Human Evolution and It's Relation to Religion

Human Evolution and It's Relation to Religion

     As I look during school at the differences in face shape, body type, skin color, eye color, and hair type, I wonder why don't people believe in evolution?  Let's look at the creationism story that relates to monotheistic religions, preferably those that have biblical scripture.  Adam and Eve, as they are called in English, started in the Garden of Eden.  Adam, first very lonely, was graciously granted a partner, Eve.  Now, these two humans were created by a supreme being (under the name of God and Yahweh depending on the religion) and they started the entire human population.  Now, there is much more to this story that relates to sin and wrongdoings, as well as extreme evil.  

     When looking only at Evolution from a simple, incomplete understanding, it's very easy for religious people to get caught up in the contradictions between the findings of Charles Darwin and archaeologists through the fossil records.  Charles Darwin's theory of evolution through natural selection has been proved time after time to be very true.  The fossil record proves change in organisms over time and the fossils strongly resemble species that currently inhabit the area in which they were found.  The fact that embryos of a fish and that of a human look very similar within the first stages of placental pregnancy suggests that all organisms relate back to a common ancestor!  Humans, then, also relate back to a common ancestor.  Within the fossil record, scientists have found the lineage of Hominids and how it relates back to an ancestor that is common with apes!  When comparing an ape skull with a modern human skull and saying that they are related is enough ground for someone to hypothesize that there is a common ancestor among all living organisms.  

     Let's take a look at the bible, realistically.  The bible, as even I agree, is a truly magical book of history that contains very relatable stories for everyone.  From a simple historical standpoint, how is the bible accurate?  Especially with creationism!  Who was there to witness the creation of Adam and Eve other than the supreme being?  Even those who strictly follow the bible know that God did not write the bible, but rather a group of unrelated men did, who wrote down orally passed "folk tales" that related to the earth.  Because of this extreme inability to prove the accuracy of the bible, how do people take literal meanings from it?  I am a very faithful Christian, and I know that the bible is open for interpretation.  My father, who has been around plenty of scientists in his life, says that most scientists have strong faith.  In my opinion, I don't see how someone could live life thinking that the whole world just happened by chance, and that when they die, they just die.  Religion has its own purpose, and I think that religion is a necessity.  

     Are there really any contradictions that the Theory of Evolution brings to religious views?  If you leave the bible open to interpretation, then it's very easy to change your beliefs to accommodate science.  When you hear that all earth's organisms originated from a common ancestor, there is no place in the bible that states that we didn't.  When Adam and Eve are created as the first humans, it is very easy to say that the first two humans partook in the actions described in Genesis.  Evolution of Humans doesn't contradict the story of creation according to the bible, but rather fills a gap.  The bottom line is that religion and science, specifically the Theory of Evolution, don't contradict each other.  Comparing religion and science is like comparing a wrench and a screwdriver.  They are both important, but they exist for completely different reasons.  

     Human Evolution also helps fill many of the gaps in the time before human history.  Creationism stories are unique to singular groups of people, while science and theories relate to all people no matter where they live.  Scientists all around the world can agree (mostly) that all modern humans originated from Africa.  Religious leaders, however, have completely different ideas of where people came from, and how the world was created depending on their scripture and beliefs.  Science is constant throughout the world, while religion is not.  This is yet another reason why it is impossible to compare religion and science.  Science fills the gaps of all of these stories by telling how people ended up in certain parts of the world, and it also tells why people look so different.  A Japanese creation story will only tell of how Japanese people were made while a Hindi creation story will only tell of how Hindi people were made. Human Evolution tells how all of these people were created by a migration from Africa around the world.  Now, this idea that Human Evolution fills the gaps seems to contradict other religions specific to one group of people, but I'm sure that these stories can easily be reinterpreted to accept Evolution.  All that there is to remember is that religion and science are two completely separate things that are used for completely different purposes.  It's up to you what you want to believe.