# The Ultimate Question for a Creationist? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 24, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774 "2007-10-24T00:44:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/161 "2007-10-25T18:59:13Z")
[QUOTE=FinnAgain] Faith, as such, cannot be logically debunked because faith is the belief in something _without any factual support._ Talking about debunking faith is a bit like dancing about architecture. Faith and science can coexist quite easily as long as those in both camps don’t try to apply their particular metric, be it faith or evidence, to the other side. On that much we are agreed. [/QUOTE] This was actually my only valid point. The rest was either poorly placed sarcasm or a poorly thought out attempt at logic. Fallacy duely noted and all points within are withdrawn. For now… [QUOTE=FinnAgain] Yog Sothoth will eat your soul for that, you know? [/QUOTE] Oh no, not again. Time to dust off the ceremonial silver tanto, dump the begonia out of the copper bowl and let out the waistband on the ol’ silk robe. “Yog, old buddy, how’ve ya been? Oh, you seem to have something green there on your… er… bubble thingy there. No… wait… that’s just a smaller bubble. Never mind.” ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/162 "2007-10-25T19:01:31Z")
[QUOTE=Don’t Call Me Shirley] Actually, **nd\_n8** , the only way to get to heaven is to send me $100, upon receipt of which I will put in a good word for you with god. Think about it: Scenario 1: \*\*nd \*\*gives me the $100: \*\*DCMS \*\*really does have the inside track with god: \*\*nd \*\*goes to heaven; \*\*DCMS \*\*is lying: \*\*nd \*\*is out $100 but it doesn’t matter because he is dead Scenario 2: \*\*nd \*\*does not give me $100: \*\*DCMS \*\*really does have inside track with god: \*\*nd \*\*goes to hell \*\*DCMS \*\*is lying: \*\*nd \*\*is out $100 but it doesn’t matter because he is dead As you can see, the only smart thing to do is to send me $100. Why take a chance with your eternal soul? I will provide my address by PM to anyone interested in going to heaven. $100 is an introductory offer, subject to change without notice. [/QUOTE] Jim Baker??? Is that you??? ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/163 "2007-10-25T19:08:14Z")
[QUOTE=nd\_n8] Jim Baker??? Is that you??? [/QUOTE] I think it’s any church that asks for tithing, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/164 "2007-10-25T19:09:56Z")
[QUOTE=FinnAgain] Well, in as much as a faith-based-belief-system does not pretend to be based on facts, logic, or reason, then sure. Honest religious folks will tell you that they have faith and that’s enough for them. Dishonest folks, like many of the "creationists"will try to substitute their faith for facts. But, that’s beside the point here. **Lobohan** was rather obviously poking fun at the common anti-rational assertion that evolution is “just a theory”, as if scientific theories were imagined up after a night of hard drinking. Faith, as such, cannot be logically debunked because faith is the belief in something _without any factual support._ Talking about debunking faith is a bit like dancing about architecture. Faith and science can coexist quite easily as long as those in both camps don’t try to apply their particular metric, be it faith or evidence, to the other side. On that much we are agreed. With my above comment still standing, certain matters of faith _are_ soundly debunked by reason. A seven day creation, the gods sitting atop Olympus, etc… To the degree that religious beliefs contradict facts, they are perforce _wrong_. To the extent that they touch on matters outside the scope of rational inquiry, they are best approached as aesthetic conceits, and not much can be said about them. Evolution _does_ debunk certain religious beliefs, like biblical literalism, for example. That it why some bible beaters are profoundly hostile to learning anything about it. No, no, no, and yet again no. That’s the fallacy of false dichotomy and its specific use here has been used to sucker more than a few folks over the ages. There are _numerous_ possibilities if there is a God (or gods) ranging from them not caring an unlit fart as to whether or not you believe in them, to them having predestined you for damnation anyways, to you believing in the _wrong God._ Maybe Ahura Mazda is angry at you for being a Christian, yes? Does that hold any weight with you? If not, why would an a-theist worry about the Christian God being upset with him any more than he’d worry about Odin being perturbed that he wasn’t out spilling blood on the battlefield in His name? Not any more than it’s a loss for Christians if Odin is pissed off at them for all that ‘turning the other cheek’ crap. Or as one of the earliest martyred rationalists said, before she was torn to pieces by an angry mob “To rule by fettering the mind through fear of punishment in another world is just as base as to use force.” Or if God is actually omnibenevolent and doesn’t care if you know of Him, believe in Him, or worship Him. Or if the only choices aren’t “no God” and “the Christian God”. Etc. Yog Sothoth will eat your soul for that, you know? Isn’t it safer to believe in Him and offer him blood sacrifices, as He demands, than to believe in Jesus? After all, if Yahweh exists, at least after he had his personality makeover in the first few centuries of the first millennium, then he’s a nice guy, and wouldn’t consign His children to an eternity of torment for simply not having faith. Only a real bastard of a father would ever do that. So it’s a push, right? Yog Sothoth, on the other hand, is an evil motherfucker and will do stuff to you that can’t even be described in polite society. Surely it’s safer to bet on him, right? Right? So it’s a push one way, and eternal unspeakable torment at the hands of the Old Gods on the other hand. Only a Vegas gambling fool wouldn’t offer obeisance to Yog Sothoth. [/QUOTE] Are you available to be on retainer to rebut message board posts for me? Because your post pretty much sums up intelligently what I was about to try to get across with venom. Thanks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/165 "2007-10-25T19:10:20Z")
