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So my girlfriend thinks the Earth is 6000 years old...

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Gaf my fiancée thinks Ghostbusters is a terrible movie, is this as bad as believing the Earth is 6000 years old, or worse?
 
That's not what I mean - I mean if they let the child grow up and figure out what it believes for itself. The age of the Earth is hardly something that important growing up.

If both parents nurtured a healthy scientific interest, it should be fine. It's kind of like believing in Santa, really. Kids just grow out of it. And children could learn things from both sides. If she'd force the child to go to church, though... then we have a problem.

What in his story makes you believe that she would agree to that?
 
Teach them critical thinking. ;)

that'll do. I hate to say it, but being taught that the bible is the unerring word of God and critical thinking at the same time usually don't go hand in hand. Critical thinking is asking "Why" and "How do they know" while the biblical answer always seems to be "Because God wills it."

I don't want people to think that I'm against religion as a whole, but I detest people who will willingly shutting off their brains from knowledge because they have been that God has already provided the answer.
 
That's not what I mean - I mean if they let the child grow up and figure out what it believes for itself. The age of the Earth is hardly something that important growing up.

Okay what do you do in the meantime? Do you allow them to go to church, will the mother allow you to teach evolution.?
 
1. Women can wear jewelry.
2. We can eat bacon.
3. Alcohol is better to be avoided and only a sin when a person gets drunk.
4. Christians are better off not dating unbelievers because bad company corrupts Godly morals.

notsureifserious.jpg

I'm saying, let's say you meet an AMAZING person. Wonderful, intelligent, capable, loving, everything you could want....BUT she believed the Earth was 6000 years old.

Normally the two conditions are mutually exclusive. Being a young earther has huge implications about the rest of her personality. Intelligent is already out of the picture.
 
Is that generally something parents do? Why would a caring religious parent allow even the smallest chance of condemning their kids to hell? In my experience, religious people suck at compromise. Why would they compromise when they're right?

Dammit. Okay, never mind, you're right. This is true.

I did not take the whole religious aspect as seriously as I should have in my mind. Then again, she is still fucking OP, so...
 
Sounds like a relationship that's built to last. You should berate her until she agrees with you, OP. It's the only way to deal with people who don't believe the same things you do.
A sure fire (Internet-approved) plan.


Gaf my fiancée thinks Ghostbusters is a terrible movie, is this as bad as believing the Earth is 6000 years old, or worse?

Steal back the ring while she sleeps...
 
I think people saying "Dump her" are confusing a beliefe that the Earth is 6000 years old with being a horrible person.

I'm saying, let's say you meet an AMAZING person. Wonderful, intelligent, capable, loving, everything you could want....BUT she believed the Earth was 6000 years old.

Now some people are saying to throw away ALL that because of a single belief?

That doesn't make sense. I mean, neither does her belief in the Earth's age....but c'mon...

LOL Mammoth Jones. A little on the nose.

That said the things I highlighted in your statement is what I have a problem with. You treat it like it is some tiny detail but I often find out is that it is often a tip of the iceburg. I am not against meeting a religious person but someone who takes the most unbelievable stories and takes them literally usually is bad news.
 
I think you're generalizing about this. Do you know the OPs girlfriend? How do you know she doesn't love him enough to compromise?

Because she believes that God created the world 6000 years ago. She believes that God created the world 6000 years ago because she spent most of her formative years in an isolated environment that only espoused this viewpoint. She responds negatively to outside secular forces that challenge that worldview, treating them with suspicion and derision.

I would gather from this collection of information that the 6000 year old earth isn't the only thing she's holding on to from her schooling and she probably thinks her upbringing was normal and she's a good person and her kids will go to hell if they aren't Christian. This all suggests that she might get a little bit ornery about the subject of sacrificing her kids' souls and values to a secular society that feeds them misinformation and leads them away from the path of God.

More information would be nice but nothing given suggests that a 'compromise' is in the cards and even if both parties can agree top such a thing all I see down the road is festering resentment and dissatisfaction poisoning the relationship.
 
