Why do Americans reject Evolution so much?

[Monsterx]

there are plenty of animals that are capable of evil. for one example... an adult lion will kill off other cubs and then mate with the mother of those cubs they just killed. That seems pretty evil to me. It's not like the male killed the cubs that weren't his for food. He did it for his own reasons.

I don't know if theft is considered evil, but there are lots of examples of theft in the animal world.

Just throwing this out there for fun, but I know the snakehead fish is regarded as the only freshwater fish that kills and does not eat, just kills to kill.

And great response to my previous question!

[tpeichel]

Killing by itself is not evil. The killing may occur accidentally or when defending yourself or a loved one.

Now a human torturing another human or animal and taking great pleasure in watching them suffer is pure evil and you don't find it anywhere else in the animal kingdom. A lion killing it's cubs is simply eliminating mating competition. Animals fighting for scarce resources or the best mates is simply survival of the fittest. That's not evil as I see it.

[Star_Cards]

Just throwing this out there for fun, but I know the snakehead fish is regarded as the only freshwater fish that kills and does not eat, just kills to kill.

And great response to my previous question!

I'm not aware of many fish that kill just for killing, but there have been mammals that do. Also just because a species as whole isn't that known for killing just to kill doesn't always mean that there aren't isolated incidents. There are a lot of humans that don't kill for just to kill.

[habsheaven]

Killing by itself is not evil. The killing may occur accidentally or when defending yourself or a loved one.

Now a human torturing another human or animal and taking great pleasure in watching them suffer is pure evil and you don't find it anywhere else in the animal kingdom. A lion killing it's cubs is simply eliminating mating competition. Animals fighting for scarce resources or the best mates is simply survival of the fittest. That's not evil as I see it.

How do you know other animals do not kill and torture for the pleasure of it? Obviously they are not telling us their intentions.

[Star_Cards]

Killing by itself is not evil. The killing may occur accidentally or when defending yourself or a loved one.

Now a human torturing another human or animal and taking great pleasure in watching them suffer is pure evil and you don't find it anywhere else in the animal kingdom. A lion killing it's cubs is simply eliminating mating competition. Animals fighting for scarce resources or the best mates is simply survival of the fittest. That's not evil as I see it.

I've seen some discovery documentaries where it looks as if some animals have just killed for the sport. Heck, house cats have been known to kill for the sport. Attacking a rodent and keeping it alive to play with like a ball of yarn.

I saw a show where they were reintroducing some tigers back into the wild and at some point they showed them both or one (can't remember) running through this creek bed where some gazelles had been, killing multiple gazelles. It's been awhile since I've seen the documentary but I think it killed something like five or six animals within a few minutes and just left them.

[theonedru]

I have yet to see anyone bring up the whole D.N.A. thing, that kind of hard to repute.

[JustAlex]

To me it seems more preposterous that a single celled orgranism evolved into humans and that of all the thousands upon thousands of creatures that evolved from single celled organisms, only one, humans, are capable of evil.

Really?

It's more preposterous to say that a self replicating organism evolved over MILLIONS of years rather than God made EVERYTHING out of nothing?

REALLY?!?!

It's more preposterous to say that all animals have a shared ancestor (tree of life) and everything is connected and us humans have found numerous of evidence for this including fossils and DNA itself...rather than "GOD DID EVERYTHING and we have ZERO evidence for it".

Christianity has a very good explanation for why some humans take pleasure in the suffering of others, how does evolution explain that only humans have "evolved" this capability?

Christianity DOES NOT have any good explanations toward anything!

"EVIL"?

Would you say cannibalism is evil....if so, just look at all these animals that preform it:

http://discovermagazine.com/photos/3...-little-secret

Of course to animals this isn't "Evil" it's just another form of "survival"!

[tpeichel]

I've seen some discovery documentaries where it looks as if some animals have just killed for the sport. Heck, house cats have been known to kill for the sport. Attacking a rodent and keeping it alive to play with like a ball of yarn.

I saw a show where they were reintroducing some tigers back into the wild and at some point they showed them both or one (can't remember) running through this creek bed where some gazelles had been, killing multiple gazelles. It's been awhile since I've seen the documentary but I think it killed something like five or six animals within a few minutes and just left them.

There are two parts to it.

The torturer takes pleasure from the torture because they know their subject is suffering. In the case of the cat, the cat treats the mouse like a ball of yarn. To them it is just a toy.

Animals killing animals without eating them could be a number of things. The satisfaction of the kill. Honing their hunting skills. I don't think there are any feelings of enjoyment from the suffering of the victim though.

[JustAlex]

I have yet to see anyone bring up the whole D.N.A. thing, that kind of hard to repute.

Indeed.

DNA is one of the biggest evidence for Evolution.

"DNA is a long strand of nucleotides which form the genes that make up chromosomes. Scientists compare DNA from living organisms to identify similarities among species. The best explanation for many of the similarities we find is evolutionary common ancestry."


If anyone wants to look further in depth of common decent and how DNA is a great evidence for it, here you go:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidence_of_common_descent


Side Note: I really LOVE how science has mountains of evidence, facts and good theories to explain many previous unknowns.

[tpeichel]

Really?

It's more preposterous to say that a self replicating organism evolved over MILLIONS of years rather than God made EVERYTHING out of nothing?

REALLY?!?!

It's more preposterous to say that all animals have a shared ancestor (tree of life) and everything is connected and us humans have found numerous of evidence for this including fossils and DNA itself...rather than "GOD DID EVERYTHING and we have ZERO evidence for it".



Christianity DOES NOT have any good explanations toward anything!

"EVIL"?

Would you say cannibalism is evil....if so, just look at all these animals that preform it:

http://discovermagazine.com/photos/3...-little-secret

Of course to animals this isn't "Evil" it's just another form of "survival"!

I can understand your point without you YELLING.

Christianity explains evil in humans quite easily. I get that you don't agree. I'm simply questioning why no other species outside of humans has evolved the capability to enjoy the suffering of others?