[QUOTE=nd\_n8] Oh no, not again. Time to dust off the ceremonial silver tanto, dump the begonia out of the copper bowl and let out the waistband on the ol’ silk robe. “Yog, old buddy, how’ve ya been? Oh, you seem to have something green there on your… er… bubble thingy there. No… wait… that’s just a smaller bubble. Never mind.” [/QUOTE] Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/166 "2007-10-25T19:50:12Z")
[QUOTE=Lobohan] You know that Christianity is a theory, right? With zero evidence supporting it no less. Whereas evolution has every piece of biological data we’ve ever collected supporting it. Everything. Nothing has ever been collected that refutes it. Nothing. Does it seem like the smart money is on J-dizzle? [/QUOTE] The Duckbilled Platypus refutes your evolution along with many other things, but only one white crow is necessary to prove all crows are not black. Don’t know who J-dizzle be? As for Christianity, depends on what you call evidence. I could link hundreds of items here, but I won’t. The belief in God is personal, it deals with things like emotions, feelings, and intuition. It is not something you can measure or even know about, the reason is, you can’t know what I experience personally. I have personally experienced God, I have no doubt at all about it. So have thousands, perhaps millions of other people, who also have no doubt about it. Now you can call that self-delusion or any other choice name, but the truth is simple, you don’t know unless you have experienced it yourself. I wish I could give others the same experience I had, but I can’t. God, the afterlife, and morality give life purpose and meaning that are real. It is great comfort to know I will be able to continue my learning after the death of my body. If you don’t believe any of this fine. Your disbelief will not change my belief in any way. Science does not have anything to offer religion, no purpose in life or meaning. No afterlife, pretty much nothing. That is why if you wish to counter the creationists come up with some real good evidence to do so. ---
**Author:** ![lekatt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lekatt/32/7269_2.png) [@lekatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lekatt)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/167 "2007-10-25T19:58:10Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] Not off topic, at all, and not an insult but an observation. A great many potentially serious discussions have been derailed when posters were sidetracked from the topic of the thread to respond to your baseless assertions or your illogical claims. That is a fact. My only point was to encourage other posters to not be sidetracked by your interruptions. If you find it insulting to have your posts correctly categorized, then change your posts. As to your “forgiveness,” I will accept it in the spirit in which it was offered: as an insincere and condescending effort to insult me by pretending to hold some higher moral ground. Just as when you “comfort” posters by telling them to not be afraid of some odd, idiosyncratic belief that you put forth as “Truth,” you are simply trying to slip your own insults into the discussion under the pretense of charity. And yet, you just claimed that my true statement was insulting. What a surprise! [/QUOTE] Again another off topic insulting post that assumes you know my motives. I believe in forgiveness and love. I believe in practicing love for my enemies, and love one another. Being a Christian I am sure you believe in it also. ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/168 "2007-10-25T20:06:37Z")
[QUOTE=lekatt] That is why if you wish to counter the creationists come up with some real good evidence to do so. [/QUOTE] Because for the most part they are whack jobs who embarass themselves, supress free thought and progress and give the reasonably intelligent yet still capable of faith and belief in something much larger and more important than ourselves type of believers a bad name. Wait, that is a good reason not good evidence. Never mind, forget I mentioned it. If you really want creationists to pee their pants, put their hands in a bowl of warm water when they are asleep. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/169 "2007-10-25T20:08:51Z")
In the interest of fighting ignorance: the claim that the platypus disproves the fact of evolution, or any major competing hypotheses as to the specific mechanics of evolution is [flat out false.](http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/platypus.html) Please, anybody reading along with this thread, at least check out the evidence before you allow someone to dupe you. > [@nd\_n8](#): > > This was actually my only valid point. The rest was either poorly placed sarcasm or a poorly thought out attempt at logic. Fallacy duely noted and all points within are withdrawn. Well that just shows what a rapscallion you and your ilk… and… wait, what’s that? You admitted error, retracted a fallacy? On the Dope? In Great Debates? Mother of Mercy, I think I need a drink. > [@lobohan](#): > > […] your post pretty much sums up intelligently what I was about to try to get across with venom. Thanks No problem, and thanks much. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/170 "2007-10-25T20:10:02Z")
