If you deny the "Theory of Evolution" and discovered that you have cancer would you refuse treatment that...?
was based in evolutionary theory, as most cancer treatments are? If not, how is it not hypocritical to accept the benefits of evolutionary theory, and yet fight to keep that same thing out of our schools? Thank you for helping me understand this.
Religion & Spirituality - 25 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
I predict the word "macro" will appear 20 times in about 3, 2, 1.....
2 :
You're going to have to explain how medical science relies on evolution to make medicine.
3 :
macro lol
4 :
justagir... you are my new favorite person...
5 :
I do deny evolutionism. If I found I had cancer I would get my passport in order so I could go to Germany to get an intelligent treatment, that is not allowed in the USA under the FDA tyranny.
6 :
How in the FLYING FVCK is cancer treatment based in evolutionary theory??? Where do you get this???
7 :
As an atheist, I find this argument silly. They believe everything good comes from God, including cancer treatment. If those whacky scientists want to think evolution is real, and God "uses" those scientists to bring us "miracles" of medicine, then that is okay wth them. It's not hypocritical at all. Silly, ridiculous, ill-informed and dangerous, but not hypocritical.
8 :
As soon as prayers start curing more people in clinical trials than medical science, the theists won't have to say another word. I will join them.
9 :
i don't mean to generalize but those who deny evolution tend to be Christian fundis and they have many contradictions. they are pro life and yet support starting wars for example. and i see your question went over the heads of many as they don't seem to understand cancerous cells lol.
10 :
Ummm, my dad has fought cancer for 6 years and I haven't seen any of his treatments being based on the theory of evolution. What would that even look like? "Well, you see, an amoeba reacts this way to drugs so since you're evolved from an amoeba we think this drug will work for you." Nonsensical. That's not how medical science works. I believe God created the universe, whether He did it through evolution or some other means I have no clue. But I don't fight to keep evolution out of the schools either. Now if you were asking if I would accept a treatment developed based on embryonic stem cell research my answer would be absolutely not. I couldn't benefit from a treatment that cost an innocent human life. EDIT: Just an addition for those that think some of us don't understand cancer. I'm painfully aware of how cancer works. Its just a false argument to say that evolution is used to battle it. I know scientists study other oranism's cells to understand how they work and can apply that to humans and cancer treatment. But just because a mechanic can look at Buick and learn some things that help him go do a tune up on a Ford doesn't mean that the Ford evolved from the Buick. Maybe they just had the same creator. ;)
11 :
There is nothing scientific that has ever come from the THEORY of Evolution. A Dr. doesn't have to know anything about the Theory in order to perform the task at hand. Neither does a construction worker who builds my house, or a plumber who fixes the plumbing, or a mechanic who fixes my car. Believing the Theory of Evolution has abolutely no baring in performing work, and working with tangible objects. A genetisist doesn't need to know anything about the Theory of Evolution to continue being a genetisist. He or she performs the tasks at hand by what literally, actually takes place, right now, and practices their trade with skill. There are no benefits to Evolutionary Theory... accept more Evolutionary Theory. ***Amen Anne (above). This question proves the brainwashing that goes into people who believe in the Theory of Evolution. Most of them don't even comprehend what it does and doesn't teach when it comes to real, actualy science, which is tangible and present.
12 :
I think a majority of those who deny evolution are also generally ignorant enough to be unaware of the link between biology and medicine. Most of these people would fall into the category who blindly follow what doctors tell them, understand none of it, and treat the whole affair as a magical ritual, psychologically speaking.
13 :
I'm just going to explain for the cretans how cancer treatments are linked to evolutionary theory cancer, is essentially cells that don't 'know' how to stop reproducing, rapidly creating more and more cells causing tumors to grow larger and larger and eventually taking over whole systems leading to dead. evolution has helped medicine in many countless ways from insulin production to farming for skin grafts modern medical and biochemical science only functions the way it does if the theory of evolution is correct so indeed much of the medical advancements today are due to the vast majority of science knowing and understanding evolution, and it's practical implications in the modern world.. unlike intelligent design and other creationist 'science' that have none let the cretanists answer now
14 :
The fight against evolution is not spiritual, it is political. It is just a way for fundamentalist Christians to pick a fight, an issue for them to coalesce around. If you want to lead people, you get on a soapbox and tell them their rights are being trampled. Sometimes this is called 'the victim game', telling a group of people that they need to fight for more respect. Insisting that creationism be seen as a 'science' allows fundamentalists to get people elected to school boards, and in a bigger context it allows the neoconservative movement to exploit Christians, get them to line up behind Republican candidates, and to donate money. You read these polls that something like 60% of Americans claim to believe in creationism. I don't think they really do, I think they pretend to, as a form of conservative or Christian 'political correctness'. None of these people would bet their lives on creationism. They don't 'believe' it in the way they believe 2+2=2. It is a matter of faith, and therefore needs no justification. In the end, it's all just a fight over who gets to make the rules.
15 :
I'm surprised that people are too lazy to use Google to find the link between evolutionary theory and cancer treatments. Here are some sites for all those people who keep asking: http://network.nature.com/blogs/user/basanta http://media.www.dailyemerald.com/media/storage/paper859/news/2007/07/23/News/Worm-Evolution.Links.Protein.To.Cancer.Treatment-2926130.shtml http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/117038.php
16 :
I would totally refuse the treatment, why in the hell would I want to prolong the agony of staying on the planet of the apes?
