The theory, just like the big bang confuses people a lot. I have heard atheists state thet Darwinian natural selection can be used as proof that there is no god. This is the same as the popular claim that the big bang theory is proof that the unuverse was not created. While the theories are great, they both have huge gaps which seem impossible to fill. Where are the transitional fossils? What caused the supposed 'bang'. Many people just believe without questining or studying.
The beautiful thing about science and theories are that they are fluidic and adapt and change as our understanding of the natural world increases. With beliefs, they often contradict what we know about the natural world and refuse to catch up to our understanding.
More people should begin treating magic and mysticism as a science, adapting their beliefs in accordance to their expirential experience of reality, without expecting everyone else to arrive at the same conclusion.
Some scientists do question the big bang theory and are still respected, some question Darwin; espescially in recent years, they are also still respected.
I think Arethra Franklin had it correct- R-E-S-P-E-C-T! That's just what everyone deserves regardless of what edition of reality they subscribe to.
To add to this, and as you originally state, science describes ideas like this as theories. They are so widely accepted because they are the best, most plausible explanations that exist so far. However, unlike many religions and spiritual paths, science doesn't rub its hands together and go "Good enough. We explained everything in that one go, and we're finished." Science is an eternal effort to not only prove that such theories are true, but to prove them wrong. Proving such a theory wrong, even while you're trying to prove it correct, is a monumental part of scientific endeavors. It leads one closer to the truth.
That, in the end, is where science, religion, spirituality, etc. are the same. They are all searching for answers. Being content with the unproven answers someone else came upon, or that you encounter yourself, is the greatest sin within all of it. That is where I might disagree with Hadit (as rare as that might ever be). Contentment in flawed knowledge and understanding is nothing more than choosing to be ignorant. Willful ignorance deserves no respect.
i'm really enjoying this new Crash Course serious on Mythology, you might enjoy their channel, this week he was talking about creation myths and the big bang, might be of some help to you.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eVFgfQ2694
i do agree some people do not question or study things and go 'my daddy was told by his daddy, and his daddy before him so i believe this too' there are many times people have studied and questioned and concluded what their peers say is [to them] true. my cousin and i were both raised in a very christian town. if you weren't Anglican [which i was] you were catholic [which she was] and there was no middle ground. the only people who didn't go to church on sundays were those who were too old to leave the house [and even then the local priest or minister would visit their home to do a sermon for them. our grandmother would watch televangelists until noon when the catholic priest would come over and have lunch and discuss the bible] when i was about 13 i fell out of my faith, didn't hate Christianity, just didn't add up, i found out my cousin was having a similar thing and the two of us [we are pretty much peas in a pod] did soul searching, eventually over 10 years later, i'm Wiccan, and she's Baptist [very devout married a preachers son baptist] so the point of my story is people can be from similar backgrounds, do the research and come up with different answers. however these different answers are seen as the correct ones in their eyes.
and regarding science like the big bang and fossils, you could come up with religious answers to them. some Christians believe the devil created fossils to confuse people [and yes, i find it silly, but some do believe this] and the big bang was God creating the universe from nothingness [i personally agree with this theory. many religions being with nothingness then a divine being created everything in one second and it aligns pretty well with the big bang.]
overall, i don't care what you believe [provided you're not kicking puppies] but you should be open enough to hear others views and give them a chance. doing something simply because 'tradition' or to follow the herd, can lead so some pretty bad things.
I would assume, especially as I just heard two Christians argue evolution isn't real, that I am a weirdo amongst most Christians when it coems to this topic. A quote I love is Terry Pratchett 'In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded." lol. The fact is I believe in both creation and evolution. I also believe there might have been a big bang, but an engineered one rather than some random cosmic chance. As for the idea of evolution, well actually the bible makes me believe in evolution. Any common sense Christian if they think of Noah's Ark will think....wow we have so many creatures on this planet, so how did two of every animal fit on that boat??? The fact is I don't think they did but rather I think two of every species that existed at that time in history may have been on the ark. I think the various species of different animals evolved from a handful of ancestors(example: There are many different speicies of snakes but I think there may have originally been only a few different types compared to today.). I'm not talking about radical evolution but smaller forms of evolution possibly instigated by adaptation to new environments. You mentioned fossils but there are fossils that depict some evolution from what I understand though the ones you hear the most about are the ones giving credence to the evolution of man. Overall, this is a belief I have with little proof and typically if you believe in one thing you exclude the possibiity of the other. I know I am not all knowing and there are manty questions I can only fathom the answers to though I assume I will learn the answers one day if I am so inclined.
I liked the video. i didn't know about some of the myths in there. Other than the first and of course the last. Yeah and that version of the 'myth' is more catchy and reasonable.
