# I have no interest in Big Bang vs. God ... is this commonplace? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 5, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713 "2010-09-05T21:27:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![janeslogin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@janeslogin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/janeslogin)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/1 "2010-09-05T21:27:15Z")
A famous person, Hawkings, is the occasion for Big Bang vs. God to make recent filler stories on quiet news days. I have no interest in Big Bang or God or creation or evolution or many such discussions. I’ve no opinions either way. I just don’t care. How widespread would you conjecture my attitude is? ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/2 "2010-09-05T22:00:26Z")
Depends on where you live. [Most Americans are creationists](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/22/opinion/polls/main657083.shtml), and 65% think creationism should be taught in schools. I understand such attitudes are rarer in many other countries. And by the way, you should care about evolution since it heavily influences practical matters like medicine, and creationists forcing their delusions on the public sphere can easily get you or others killed. Denying that bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics won’t make them stop doing so. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/3 "2010-09-05T23:35:20Z")
The Big Bang theory was formulated by a practicing priest. Make of that what you will, there isn’t always a “versus,” but people like black and white dichotomies between two sides of a debate. I read the Hawking story and I’m still not quite sure of it’s relevance or why I should care, and I do care about things like teaching of creation. Der Trihs, most creationists acknowledge microevolution but don’t call it evolution, and disingenuously deny corresponding phylogenetic change. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/4 "2010-09-05T23:39:56Z")
I’ve been an atheist for over 50 years, so I’ve grown totally indifferent to the God question. I now refer to myself as a _shrugnostic._ However I’m very interested in the Big Bang. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2010, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/5 "2010-09-05T23:44:58Z")
[Apatheism](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apatheism) would be the formal label for indifference to the “god question” by the way. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/6 "2010-09-06T00:55:20Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Depends on where you live. [Most Americans are creationists](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/22/opinion/polls/main657083.shtml), and 65% think creationism should be taught in schools. I understand such attitudes are rarer in many other countries. > > And by the way, you should care about evolution since it heavily influences practical matters like medicine, and **creationists forcing their delusions on the public sphere can easily get you or others killed**. Denying that bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics won’t make them stop doing so. Uhhh…a bit extreme much? ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/7 "2010-09-06T00:56:32Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > The Big Bang theory was formulated by a practicing priest. Make of that what you will, there isn’t always a “versus,” A lot of people have been uncomfortable with the idea of a Big Bang because it sounds too much like a Creation. The original competitor to the Big Bang, the Steady State theory, suggested that the universe had always been around, and that it was pretty much the same in all directions in both space and time. There was much less room for a creator in that one. Most cosmologists back in those olden days usually much preferred a Steady State to a Big Bang, and proponents of the latter was accused of dragging the Genesis story into physics. The Big Bang theory, of course, had the one advantage that it happened to be correct. :smack: Why there is suddenly supposed to be is some dichotomy between God and the Big Bang now, I dunno. ---
**Author:** ![jsquire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ce73a5/32.png) [@jsquire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsquire)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/8 "2010-09-06T01:12:58Z")
Yeah, I see it as two names for the same thing. While I was raised in a very religious home, I was also taught that people who take a literal view of religion and its texts aren’t particularly bright. My life experiences since then have only changed that to add “or trying to keep people from questioning authority”. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 10:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/9 "2010-09-06T10:23:02Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > > Depends on where you live. [Most Americans are creationists](http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/11/22/opinion/polls/main657083.shtml), and 65% think creationism should be taught in schools. I understand such attitudes are rarer in many other countries. > > > > And by the way, you should care about evolution since it heavily influences practical matters like medicine, and **creationists forcing their delusions on the public sphere can easily get you or others killed**. Denying that bacteria evolve resistance to antibiotics won’t make them stop doing so. > > Uhhh…a bit extreme much? Hardly. The believers fought against permitting the acknowledgment of the evolution of disease resistance, just as they fight to legally protect faith healing, or appoint people to high office that claim that AIDS should be treated by prayer, and indulge in innumerable other dangerous and irrational behaviors in service to their delusions. Religion is wrong, always, and it’s dangerous to go though life being insistently wrong because the world is full of things that will kill you and others no matter how hard you try to pretend they don’t exist. Which wouldn’t be as dangerous to others if they didn’t insist on trying to force everyone else to play along. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/10 "2010-09-06T20:20:01Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > > Uhhh…a bit extreme much? > > Hardly. The believers fought against permitting the acknowledgment of the evolution of disease resistance, just as they fight to legally protect faith healing, or appoint people to high office that claim that AIDS should be treated by prayer, and indulge in innumerable other dangerous and irrational behaviors in service to their delusions. Religion is wrong, always, and it’s dangerous to go though life being insistently wrong because the world is full of things that will kill you and others no matter how hard you try to pretend they don’t exist. Which wouldn’t be as dangerous to others if they didn’t insist on trying to force everyone else to play along. You’re generalizing incredibly by lumping in virtually all religious people with some snake-oil salesmen that even most Evangelicals are wary of. Also most Creationists I’ve seen accept microevolution and thus the idea that germs/viruses adapt. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/11 "2010-09-06T20:23:40Z")
Only because they’ve been dragged kicking and screaming into accepting evolution in any form. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/12 "2010-09-06T20:25:14Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Only because they’ve been dragged kicking and screaming into accepting evolution in any form. Only a person who is a blind idiot would deny microevolution since farmers have been breeding new species out of existing ones for centuries. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/13 "2010-09-06T20:26:49Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > > Hardly. The believers fought against permitting the acknowledgment of the evolution of disease resistance, just as they fight to legally protect faith healing, or appoint people to high office that claim that AIDS should be treated by prayer, and indulge in innumerable other dangerous and irrational behaviors in service to their delusions. Religion is wrong, always, and it’s dangerous to go though life being insistently wrong because the world is full of things that will kill you and others no matter how hard you try to pretend they don’t exist. Which wouldn’t be as dangerous to others if they didn’t insist on trying to force everyone else to play along. > > You’re generalizing incredibly by lumping in virtually all religious people with some snake-oil salesmen that even most Evangelicals are wary of. Oh, nonsense. Such attitudes are common. That’s how people like Bush who push this sort of craziness can get elected. > [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > Also most Creationists I’ve seen accept microevolution and thus the idea that germs/viruses adapt. Now. That’s a fallback position because they couldn’t force the rest of society to go along with their delusion to the point of self inflicted epidemics anymore. That doesn’t mean that they didn’t slow the [progress of medical science with their efforts. Nor does that keep them from ensuring that most American children still get an inferior science education. > [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > > > Only because they’ve been dragged kicking and screaming into accepting evolution in any form. > > Only a person who is a blind idiot would deny microevolution since farmers have been breeding new species out of existing ones for centuries. Willful blind idiocy is what religion is. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/14 "2010-09-06T20:30:33Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > > You’re generalizing incredibly by lumping in virtually all religious people with some snake-oil salesmen that even most Evangelicals are wary of. > > Oh, nonsense. Such attitudes are common. That’s how people like Bush who push this sort of craziness can get elected. As far as I know Bush hasn’t extolled the virtues of faith healing. Also he does endorse evolution personally. [http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/09/bush-says-creation-incompatible-evolution/](http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2008/12/09/bush-says-creation-incompatible-evolution/) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/15 "2010-09-06T20:32:12Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > > > Only because they’ve been dragged kicking and screaming into accepting evolution in any form. > > Only a person who is a blind idiot would deny microevolution since farmers have been breeding new species out of existing ones for centuries. Farmers have been creating new breeds, not new species. Domesticated animals are not new species. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/16 "2010-09-06T20:36:29Z")
> [@Curtis LeMay](#): > > > [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > > > Oh, nonsense. Such attitudes are common. That’s how people like Bush who push this sort of craziness can get elected. > > As far as I know Bush hasn’t extolled the virtues of faith healing. He did appoint a guy who thought that the proper cure for AIDS is prayer, however. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-have-no-interest-in-big-bang-vs-god-is-this-commonplace/552713/17 "2010-09-07T03:28:08Z")
I eventually moved to this position, even as a Christian. I just don’t see why it matters. What about my faith is precipitated on a literal reading of Genesis 1-3? As much as I like to fight ignorance, once the information has been given, there’s nothing more I can do if the willfully ignorant choose to ignore it. Well, at least, nothing else that wouldn’t make me an immoral jerk.