17 :
If you believe that cancer or any other aliment is cured by anything other than the mercy of God, that is why you are confused... God is the only one who decides when our time has come to come to Him.
18 :
There is a big difference between evolution - and evolution in some form is clearly a fact - and the evolutionary theory regarding origin of life which you are referring to. If you believe that God created the world we live in with things as they are, you'd have to believe that he created them with the ability to adapt and evolve to some degree. AT least if you're head isn't completely in the sand. But, believing that all life evolved from a lack of life into simple life into the complexity that we are now all by itself, that is a whole different thing. I think believing that theory is true requires at least as much faith as believing in a divine creation. It also seems to me that people who are dying of cancer are willing to try anything - chemo, prayer, experimental science, anything... I don't have a problem with any theories being presented in a school as long as they're presented as theories. In many cases, evolutionary theory is taught as factual science which isn't accurate. We need to separate what we know to be true about evolution from what we think may be true. Teach fact as fact and for the part that is theory say, "This is how we think things may have happened." That's all I'd ask, it seems we should be able to be more civil and reasonable about disagreeing on things. Thanks.
19 :
Thanks for this question. For anyone who would like to know.... I am an Evolutionary Biologist employed at one of the USA's oldest Cancer Research Institutes. My current research is focused upon how tumor cells that do not die from radiation ADAPT to radiation treatments. Did any of you wonder why radiation is used to treat cancer when we "all know" that radiation can cause cancer? Yeah...well I don't wonder. Thanks. Another thing I do, on the sidelines, is rescue contaminated primary cell cultures. For example, one of the commonly used cell lines in Canada is generally believed to be so intermingled with HeLa cells as to be indistinguishable from HeLa cells. One of my current projects is creating a differential index of things that will kill HeLa, but not other cell lines-survival of the fittest-without causing the other cells to transform... ...Just FYI. Anyone who says the theory of evolution discusses the origins of life is either misled or trying to mislead others. ALL EVOLUTION discusses is how extant (life that exists) life changes. And that's from the horse's mouth, bub. Darwin's Origin of the species, for example, discusses how the changes in extant life he has been involved with (racing pidgeons) where selective forces are manmade ("selection under man") might be a metaphor for the mechanism by which natural forces (natural selection) change life. CH- I'm up to 15 people who've mailed me that article. :)
20 :
The majority of medical treatments that we have at our disposal today are in some way flawed, you only have to look at the little leaflet that comes along with any medication to see this fact. A friend of mine recently died, she had cancer and initially responded well to the treatment, then they took the treatment one stage further to make sure there was no trace of it left in her body, and the treatment itself caused her death. I would always look for the most natural alternative available for any cure to any illness, because I feel we simply don't understand enough and knowing that there is a connection between evolution and medical break throughs in the treatment of cancer, or any other illness in fact, does nothing to instill me with confidence. *******So even though I am not a God believer, this new information has done nothing for me, I will continue to be wary of our mainstream use of medicines and treatments, because I have had first-hand experience of them, which can not in any way be described as positive. However I take your point about the hypocrisy of the christian using this medical information on one hand and denying it on the other, but this to me seems to be a human attribute all across the board. Sometimes it is hard not to have double standards when reality is biting your @r$e!!
21 :
You did not explain how the "theory of evolution" has anything to do with treating cancer. The "theory of evolution" believes all living things evolved from a germ. How does that have anything to do with treating cancer?
22 :
Or would you just deny that cancer existed? Serendipitously, this is a brand new scientific advancement in our understanding of the disease that only came out today. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/08/080801094300.htm
23 :
Laptop Jesus, will you marry me? The creationists' responses are pure comedy gold.
24 :
This is a false conundrum. Despite the ranting and ravings of the "true believers" of the religion of evolution, one does not have to accept the (failed) theory of Evolution in order to understand biology or medicine. Actually, the only part of evolution that "holds water" is the only part that is taught in the Scriptures. When Noah put two of every "kind" of animal in the Ark, those animals, through observable natural processes (ie. the loss of genetic information due to inbreeding) became all of the different species we see today. One creationist who mentioned this point in a debate was asked by a proffessor in the audience, "do you expect us to believe that all these many species of dogs decened from a wolf?" To which the creationist responded, "What's so difficult about that, you teach that they decended from a rock!" In all actuality, the Theory of Evolution stands in the way of true scientific progress, because any results that do not fit with the current model of the Theory are thrown out. Any idea postulated that veers from the "orthodoxy" of Evolution is quashed. That is not science, it is religeon in its worse form. The only "evidence" supporting the Theory of Evolution in text books are old, discredited ideas that no one defends, except the text book writers. They defend putting things like the decades ago proven to be falsified images of animal and human embryos "looking alike" in the text books because they have nothing to replace it with! They cannot take out the lies that "support" evolution, because they have no truth with which to replace it! Ah, there is so much more. The information is out there, if you care to look at it with an open mind.
25 :
Brutally honest: hypocritical or not -- alive is alive, dead is dead. As long as I still have something to do here, I prefer the former over the latter. And as a minor postscript, me personally, it's not so much that evolutionary theory is taught as much as that Creation theory isn't.
Read more discussions :