Not sure why the poll indicates more Republicans do not believe in evolution, I thought they were all "gung ho" on "survival of the fittest"  ??!!.

In the beginning before there were people, before there were animals a lone woman lived in a cave. She lived on the roots and berries of the plants. One night a magical dog crept into her cave and stretched out on the her bed beside her. As the night grew long the dog began to change. His body became smooth and almost hairless. His limbs grew long and straight. His features changed into those of a handsome warrior. Nine months later the woman birthed a child. He was the first Chippewa male and through him came the Chippewa peoples.

Or this one.

In the beginning was only Tepeu and Gucumatz (Feathered Serpent). These two sat together and thought, and whatever they thought came into being. They thought Earth, and there it was. They thought mountains, and so there were. They thought trees, and sky, and animals etc, and each came into being. But none of these things could praise them, so they formed more advanced beings of clay. But these beings fell apart when they got wet, so they made beings out of wood, but they proved unsatisfactory and caused trouble on the earth. The gods sent a great flood to wipe out these beings, so that they could start over. With the help of Mountain Lion, Coyote, Parrot, and Crow they fashioned four new beings. These four beings performed well and are the ancestors of the Quiché In the beginning was only Tepeu and Gucumatz (Feathered Serpent).

Or this one.

Long, long ago, a great island floated in a giant ocean. This island hung from four thick ropes from the sky, which was solid rock. There were no peoples and it was always dark. The animals could not see so they got the sun and put it in a path that took it across the island from east to west each day. The animals and plants were told by the Great Spirit to stay awake for seven days and seven nights but most could not and slept. Those plants that did stay awake, such as the pine and cedar and those few others were rewarded by being allowed to remain green all year. All the others were made to lose their leaves each winter. Those animals that did stay awake, such as the owl and the mountain lion and those few others were rewarded with the ability to go about in the dark. Then the people appeared.

Or this one.

The suns were the ten children of Di Jun, the god of the eastern sky. Each morning one of the suns would rise, climb into a chariot pulled by a dragon, and ride across the sky bringing light to the different parts of the world. In this way the earth got the right amount of sunshine, at the different seasons of the year.

But the ten suns grew bored. They wanted to work together and, one day, they woke early and rode across the sky together in their chariots.

The Earth hated it. It burnt. It cracked. The rivers ran dry. Animals and people grew weak with the heat. But the ten suns were enjoying themselves and would not listen to those who asked them to stop. They laughed and carried on riding around the sky.

Or this one.

In the days when gods and goddesses walked on the Earth, the three most powerful gods were brothers. Zeus was ruler of the sky, Poseidon was god of the sea and Hades was the Lord of the Underworld.

The Underworld was a terrible place, a place without light, where the spirits of the dead went. Having entered the underworld, and having eaten there, no-one was allowed to re-enter the world of the living.

A beautiful girl lived on the Earth and her name was Persephone.

One day Hades visited Earth and rode past Persephone while she was gathering flowers in a field. He was dazzled by her beauty. He wanted her. And being one of the three most powerful gods, he kidnapped her and drove off in his chariot.

Or...well, you get the idea. 

The science of evolution is different than the mythology of Genesis.

Last night I listened to Huckabee on Hardball. His theroy in the beginning was getting convincing about evolution and then he exposed himself and Chris jumped right on it.
Isn't it amazing how liars get caught in their own lies.

The theroy of one source is really quite stupid as some of the misbeliefs presented in this diary are evident.

If my memory seves me correctly on the figure. Right now there are about 14 different women traced back with DNA samples as being the mother of different races. That is a lot of different woman from 1 rib?

BUT, no way in hell did we evolve from apes or monkeys or another species. We are of our own evolutionary sources and who ever believes otherwise believes the movie "Planet of the Apes" is a true story.

Most of us believe and some have experienced a POWER in this universe that is far greater then any of us and it has many names. And for those who listen, it speaks to them daily.

So a more realistic question is; "Do you believe in a Creator of Evolution, One who could have spread seeds (or what ever) upon the earth for us to evolve from , as our own evolutionary source.

Now getting back with the Diary subject, "There are far more important reason not to be a REPUBLICAN, then evolution".

Like 5,864 reasons.

By comparing humans and other living species, scientists have learned that humans are most similar to the large apes of Africa and Asia. Among all animals, humans and apes are the most alike in brain and body form, by having a complex social life, and in many other major and minor features, including the lack of a tail. The fossil record of several ancient ape species collectively called Proconsul shows that the split between the common ancestors of the Old world monkeys (above left) and the apes (above right) happened in the earliest Miocene, at least 20 million years ago.