Track record of...? Basic facts? How many people have tested them either? Done the math?

We accept certain facts as true all the time (as history has shown), and then something comes up and previous knowledge is overturned. Hence we also know from the track record that certain established facts can turn out to be wrong. Yet we still believe.

That is, until the group of people say "we were wrong," and then we believe the new thing. In the end, every belief we have is based on some degree of faith.
Of course, the issue is however, that some people push this reasoning to reach a false equivalency. It's one thing to have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow, it's another to have baseless faith that some being created that sun.

Using that false equivalency to bring validity to asinine ideologies is extremely frustrating.
 
Both sides sound like blind followers to me. Science changes all the time most things are theories. Keep you're mind open to possibilities. ( Not in this particular situation, but in general ) With a lot of experiences I have had in regard to health and nutrition I have found I had to dig hard and deep to find truths that go against what is so called "public" or accurate knowledge.
 
not sure if you touched this before or not.
couldn't you just tell her that stargate happened 3000 years in the future so it is still inline with the 6000 year bs to say pyramids are built 8000 years ago when it's 3000 years in the future
3000+6000 = 9000
9000 >= 8000
 
The best answer is to not argue about it, but please do try having a different belief imposed on you. As belief can dictate action, there's a very high chance that it will happen, and with an increased frequency. There are exceptions to that "rule," but take it as you will.

And sports at least bring money to a town. And it's also tangible. And I don't even follow them.

I find more in common with the militant atheist calling everyone stupid because they believe something blindly, as the street preaching evangalist telling everyone they're going to hell because they don't believe what they believe. Both are in the same retarded boat, that they're ego can't handle someone else not thinking the same way they do, and want to lash out for it.

I find so much irony in both sides, and just plain intolerance. One side telling the other "how can you be so blind" based on nothing more than what they grew up to believe. Sure, evolution is the scienfically proven answer off the backs of years of research and anthropological work, but most of hte people who tout that did nothing more than take it at face value either, believing what they were told growing up from a book and going no further. Wonder how many of these hardline intolerants spent in a museum seeing some of this work they oh so vigorously yell at and shout off about versus the time they spend arguing about it.

Yeah, congrats, they backed the right horse, but most did it at the same face value that anyone else in other camp did growing up. Reading what you were told to believe, and not going any further.
 
Both sides sound like blind followers to me. Science changes all the time most things are theories. Keep you're mind open to possibilities. ( Not in this particular situation, but in general ) With a lot of experiences I have had in regard to health and nutrition I have found I had to dig hard and deep to find truths that go against what is so called "public" or accurate knowledge.

really? Really? If what I'll call the path of science is filled with blind followers, who are the people who change the theories? A blind follower does not challenge the status quo. Who, then, is?
 
She is fine with it. She knows what the majority believe and is content to allow all of us "science believers" to go on deluded, lol. She does seem to enjoy trying to convince me, even though she knows full well that she can't. It's become a running joke of sorts between us, kind of playful actually.


That settles it then. I'm not criticizing you, but this whole thing is such an "internet" argument. Real people , in real life, in a relationship, who love each other, do not REALLY give a damn whether or not their partner accepts things like the age of the Earth, or global warming. It does not matter.
 
Because she believes that God created the world 6000 years ago. She believes that God created the world 6000 years ago because she spent most of her formative years in an isolated environment that only espoused this viewpoint. She responds negatively to outside secular forces that challenge that worldview, treating them with suspicion and derision.

Does she? You seem to know her very well. If you didn't I'd almost call that generalizing.

I wouldn't gather from this collection of information that the 6000 year old earth isn't the only thing she's holding on to from her schooling and she probably thinks her upbringing was normal and she's a good person and her kids will go to hell if they aren't Christian. This all suggests that she might get a little bit ornery about the subject of sacrificing her kids' souls and values to a secular society that feeds them misinformation and leads them away from the path of God.

