What drives those of Faith to ignore Scientific Facts?

I have often wondered what it is that drives some people of faith despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary...to refuse to acknowledge such facts a Quantum and Biological Evolution....the Earth being over 4.5 Billion Years Old....the Universe which we can see to it's edge being finite....etc...?

They will ignore all the facts and the evidence but yet at the same time can believe without question in completely unproven and without evidence Supernatural descriptions of events in ancient texts.

AboveAlpha

 

I would say fear, indoctrination, ignorance.

 

Pretty Good Answer! LOL!!!

I think Indoctrination might be #1.

AboveAlpha

 

I would say the title of the thread is missing the word "some". Most people of faith see no conflict between scientific facts and their religious beliefs. Those who follow a strict interpretation of creationism or the bible are in fact a small minority.

 

I have the word some in my opening post.

You are correct that there are people of faith that do in fact acknowledge the facts....but the ones who do not seem to be very vocal and one big pain in the ass.

AboveAlpha

 

'some' would be a understatement in the USA.
http://www.gallup.com/poll/155003/Hold-Creationist-View-Human-Origins.aspx

 

I am related to a few of them. They are good people, but I don't talk politics or religion with them and come to message boards to debate. It keeps love in the family.

 

I guess I read right passed that. Frankly, I couldn't care less if people think God is a giant snail in the sky. That's the great thing about our country, people are free to think what they want. It don't bother me one bit.

 

I have a College Friend who has a Mom and Dad and Family like that and I once went to their home for Thanksgiving.

It took all I had to keep my mouth shut.

AboveAlpha

 

They are also the ones that though smaller in number are able to have an influence on textbooks and policy.

 

I could care less as well what another persons religious beliefs are as long as they are not P!$$!NG ME OFF early Saturday morning.

AboveAlpha

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Yeah...but fortunately that issue has been mostly rectified.

AboveAlpha

 

Mostly! But some are very persistent.

 

Persistent...yes....In their right minds...NO!

Just look at the idiocy and debacle that was Intelligent Design.

AboveAlpha

 

Comparative religion classes, but not science!

 

Have you ever took a look at that Pandas and something Intelligent Design Book....it is neither intelligent nor is there a design.

It is quite possibly the single most idiotic thing ever written.

AboveAlpha

 

If something is a fact, and is indisputable, it should be accepted. A literal interpretation of Genesis does not correlate to what we can observe and measure as fact; I'm aware of this. I'm not a Fundamentalist.

Fundamentalists perceived a secularizing trend within Protestantism that tried to weaken the Christian message. They viewed the secularized Protestantism as more of a social and political agenda; which embraced Darwinism, which called into question the reliability of Scripture; and the higher criticism of the Bible.

Reactionary, but well meaning I believe.

"I can easily conceive, most Holy Father, that as soon as some people learn that in this book which I have written concerning the revolutions of the heavenly bodies, I ascribe certain motions to the Earth, they will cry out at once that I and my theory should be rejected." ~ Nicolaus Copernicus

Long before Darwin, it was Copernicus who challenged the religious sentiment of the times that indeed the Earth revolved around the Sun and was not the center of the Universe.

He was a man of faith...he knew this knowledge would be perceived as a threat to the very faith he professed...yet he persisted in presenting it as truth.

An admirable man in my opinion.

Atheists should consider his life...before blanketing all religious as "science haters."

 

I would agree and as I have stated I am not an Atheist....but I am a REALIST.

AboveAlpha

 

Obviously the OP does't understand what a fact is.

 

Answer: Faith.

 

And how is this so?

AboveAlpha

 

Hyperbole aside.
Take at look at information theory as applied to intelligent design. It's the mathematical study of the coding of information in the form of sequences of symbols, impulses, etc.

There is more information contained within a strand of DNA than in the entire Encyclopedia Brittanica.

I don't view it as non-sensical as you purport it to be.

The process has been on going for BILLIONS of years...following the tried and true GIGO...garbage in, garbage out...it's plausible there might be a few bugs in the transfer of information.

Heck, take a look at Microsoft Vista....talk about a mistake...

Why is it so far fetched to apply information theory as evidence of some sort of intelligent design.

Yes, the anthropomorphic "God" as ascribed in Scripture is supposed to be omniscient. He doesn't make mistakes. I'm aware of that...but a complete dismissal of design should not be considered merely because flaws in the "design" are evident.

Try writing a program that lasts for 3.4 billion years!

I'd say God is far more adept than Microsoft.

 

The problem is that Intelligent Design as developed by those who put out such books is completely non-scientific.

This is contrary to the concept of an Intelligent Designer of our Universe or Multiverse which is a possibility.

AboveAlpha

 

Some people are just gullible. It's like, if you want to believe in the theory of evolution or whatever, that's fine, but don't just take your science teacher's word for it. Look into it, look into the political aspects of it, the intentions and motives of those who preach it, what nefarious ideals they're attempting to sublimate. Don't accept it when they say there is none, know better, because there's always something they want to downplay or gloss over. Always treat your scientists like they're thugs on probation, be their parole officer, because they are the enablers of virtually every evil thing that mankind has done in the past 200 years and they know it and still do it anyways.

 

Here is my case and point.

AboveAlpha

 

You are saying, every scientist, from every field has an agenda and has done evil? They are all plotting together or separately?