Comparisons of DNA show that our closest living relatives are the ape species of Africa, and most studies by geneticists show that chimpanzees and humans are more closely related to each other than either is to gorillas. However, it must be stressed that humans did not evolve from living chimpanzees. Rather, our species and chimpanzees are both the descendants of a common ancestor that was distinct from other African apes. This common ancestor is thought to have existed in the Pliocene between 5 and 8 million years ago, based on the estimated rates of genetic change. Both of our species have since undergone 5 to 8 million years of evolution after this split of the two lineages. Using the fossil record, scientists attempt to reconstruct the evolution from this common ancestor through the series of early human species to today's modern human species.

So when did humans originate? The answer to that question really depends on what traits are meant by the term "human."

Our understanding of the fossil record shows that distinctively human traits appeared neither recently nor all at once. Rather, they evolved piecemeal over a period of roughly 5 million years. By 4 million years ago, humans were habitually bipedal (walking on two legs) yet had brains roughly a third of the size of a modern human's (about the size of a modern ape's brain). By 2.5 million years ago the manufacture of stone tools was common. Large increases in brain size occurred even later. Complex behaviors such as adaptation to a wide range of environments and cultural diversification emerged only within the last 100,000 years.

So, there you go.  This is what the overwhelming evidence indicates, and frankly, the only way you can override this is by arguing that pure faith trumps reason and empirical evidence.  Apparently, most Republicans are willing to do that...the same mindset that gave us supposed ties between Saddam and Al Qaeda, no global warming, waterboarding isn't torture, etc., etc.

Science is a great source and is far beyond my knowledge of the sciences, but their is one thing science cannot alter and that is my own self understanding that there is a POWER out there that enters my mind and thoughts and guides me every minute of my life. It is my own self ego that gets me in trouble and causes me not to listen at times.

Most people call it luck when they happen to brake for no apparent reason and had they not braked they would have been in a serious or fatal accident. At my age and so many times when those similar incidents happen one finally understands a different truth.

I am sure it will not happen in my life time and probably not yours, but man is the seeker of the truth and as long as man do not close our minds the truth will be revelled.

ps "Man" stands for both sexes.

Have we reached 6,000 reasons not to be a Republican?

After reading some of the projections of Idiocracy (i haven't seen the movie), it struck me that in the absence of opposition, the anti-woman Dominionists in the Republican party could drive their agenda far enough to approach the insanity that grips unrestrained radical fundimentalists of all stripes.  If the suffregettes, and feminists hadn't championed women's causes, how far would the authoritarians in America have regressed? 

Think about how the Dominionists use a few select passages in the bible to marginalize and disenfranchise gays in America today.  Now think what they'd do with something like this:

"If a man be found lying with a woman married to an husband, and a man find her in the city, and lie with her;" (Deuteronomy 22:22)

"Then ye shall bring them both out unto the gate of that city, and ye shall stone them with stones that they die; the damsel, because she cried not, being in the city; and the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife: so thou shalt put away evil from among you." (Deuteronomy 22:24)

"Behold, here is my daughter a maiden, and his concubine; them I will bring out now, and humble ye them, and do with them what seemeth good unto you: but unto this man do not so vile a thing. But the men would not hearken to him: so the man took his concubine, and brought her forth unto them; and they knew her, and abused her all the night until the morning: and when the day began to spring, they let her go." (Judges 19:24-25)

"Let the women learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. For Adam was first formed, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (I Timothy 2:11-14)

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That's just a few choice entries.  Justification for etching this kind of piousness into civil law always takes a form of something like, "The righteous need not fear.", but who among us is righteous?

"Man enjoys the great advantage of having a god endorse the code he writes; and since man exercises a sovereign authority over women it is especially fortunate that this authority has been vested in him by the Supreme Being. For the Jews, Mohammedans and Christians among others, man is master by divine right; the fear of God will therefore repress any impulse towards revolt in the downtrodden female."

--Simone de Beauvoir, The Second Sex 1949
 

Cohen and another lawyer challenged the Lovings' conviction, but the original judge in the case upheld his decision. Judge Leon Bazile wrote: "Almighty God created the races white, black, yellow, Malay and red, and he placed them on separate continents. ... The fact that he separated the races shows that he did not intend for the races to mix."

[http://www.npr.org/t...]

I don't see why people object to evolution, even the most conservative of people.  Even if you believe, as I do, that there is a God who made all this cool nature, there is still a lot of fun in trying to figure out, through science, how He might have done it.