[QUOTE=lekatt] The Duckbilled Platypus refutes your evolution [/quote] Wrong. Or do you have a cite for that rubbish? > [@](#): > > along with many other things Wrong. Or do you have a cite for that rubbish? > [@](#): > > , but only one white crow is necessary to prove all crows are not black. What’s that? A random meaningless chunk of text? > [@](#): > > Don’t know who J-dizzle be? Some dude what got nailed to a tree a couple thousand years ago. No one of any great importance. > [@](#): > > As for Christianity, depends on what you call evidence. I would consider evidence, evidence. You know, like footprints, dna or semen. Even if it was deposited by a dove in an act of celestial rape. > [@](#): > > I could link hundreds of items here, but I won’t. Thank god. They’d be irrelevant. > [@](#): > > The belief in God is personal, it deals with things like emotions, feelings, and intuition. It is not something you can measure or even know about, the reason is, you can’t know what I experience personally. > I have personally experienced God No you haven’t. You’ve convinced yourself you have, but you’re lying to yourself. > [@](#): > > , I have no doubt at all about it. So have thousands, perhaps millions of other people, who also have no doubt about it. Now you can call that self-delusion or any other choice name, but the truth is simple, you don’t know unless you have experienced it yourself. Sure I do. You’re self delusional. > [@](#): > > I wish I could give others the same experience I had, but I can’t. God, the afterlife, and morality give life purpose and meaning that are real. It is great comfort to know I will be able to continue my learning after the death of my body. Prove it. > [@](#): > > If you don’t believe any of this fine. Your disbelief will not change my belief in any way. Science does not have anything to offer religion, no purpose in life or meaning. No afterlife, pretty much nothing. That is why if you wish to counter the creationists come up with some real good evidence to do so. Science has offered oodles of evidence. You’re too brainwashed by your devotion to your imaginary friend to accept it. I’m done responding now, sorry, but I had to. I can’t let idiocy of this magnitude go. ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/171 "2007-10-25T20:37:45Z")
[QUOTE=Lumpy] Since facts are largely irrelevent in a creationism debate, I’d instead make the subject a moral debate. I’d say something like the following to a creationist: “Why am I opposed to creationism? Because it’s dishonest. You know, in your heart of hearts you KNOW, that the evidence strongly suggests that evolution took place over hundreds of millions of years. You’re like the defense lawyer for a man who was caught standing over a dismembered corpse with a bloody axe: you’re struggling frantically to find some way, any way, to say ‘this isn’t what it looks like’”. [/QUOTE] Ask them, “Do you think OJ Simpson is guilty? Because all those theories by his lawyers explaining away the evidence were a bunch of obvious bullcrap, weren’t they?” I have a lengthy essay here that juxtaposes these 2 issues: [http://www.squeakywheelsblog.com/creation](http://www.squeakywheelsblog.com/creation) ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/172 "2007-10-25T22:51:12Z")
[QUOTE=Lobohan] You’re too brainwashed by your devotion to your imaginary friend to accept it. I’m done responding now, sorry, but I had to. I can’t let idiocy of this magnitude go. [/QUOTE] Actually, you did not have to. There is no need to be personally abusive in this Forum. o not use this sort of personal attack again. We have the **Pit** for that. [/Moderating] ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/173 "2007-10-25T22:55:23Z")
[QUOTE=lekatt] Being a Christian I am sure you believe in it also. [/QUOTE] I believe in it. I have seen no evidence for (and a lot of evidence against) the idea that you truly believe it. However, you are correct (in this one instance) that correcting your errors is off topic. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2007, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/174 "2007-10-25T23:50:12Z")
[QUOTE=tomndebb] Actually, you did not have to. There is no need to be personally abusive in this Forum. o not use this sort of personal attack again. We have the **Pit** for that. [/Moderating] [/QUOTE] Fair enough. I shall try to attack the idea, not the person. And I’m done with that for this one I think. ---
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/175 "2007-10-26T01:07:42Z")
[QUOTE=lekatt] I am a layperson that has done a lot of reading in science, the methods, and such. I know about “circuituous chains of reasoning and calculation, their highly consistent and compelling theories about the laws of physics and the structure of the universe.” I have no argument with theories, only when they are introduced as fact. Getting back to the OP, this thread is about Creation vs. Evolution. Now I don’t agree with many of the things creationists say, such as the Bible is truth, the earth was created in 6 days and is only 6000 years old. Actually the whole debate is not really that important. But what is important to the creationists is their belief in God, an afterlife, and morality. None of these things can science disprove. Yet science is attacking the very foundation of religion by saying evolution, the big bang, etc, is evidence God had no hand in the creation of the universe. Usually said as “There is no evidence for God.” These are fighting words and they will be countered by people like Dr. Hovind and others. The presentation of creation was well done, it scored many points that the scientists couldn’t answer. So my advice is to carefully look through that video and prepare your own that does answer his claims properly and honestly. The general public will not accept “the science of evolution is just too complicated for you to understand.” You try that, and you will lose, the public does not see science, and scientists as “superior authority” figures who should not be questioned. That day is gone in America, we question everyone. If you can not produce good solid evidence to what you claim in a form the general public can understand, then you best quit saying there is no God, afterlife and such in order to preserve the credibility you still have left. [/QUOTE] Great answer. ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/176 "2007-10-26T01:07:45Z")