More information would be nice but nothing given suggests that a 'compromise' is in the cards and even if both parties can agree top such a thing all I see down the road is festering resentment and dissatisfaction poisoning the relationship.

Maybe, but you don't know for sure. All relationships require compromise in some areas to work, it's simply unavoidable.

This is a pretty big compromise, but still.
 
Both sides sound like blind followers to me. Science changes all the time most things are theories. Keep you're mind open to possibilities. ( Not in this particular situation, but in general ) With a lot of experiences I have had in regard to health and nutrition I have found I had to dig hard and deep to find truths that go against what is so called "public" or accurate knowledge.

Okay, stop now. If you have no idea what a scientific theory is it's intellectually dishonest for you to enter this thread and pretend you have any idea of what you're talking about.
 
No because your fiance just has a WRONG OPINION. OP's girlfriend is close minded and ignorant.

Exactly. My fiancée doesn't appreciate the subtlety of Bill Murray's humor. OPs girlfriend rejects science and every scientific advancement that has led us to an understanding of the earth's age.

My fiancée is a almost as wrong.
 
A girl I nearly went out with was essentially a creationist.

One of the biggest reasons I didn't go for it.
 
I find more in common with the militant atheist calling everyone stupid because they believe something blindly, as the street preaching evangalist telling everyone they're going to hell because they don't believe what they believe. Both are in the same retarded boat, that they're ego can't handle someone else not thinking the same way they do, and want to lash out for it.

I find so much irony in both sides, and just plain intolerance. One side telling the other "how can you be so blind" based on nothing more than what they grew up to believe. Sure, evolution is the scienfically proven answer off the backs of years of research and anthropological work, but most of hte people who tout that did nothing more than take it at face value either, believing what they were told growing up from a book and going no further. Wonder how many of these hardline intolerants spent in a museum seeing some of this work they oh so vigorously yell at and shout off about versus the time they spend arguing about it.

Yeah, congrats, they backed the right horse, but most did it at the same face value that anyone else in other camp did growing up. Reading what you were told to believe, and not going any further.
Quality of source is irrelevant now, believe whatever you want, there is no reason to think one thing over another! YAY!!!
 
Of course, the issue is however, that some people push this reasoning to reach a false equivalency. It's one thing to have faith that the sun will rise tomorrow, it's another to have baseless faith that some being created that sun.

Using that false equivalency to bring validity to asinine ideologies is extremely frustrating.

Yes, I know this. The thing was "what of some people who have had 'experiences'"? Like my Dad believes an angel led him and a friend back home one day. It was a person who said nothing, but just led them then disappeared. Never saw it again.

Or the people who get sick, pray and then get better.

Or the people experienced all of these things, plus have felt "the holy spirit."

Yeah, we've got scientific explanations for them all, but when they're told the explanation for these things by a church and they believe it because of that experience that we "can't possibly understand"...

Then the difference becomes more muddied. But yes, scientific belief is still more rational. I've noted this.
 
Both sides sound like blind followers to me.
Nope.
Science changes all the time
Isn't it awesome? :D
most things are theories.
Like the germ theory of disease?
Keep you're mind open to possibilities. ( Not in this particular situation, but in general )
Science encourages a person to do that.
With a lot of experiences I have had in regard to health and nutrition I have found I had to dig hard and deep to find truths that go against what is so called "public" or accurate knowledge.
Sounds interesting. Details?
 
Exactly. My fiancée doesn't appreciate the subtlety of Bill Murray's humor. OPs girlfriend rejects science and every scientific advancement that has led us to an understanding of the earth's age.

My fiancée is a almost as wrong.

How does your fiancée feel about Murray's other work? Does she like Caddyshack? How could she not like Caddyshack?
 
Both sides sound like blind followers to me. Science changes all the time most things are theories. Keep you're mind open to possibilities. ( Not in this particular situation, but in general ) With a lot of experiences I have had in regard to health and nutrition I have found I had to dig hard and deep to find truths that go against what is so called "public" or accurate knowledge.
Haha.

