# Ask the Creationist **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [May 12, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555 "2005-05-12T13:18:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Stone\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Stone\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stone_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/1 "2005-05-12T13:18:14Z")
After reading all the recent discussions about creationism, I joined this board, and now I’m starting this thread. Yes, I’m a creationist. No, I’m not nutty. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/2 "2005-05-12T13:22:28Z")
If God created the universe, who created God? And why didn’t he/she/it just create the universe directly, instead of through a middleman? Or, if God has always existed, isn’t it just as plausible to believe the universe has always existed? ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/3 "2005-05-12T13:22:31Z")
Have you read the various previous threads about creationism on this board, and if so, do you have any response to the arguments in favour of evolution presented therein? On what do you base your creationism? What evidence swayed you? ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/4 "2005-05-12T13:23:51Z")
Where did the stuff used to create stuff come from? ---
**Author:** ![Stone\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Stone\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stone_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/5 "2005-05-12T13:24:28Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > On what do you base your creationism? What evidence swayed you? I believe that God created the universe, and that He/She/It guided the development of life. Beyond that I don’t know. I don’t take the Book of Genesis literally. ---
**Author:** ![Stone\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Stone\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stone_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/6 "2005-05-12T13:26:24Z")
> [@Fear Itself](#): > > Or, if God has always existed, isn’t it just as plausible to believe the universe has always existed? The universe, possibly. But not everything in the universe always existed. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/7 "2005-05-12T13:28:46Z")
> [@Stone Girl](#): > > I believe that God created the universe, and that He/She/It guided the development of life. Wait. He “guided the development of life”? You do accept evolution, then? ---
**Author:** ![Stone\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Stone\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stone_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/8 "2005-05-12T13:31:23Z")
> [@Priceguy](#): > > Wait. He “guided the development of life”? You do accept evolution, then? Yes, I do. ---
**Author:** ![Stonebow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Stonebow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stonebow)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/9 "2005-05-12T13:31:24Z")
> [@Stone Girl](#): > > Yes, I’m a creationist. No, I’m not nutty. Are you sure? Then you’re way ahead of most of us. 🙂 Thank you for taking time to answer questions. I have a couple, if you feel comfortable answering. And yes, i know that you really can’t speak for anyone but yourself. 1. How did you arrive at your current worldview? Is it religiously based? 2. How do you reconcile this worldview with the scientific evidence? 3. Are you proficient in science at all? Meaning, have you studied science and been able to examine the evidence in that framework? Many of the creationists I know admit to having no scientific training, yet are adamant in their opposition to the evidence. 4. Do you think that evolutionary theory is in part of some sort of atheist movement? What do you think of people of faith that have accepted it into their worldview? That’s it. thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Stone\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Stone\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stone_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/10 "2005-05-12T13:36:04Z")
> [@Stonebow](#): > > 1. How did you arrive at your current worldview? Is it religiously based? > > 2. How do you reconcile this worldview with the scientific evidence? > > 3. Are you proficient in science at all? Meaning, have you studied science and been able to examine the evidence in that framework? Many of the creationists I know admit to having no scientific training, yet are adamant in their opposition to the evidence. > > 4. Do you think that evolutionary theory is in part of some sort of atheist movement? What do you think of people of faith that have accepted it into their worldview? > > That’s it. thanks. 1. It’s not really your traditional God-created-everything-in-six-literal-days sort of creationism. 2. As I said before, I do accept evolution. I just think God gave it a jumpstart. 3. Yes, I have. 4. Well, I happen to think you can have it both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/11 "2005-05-12T13:44:11Z")
**Stone Girl** , I gotta say, you’re starting off way better than most Creationists I’ve talked with. I wonder if you’d mind giving us a short summary of your beliefs (including your uncertainties, if you want) of how we got from the universe’s beginning to today. Most specifically, when you say that “God gave it a jumpstart,” could you elaborate on when you think that jumpstart occurred and what it might have looked like? (For example, my summary would look like this: Big Bang! Expanding Universe! Coalescing Stars! Coalescing Planets! Nutrient-rich oceans! First self-replicating molecules! Natural selection begins selecting those self-replicating molecules that succeed best at self-replication! More complex life-forms develop! Cable TV is invented! Stone Girl joins SDMB!) Daniel ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/12 "2005-05-12T13:45:11Z")
Then you are a theistic evolutionist, not a creationist… ---
**Author:** ![Stone\_Girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Stone\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stone_Girl)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/13 "2005-05-12T13:47:47Z")
**Left Hand of Dorkness,** are you some kind of mind-reader? Because that’s pretty much what I would have said. God started off with the Big Bang, and went from there, ending with the world we all know and love today. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/14 "2005-05-12T13:49:22Z")
She sounds like most of the Christians on the board so far. Her beliefs are parallel with mine anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/15 "2005-05-12T13:53:07Z")
> [@Stone Girl](#): > > **Left Hand of Dorkness,** are you some kind of mind-reader? Because that’s pretty much what I would have said. God started off with the Big Bang, and went from there, ending with the world we all know and love today. If that’s your view, then I got no argument at all with you. I mean, I _don’t_ believe God started off with the Big Bang, but I have absolutely no evidence for that belief. Welcome to the boards! Daniel ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/16 "2005-05-12T13:55:25Z")
Stone Girl, think I’m going to have to pronounce you a failed Creationist. Creationism is denying science, non-creationist Christians just find science to be searching out proof that God could come up with a lot more creative ways of doing stuff than what a bunch of 3000+ year old rabi’s could understand and put to paper. ---
**Author:** ![Dunderman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@Dunderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dunderman)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/17 "2005-05-12T13:55:40Z")
> [@Stone Girl](#): > > Yes, I do. Well then I don’t have any more questions to ask you. I assumed you meant [“creationist as opposed to evolutionist”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creation-evolution_controversy), and I’m willing to bet that everyone opening this thread is assuming precisely that. ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/18 "2005-05-12T14:00:18Z")
> [@Stone Girl](#): > > I believe that God created the universe, and that He/She/It guided the development of life. Beyond that I don’t know. I don’t take the Book of Genesis literally. I kind of thought taking Genesis literally was what Creationism was all about. I could be wrong. If you’re saying you believe what conventional science has to say about the universe but there’s some sort of guiding force behind it all, I don’t think anyone’s going to argue with you. Personally, I wouldn’t say I believe that but I certainly wouldn’t mock someone who does, and I’m open to the possibilty. ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/19 "2005-05-12T14:06:24Z")
> [@Stone Girl](#): > > **Left Hand of Dorkness,** are you some kind of mind-reader? Because that’s pretty much what I would have said. God started off with the Big Bang, and went from there, ending with the world we all know and love today. What banged? ---
**Author:** ![Powers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Powers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Powers)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2005, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555/20 "2005-05-12T14:07:45Z")
> [@Stone Girl](#): > > After reading all the recent discussions about creationism, I joined this board, and now I’m starting this thread. > > Yes, I’m a creationist. No, I’m not nutty. In what sense are you a creationist? Conventionally, a creationist believes in special creation – that evolution does not occur and that every living species was created as-is approximately 6000 years ago. There are old-earth creationists as well, although I’m not quite sure I understand their position on evolution. Regardless, creationism is usually taken to be the opposite (or at least the antithesis) of evolutionism, and it is against that definition that evolutionists normally argue. Powers &8^] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ask-the-creationist/303555.md?page=2)