[QUOTE=FinnAgain] That’s the fallacy of false dichotomy and its specific use here has been used to sucker more than a few folks over the ages. There are _numerous_ possibilities if there is a God (or gods) ranging from them not caring an unlit fart as to whether or not you believe in them, to them having predestined you for damnation anyways, to you believing in the _wrong God._ Maybe Ahura Mazda is angry at you for being a Christian, yes? Does that hold any weight with you? If not, why would an a-theist worry about the Christian God being upset with him any more than he’d worry about Odin being perturbed that he wasn’t out spilling blood on the battlefield in His name? Or as one of the earliest martyred rationalists said, before she was torn to pieces by an angry mob “To rule by fettering the mind through fear of punishment in another world is just as base as to use force.” . [/QUOTE] really enjoyed this post. the quote by the rationalist is excellent. ---
**Author:** ![solkoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/919ad9/32.png) [@solkoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solkoe)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/177 "2007-10-26T01:08:50Z")
[QUOTE=Chief Pedant] “Are you willing to be exposed to higher-level science courses taught by non-creationists?” If the answer is “No” then you do not believe in science and no further discussion is necessary. [/QUOTE] Great. Best one yet! ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/178 "2007-10-26T01:20:10Z")
[QUOTE=Lobohan] No you haven’t. You’ve convinced yourself you have, but you’re lying to yourself. Sure I do. You’re self delusional. Prove it. . [/QUOTE] Saying someone’s experiences aren’t proof or in any way convincing to you is valid and legitimate. Calling someone delusional about their own personal experiences or saying they are lying to themselves, is just as invalid and unjustified as any other belief accepted as fact by faith. If there’s an implied IMHO then it’s a little more tolerable but as it stands, please take your own words to heart and prove it. You can’t and he can’t. Where does that leave us? ---
**Author:** ![cosmosdan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@cosmosdan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cosmosdan)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/179 "2007-10-26T01:29:34Z")
[QUOTE=solkoe] Great answer. [/QUOTE] Except that it’s wrong… > [@](#): > > Yet science is attacking the very foundation of religion by saying evolution, the big bang, etc, is evidence God had no hand in the creation of the universe. I’d like to see one legitimate cite for this. > [@](#): > > Usually said as “There is no evidence for God.” usually said as there is no _objective_ evidence for a god, this statement is true and those who value truth should acknowledge it as such. Acknowledging this truth allows us to focus on what is more relevant in spirituality. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2007, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774/180 "2007-10-26T01:39:12Z")
[QUOTE=lekatt] I have personally experienced God, I have no doubt at all about it. [/QUOTE] No, you had a delusional experience which you (and countless millions of others) have _interpreted_ as God. Don’t believe me? Well, scientists have recently discovered an area of the brain which is tentatively known as [The God Spot:](http://atheistempire.com/reference/brain/main.html) > [@](#): > > A group of neuroscientists at the University of California at San Diego has identified a region of the human brain that appears to be linked to thoughts of spiritual matters and prayer. Their findings tentatively suggest that we as a species are genetically programmed to believe in God. > > The researchers came upon these cerebral revelations in the course of studying the brain patterns of certain people with epilepsy. Epileptics who suffer a particular type of seizure are often intensely religious, and are known to report an unusual number of spiritually-oriented visions and obsessions. Measurements of electrical activity in the brains of test subjects indicated a specific neural center in the temporal lobe that flared up at times when the subjects thought about God. This same area was also a common focal point overloaded with electrical discharges during their epileptic seizures. > > Could this heretofore unidentified part of the brain – nicknamed the “God module” – actually be some sort of physiological seat of religious belief? The scientists who discovered it believe it might be. They have performed a further study comparing epileptic subjects with different groups of non-epileptics – a random group of average people, as well as individuals who characterized themselves as extremely religious. The electrical brain activity of the subjects was recorded while they were shown a series of words, and the God module zones of the epileptics and the religious group exhibited similar responses to words involving God and faith. No word yet on whether the brains of atheists and agnostics might flatline the monitors, but the parallel results among the strong believers are considered impressive. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ultimate-question-for-a-creationist/423774.md?page=10)