[_ Old Earth _] Self Esteem

[Khristeeanos]

The evolutionists view of self-esteem.

"You are a descendant of a tiny cell pre-mortal protoplasm that washed up on the beach 4.5 billion years ago. You are the blind and arbitrary product of time, chance, and natural forces. Your closest relatives swing from trees and eat crackers at a zoo. You are a mere grab bag of atomic particles; a conglomeration of genetic substances. You are one of billions that exist on a tiny planet in a minute solar system in an obscure galaxy in a lonely and empty corner of a vast cold and meaningless universe. You are flying through lifeless space with no purpose, no direction, no control, and no destiny but final destruction. You are a purely biological entity different only in degree but not in kind from microbes, viruses, and amoebas. You have no essence beyond your body, and at death you will cease to exist entirely. What little life you do have is confined to a fragile body, aimlessly wandering around a world plagued by war, famine, and disease. The only question is whether the world will blow itself up before your brief and pointless life ends on its own. In short, you came from nothing, you are going nowhere, and you will end your brief cosmic journey beneath six feet of dirt where all that was you will become food for bacteria and rot for worms."

The Creationists view of self-esteem.

"You are a special creation of a good and all powerful God. You are the climax of His creation, the magna opus of the greatest Artist in the universe. You are created in His image, with capacities to think, feel, and worship that set you above all other life forms. You differ from the animals not simply in degree but in kind. Not only is your kind unique, but you are unique among your kind. God has masterminded the exact combination of DNA and chromosomes that constitute your genetic code making you as different from others as each snowflake differs from the rest. Your creator loved you so much and so intensely desires your companionship and affection, that despite your rebellion, He gave the life of His only Son that you might spend eternity with Him. If you are willing to accept the gift of salvation, you can become a child of God, the King of the universe. As a Christian, you are clothed with the righteousness of Christ. He has given you special gifts and abilities to serve Him in a particular and unique way. Your heavenly Father is sovereign and will allow nothing to cross your path that is not Father filtered. He cares for you so much that He is available to you at all times and listens to every word you say. He cares deeply about your hurts and has a special plan and purpose for your life. He has given you the inspired Word of God as a road map of living. He gives you the Truth that sets you free, life that is eternal and abundant, and a spiritual family that loves you and needs you. Your destiny is to live forever in a magnificent kingdom to reign with Christ over the universe. You will forever enjoy the wonders of His presence and the marvels of His creation. You will spend eternity in an intimate, and joyful fellowship with your beloved Lord and your precious spiritual family."

 

[moniker]

I didn't realize the theory of evolution was also a branch philosophy I had thought the two were separate entities. What you were describing sounds much more like Nihilism instead of evolution. Why is that? Why did you choose to infer it from evolution over, say, humanism or rationalism, or pretty much any one of these?

 

[SyntaxVorlon]

What little life you do have is confined to a fragile body, aimlessly wandering around a world plagued by war, famine, and disease. The only question is whether the world will blow itself up before your brief and pointless life ends on its own. In short, you came from nothing, you are going nowhere, and you will end your brief cosmic journey beneath six feet of dirt where all that was you will become food for bacteria and rot for worms

Wow, you christians sure get depressed when you think about a world without god, it's like you're addicted to religion or something, afraid that if you go off for just one minute the crushing dispair of reality will come crashing down on your shoulders. I suppose that's where emo comes from.

The thing is you forgot something, I am a sentient being; I have the ability, not an entirely special one, to reconstruct bits of reality in the form of information within my mind, manipulate it there and make that manipulated reality the one outside by my actions. We humans have been purposefully shaping our world for millenia and we are just beginning to understand the scope of our ability to do so.
We do not have purpose, we create it. We do not have direction, we move ourselves. We are not controlled, we are independent. We do not have a destiny, we have a future. We don't have a god, we have eachother.

 

[jwu]

Oh, and evolution does not equal atheism...

 

[Khristeeanos]

he he he


Ron Carlson wrote that, not me.

 

[reznwerks]

Why should the truth hurt my self esteem. I don't see why originating billions of years ago from pre mortal protoplasm to be any less of a status than springing up from the dirt. We all know whats in dirt especially since man was the last to be created on the biblical timeline. Unfortunately we are going nowhere unless someone can come up with real evidence and not wishful thinking. As to being special I know that I am special and so are all humans. There are none like us anywhere in the galaxy with the capability to purposely influence our environement. As to being free , I am. The truth has set me free.

 

[ArtGuy]

he he he


Ron Carlson wrote that, not me.

Ah, well that's good, because that means it's Ron Carlson, and not you, who has no idea what he's talking about, deliberately conflates evolution with atheism, has a poor grasp of relevant terminology, and should refrain from committing his thoughts to paper if he doesn't wish to continue making a fool of himself.

That was pure swill.

 

[Khristeeanos]

Now now AG, shouldn't you show more love and compassion to your brother in Christ? :D

 

[ArtGuy]

Now now AG, shouldn't you show more love and compassion to your brother in Christ? :D

My love and compassion for Ron Carlson is pretty moot, here. When someone says something idiotic, I call him on it. Ron said something idiotic, and I was simply pointing this out. In my typically less-than-delicate manner.

