Atheism & Darwin

Religion Today

All religions of the world today contain many good elements. They encourage helping those less fortunate, treating others the way you expect to be treated and they provide a set of rules on how to be a compassionate being. It seems strange that in many cases some of these messages have become distorted or corrupted. For instance, religious texts encourage helping the poor, doing what you can to improve their lives. Yet the religious organizations themselves seem to completely ignore this principle. They like to give off the impression they are helping unfortunate others but the amount of money they contribute to this cause is but a fraction of their earnings and wealth. Lavish churches, mosques and temples are erected at titanic costs often filled with expensive cloth, gold and lavish decorations. It is important for religious individuals to have a place to worship yet why should the churches be flaunting their wealth by dressing their leaders in silks and gold, as we watch them drive around in the most luxurious vehicles and see the palaces they live in. So much corruption, yet no one seems to object. Why? Because religious institutions state they are expressing God's wishes and helping to spread God's teachings.

When exposed like this we can see that members of the particular religion are of little importance to those in power. What is important to them is peoples money, taken in order to fund their so called passage to heaven, to help the church or to express their loving for the religion. This is but a smoke screen as the many billions of dollars/ pounds (or trillions in the case of the Catholic Church, although they deny this) are simply stored away or spent on luxuries for the few. Such corruption forces us to take a differing view of religion.

Being Atheist

To class someone as an Atheist is to state that they do not have a belief in God or multiple gods. As stated above, the corruption of the religious institutions, could be one possible way for someone to become Atheist. After viewing the corruption throughout history, it makes one question if the religions themselves are not following the rules then perhaps these rules are merely set up for the purpose of controlling the masses and their money. This indeed is enough to give one pause for thought.

Charles Darwin

Another reason why people are Atheists is because they are willing to acknowledge the scientific facts. This is where the work of Charles Darwin comes in. Darwin's theory of evolution found that over time (many millions of years) species evolve to form a more advanced being whereby their bodies and survival methods are improved in order to better suit their environment.

Darwin conducted studies on the Galapagos Islands, 972 km off the coast of Ecuador, South America. From studying many animals including the finches inhabited on the islands, he found that some finches had larger beaks on one island compared with smaller beaks on another island. The reason for this was because they had adapted over time, via the process of natural selection, because they had differing food sources. These different food sources would have required a certain sized beak. On the island with the big beaked finches, those with the larger beaks were more likely to survive whereas those with the smaller beaks died out. Through sexual selection females would have had preference for males with larger beaks as they are stronger and more adapted ( Survival of the fittest) thus, passing their genes on to the next generation.

Darwin also studied apes and noticed key similarities with our own species of Homo-Sapiens. He noted that apes were able to use tools and apply their brains to using these tools and their traits seemed very human (similar hands, feet, faces etc). He concluded from his close analysis that we share a common ancestor with apes. Later studies were able to conclude we share 99% of our genes with apes. Other recent studies, including examining fossils of prehistoric man which look for key similarities with modern man and the study of dinosaurs (in order to see how animals evolved), have been able to provide full support for this theory. The evolution of man and all other species becomes more and more accepted each day.

The Universe

The origin of the universe, or the Big Bang theory provides evidence on how the universe and our planet came about. From examining stars, atoms and space scientists have been able to conclude that the universe was formed around 13.7 billion years ago. They found from around this time the universe began to expand from a hot and dense condition and is believed to be expanding still today. Our planet was not indeed a creation of some divine being but instead a slow and gradual process of evolution through billions of years.

Summary

The main purpose of this section is to expose the visible corruption of religions in the world today as well as to reveal the wok of science. While religious texts contain some important morals and teachings they should not be taken as literal fact as they were written thousands of years ago at a time when understanding of the world was very limited. At the time of writing these texts, individuals would construct ideas in their minds about how our planet was created. From Darwin's research, clear evidence is presented on the evolution of animals via the processes of natural selection, where the best adapted survive. The origin of our universe gives us the scientific explanation of how everything came in to being and how the universe is forever expanding.