I love when people try to suggest a scientific theory built with evidence is even remotely similar to a blind religious belief with none.
 
really? Really? If what I'll call the path of science is filled with blind followers, who are the people who change the theories? A blind follower does not challenge the status quo. Who, then, is?


People who have been blind followers, then ask why... and are not afraid of what other people might think.


One video I think is interesting is this. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umFnrvcS6AQ

I watched the whole video, if what he says is right I think we are in for some serious issues in maybe our own lifetime. Say if you are 20 like me.

The said video goes against everything we see in the media, and politics.
 
Both sides sound like blind followers to me. Science changes all the time most things are theories.

I'm not sure changes is the correct term here. It certainly improves, but it's not like overall there has been extremely wrong things. At leastnot anything that would have stuck around for ages and be the most common hypothesis.
 
@Mengy, you sound really mature. Your posts make me have +1 respect for you. Good on you for being legit and open minded.

As someone who was raised as a Christian and maybe isn't so Christian anymore, she probably still finds existence amazing and awe-inspiring, but through an entirely different lens. True, it's not the same awe as yours, but I'd be willing to bet she finds many things just as remarkable.
 
I do know what the scientific method is. I'm talking about on a personal basis. For example, I've read about wave-particle duality. I know what it is at a (really) basic level.

How do I know it actually occurs, when I've never done/observed experiments for myself? If you think about it, most information is just believing what a large enough group of people tell us. It's trust-based.

Unless you guys have done experiments on everything you currently believe...?

so you're saying i have faith in science much like i have faith in the existence of norway?
 
Quality of source is irrelevant now, believe whatever you want, there is no reason to think one thing over another! YAY!!!

Did I say that?

You take quality of source for granted in society, but if you grow up in North Korea versus say, the US, and what their version of science and history is, what is the difference? Blind faith is blind faith whether you're in the right or wrong. If you've done no more than taken whatever it is you read in school at face value, you may have backed the right horse based on what makes more sense to you personally - but have you really done anything more than take things at face value as you were told? Depending on when and where you are at in society, that changes.
 
OP is an example of the wrong opinion

It's not an opinion that gravity exists.*

It's not an opinion that fire burns.

It's not an opinion that the earth is ~4.5 billion years old.


*Our understanding of gravity is incomplete but gravitational forces exist whether we fully understand them or not
 
so you're saying i have faith in science much like i have faith in the existence of norway?

Basically you can't prove anything beyond the fact that you exist. Nothing. That is what I was getting at the whole time. Literally, everything is faith. Religion is faith beyond faith.
 
Give me the nice person who believes the earth is 200 years old and can have fun and live carefree over the dogged annoying keyboard warrior who thinks he's changing the world by yelling at the seat of his computer because other people don't think what he thinks. Grow up OP.

Pretty much. Kindness>intelligence.
 
Basically you can't prove anything beyond the fact that you exist. Nothing. That is what I was getting at the whole time. Literally, everything is faith. Religion is faith beyond faith.

This logic makes sense only if you believe every one of your senses is a lie.
 
I have to agree with TheNatural that an unfortunate % of the population that believes in evolution believes in it because they were told to, and did not arrive to the conclusion that it was true via independent research/critical thinking.

You can see it with the huge number of misconceptions about evolution that exist. Ie. Things always evolve to become more complex, evolution's end goal is human beings, etc...


Basically you can't prove anything beyond the fact that you exist. Nothing. That is what I was getting at the whole time. Literally, everything is faith. Religion is faith beyond faith.

http://www.iep.utm.edu/solipsis/#H7
 
Basically you can't prove anything beyond the fact that you exist. Nothing. That is what I was getting at the whole time. Literally, everything is faith. Religion is faith beyond faith.

Yes, I am a philosophy major

And technically everything is math, is there point to this point you're trying to make? The thread is to discuss the OP's situation and religious faith, not faith in philosophical and general terms.
 
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