 

[Khristeeanos]

Now now AG, shouldn't you show more love and compassion to your brother in Christ? :D

My love and compassion for Ron Carlson is pretty moot, here. When someone says something idiotic, I call him on it. Ron said something idiotic, and I was simply pointing this out. In my typically less-than-delicate manner.

Don't you mean something that your personal views disagree with?

Did I say that in a slightly-more-but-albeit-barely-more-delicate manner than you? :

 

[moniker]

Now now AG, shouldn't you show more love and compassion to your brother in Christ? :D

My love and compassion for Ron Carlson is pretty moot, here. When someone says something idiotic, I call him on it. Ron said something idiotic, and I was simply pointing this out. In my typically less-than-delicate manner.

Don't you mean something that your personal views disagree with?

Did I say that in a slightly-more-but-albeit-barely-more-delicate manner than you? :

He imbued science with philosophy and psychology, not only that but he did it in a very selective fashion. That is quite objectively wrong.

 

[Slevin]

The evolutionists view of self-esteem.

"You are a descendant of a tiny cell pre-mortal protoplasm that washed up on the beach 4.5 billion years ago. You are the blind and arbitrary product of time, chance, and natural forces. Your closest relatives swing from trees and eat crackers at a zoo. You are a mere grab bag of atomic particles; a conglomeration of genetic substances. You are one of billions that exist on a tiny planet in a minute solar system in an obscure galaxy in a lonely and empty corner of a vast cold and meaningless universe. You are flying through lifeless space with no purpose, no direction, no control, and no destiny but final destruction. You are a purely biological entity different only in degree but not in kind from microbes, viruses, and amoebas. You have no essence beyond your body, and at death you will cease to exist entirely. What little life you do have is confined to a fragile body, aimlessly wandering around a world plagued by war, famine, and disease. The only question is whether the world will blow itself up before your brief and pointless life ends on its own. In short, you came from nothing, you are going nowhere, and you will end your brief cosmic journey beneath six feet of dirt where all that was you will become food for bacteria and rot for worms."

Hey wow, science is a descriptive system not a prescriptive system. Thanks for comin out.

 

[Duder]

.

Ah, well that's good, because that means it's Ron Carlson, and not you, who has no idea what he's talking about, deliberately conflates evolution with atheism, has a poor grasp of relevant terminology, and should refrain from committing his thoughts to paper if he doesn't wish to continue making a fool of himself.

That was pure swill.

Hello, Artguy -

You are right to point out that the author is wrong in how he equates evolution with atheistic naturalism. One can be a theistic evolutionist, and probably, most Christians are leaning in that direction nowadays.

But I do not think it was at all a foolish essay. Rather, it very aptly expressed (if in a technically flawed way) the essence of a kind of existential angst that occurs when reductionism reduces the human spirit to the inertial motions of dead atoms and the interplay of dumb fields.

.

 

[ArtGuy]

But I do not think it was at all a foolish essay. Rather, it very aptly expressed (if in a technically flawed way) the essence of a kind of existential angst that occurs when reductionism reduces the human spirit to the inertial motions of dead atoms and the interplay of dumb fields.

It contained points that could have been valid if not for his mile-wide paintbrush. There are flavors of nihilism that contain such a view of pointlessness. However, they: are not all that prevalent, even amongst atheists; have little to do with evolution; and seem to disproportionately exist in an angsty youth that's typically emo for the sake of being emo. This is by no means the dominant sentiment amongst atheists - most of them seem to be of the opinion that life has great meaning, even if there's nothing more than this brief physical coil. Some even posit that this life is all the more meaningful precisely because it's all there is.

The biggest flaw, though, is in the assertion that evolution implies godlessness, and this is demonstrably not the case, as evidenced by the large number of theistic evolutionists who exist on this very board. I'm sure that Mr. Carlson would strike back that these aren't real Christians, or something equally silly, but at the end of the day, this article belies a shocking failure to grasp the mentality that he claims to know so well.

In the hands of a more thoughtful author, a useful point could perhaps have been made. In Carlson's clumsy, flailing hands, though, what we got was nonsense on stilts.

 

[Khristeeanos]

I am sorry that many Christians compromise God's perfect Word with the falliable theories of men.

 

[ArtGuy]

I am sorry that many Christians compromise God's perfect Word with the falliable theories of men.

As am I, buddy. As am I.

 

[Hogan]

I will take fact over fiction any day.

I don't need mythology to make me a good person, to do good things, and to be content with my life, love, and family.

 

[ArtGuy]

...

Whee, more argument via bumper sticker.

 

[Featherbop]

Believing in evolution causes low self esteem?

Believing in death can cause depression. So what is the argument? That if something is negative(which, by the way I don't even see how belief in evolution hurts self esteem, I hadn't even heard that before this thread) then don't believe in it?

If all you can do is produce an "argument" like that, then no one will have any reason to take you seriously, and you will close the door to honest, reasonable, legitimate debate with others.

 

[Hogan]

...

Whee, more argument via bumper sticker.

Sorry if I was not verbose enough for you. I prefer to keep my comments to a minimum. I don't really see the point of typing six paragraphs when six words will say the same thing.

I suppose I could go find volumes of text out there to support my position and paste it into the post... sort of like quoting 50 lines of scripture as proof that god does exist.