Sin cannot exist in Heaven, and it separates us from God, so He made Hell for sin to dwell. Earth is a temporary place in which we live and serve God in order to enter into Heaven. Since we can never be worthy of Heaven because of our sins, God's only resolution is Jesus Christ. By God's grace and by man's obedience to God, mankind would be saved." - why did God do this again please ...?

Why give us original sin and free will ... why the test to put it bluntly ... why is he testing us ... for what reason would a divine being do this please ?

1. who knows

2. evolution explains the origin of different species. (not life or the origin of the universe, that's for other scientific studies)

"The reason I ask you to summarize Evolution is because when I bring up basic beliefs that are at the root of Evolution, some people say they are wrong or I don't understand."

"BASIC BELIEVES that are the root of evolution" is the first reason why you are wrong or you didn't understand. based by what you wrote here, you start from the false premise that ToE is a belief. beliefs are devoid of credible evidence to back them up, scientific theories (yes, this word means something completely different in science) are not.

@lature t: i KNOW i exist not just because i can see, feel, etc myself, but the physical traces i leave behind, being captured on camera, interaction with strangers, etc all confirm this.

I know 2+2=4, because we humans have created and designated the numbers, their symbols and amount values. (we call a single object and symbolize its amount with a "1", and so forth)

"....So why is it not a belief?"

because as I said before a belief is based on nothing but empty hope or faith. you're allowed to believe in the mythological dragon sleeping in my yard, but you will know its not true when i fail to support this claim or by the sheer fact that dragons don't exist and that the closest thing to it are komodo dragons. (which are just wingless, fire-breathless, overgrown lizards)

evolution is NOT based on "hope" or "faith" that it has happened, it did and it is still happening. evolution has evidence, the current results of it that you can easily see are in your yard, on your skin (albeit with a microscope and some petri-dish), in your mirror.

your are free to research this yourself and accept these facts or ignore them all together. keep in mind though that, in this day and age, ignoring the fact of evolution is exactly as stating, in this day and age, that the earth is flat. again ignorance is a choice.

Sam, nobody has ever witnessed evolution and DNA dies in a very short space of time. Without either to back up your point from a scientific point of view, calling evolution a 'fact' can only be seen as a mythological theory you've accepted. Theories are not fact and there are 26 theories of evolution that contradict each other. Start at square 1 before you carry on.