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The earth is round.
I recall from my history lessons that the christian church stoned people for this.
Proof: pictures from space. <Oh what? you think NASA faked it? oh well...>
ok, i have to give you this one. If you had said just this I wouldn't have much of a response. I could argue that you've never personally seen it or that space may provide some sort of unknown element that defracts the way things are seen, but that would be silly and would only invite the same responses I have gotten in the past.
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The earth is 4-5 Billion years old.
I understand that the bible puts it between 6-8000 years old.
There are many differing opinions of where the bible puts the world in age. IMO, it says neither here nor there on the issue. In any case, I look at any calculations based on the bible the same as I do my comments below...
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Proof: This conclusion was based upon carefully designed and conducted experiments that compared the ratios in rock samples of parent elements to daughter elements ( some of which would have been from radioactive decay of the parent, some of which may have been present in the sample at the time of formation).
Since radioactive decay is known to occur at a constant rate, the age of a rock can be determined from the ratio of the parent element to the daughter element.
now you use the same terminology here that bothers me about science as much as I am bothered by organized religion. You say "carefully designed and conducted experiments" as though you hope to convey that they were performed with so much care and education that there could be no error. This is essentially my arguement on the accuracy of any science.
Most research is done with the most accurate and careful intentions initially. But how many times in the history of man (that we can recall from record) has a mistake been made in research? You can't say it was just the christians who thought the earth was not round. And your basically saying that they were the only ones throwing stones..or your failing to identify with all of the masses.
It all starts with theory. After that its theory after theory after theory. Some theories end up supporting others, while others disprove its ancestoral theories. To deny that science has elements of these both and is void of anything but fact is pure fallacy.
I watched a discovery channel special the other night about Oliver...once thought by many cultural sciences to be something not chimpanzee. Early chromozome tests put him at 47..right between human and chimp. It wasn't until years later that better research was available and it was proven and then documented he was a chimp with 48. Half the world was decieved by science until then thinking he was something other than that. The poor thing even stayed locked up in a research pen for 9 years for the same reason.
I don't deny that religion has its flaws...thats the problem with organized religion..especially when people start making up their own beliefs and claiming they are the only way to go. I'm not denying I am guilty of the same, but we're all hypocrites in some way or another at points in our life. But you can't deny science is flawed much in the same way.
One thing that is common however, is the faith its believers have in it. If someone posted on here they had a purple dog in their backyard, both of us are going to be skeptical. If you applied example to our beliefs, one of the main differences is that you would want tests and pictures for you to believe it and I would apply my life experiences and religious faith to it before I believed it.
To say that either one of us is right or wrong is kind of premature don't you think?
