Evolution Deniers more Bigoted

[Aštra’el]

What’s life if you can’t be just a little bit of a bigot...?

 

[The Hammer]

Well I covered this the last time someone brought this study up. Short of it is that belief in evolution has contributed to racism and it still does. Just ask the Aryan brotherhood or many other racist groups around the world.

The Nazis believed that racism made them the master race. The Japanese in WW2 also considered themselves the best for hte same reason. Aborginals were targeted in Australia because some evolutionists thought their skull shape looked like an ancestor of humans. Considered less evolved I guess.

So it's ridiculous to actually think that belief in evolution makes you less racist. It really doesn't seem to help at all. I would say it seems to encourage racist ideas among many people.

That was a belief in Social Darwinism, which was actually a misinterpretation of what Darwin was proposing in Origin of Species. People took his ideas, and thought they could apply it wholesale to the way in which culture, societies and civilizations evolved, which we now know was an egregious error (they obviously don't evolve), but the mechanics behind evolution still point to it as an accurate force in speciation.

So yes, evolution made some people bigoted, but it has been since addressed in the majority of circles, minus the odd straggler. Organized Religion has and always will foster a sense of bigotry though, because they automatically set themselves up on a pedestal of "Us" good, them "Other". And that is the basis of all bigotry.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

Who knew that denying evolution made one more susceptible to being a bigot.

//raises hand

And it's not a causal relationship. It's a logical correlation.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

Or is there some common cause underlying both?

Most likely: that.

Evolution deniers tend to be religiously motivated and "fundamentalist".
And it's that same motivation and fundamentalism that will also cause bigotry.

So while it's a correlation, they likely have the same root cause.

We can't really say from correlational research.

True. But we can make logical inferences.
It seems rather obvious to me.

In the same way we could say that evolution deniers will most likely also be homophobic.
Simply because the underlying motivation for the denial of evolution is religious fundamentalism.
And that same religious fundamentalism is also the underlying cause of homophobic beliefs.

 

[TagliatelliMonster]

To be fair, I was much prettier in my youth.

Interesting. I tend to become more handsome as I grow older.

 

[Audie]

Well I covered this the last time someone brought this study up. Short of it is that belief in evolution has contributed to racism and it still does. Just ask the Aryan brotherhood or many other racist groups around the world.

The Nazis believed that racism made them the master race. The Japanese in WW2 also considered themselves the best for hte same reason. Aborginals were targeted in Australia because some evolutionists thought their skull shape looked like an ancestor of humans. Considered less evolved I guess.

So it's ridiculous to actually think that belief in evolution makes you less racist. It really doesn't seem to help at all. I would say it seems to encourage racist ideas among many people.

You are absolutely right. It is ridi ulous to say " belief in "
evolution makes people less racist, or that denying it
makes people racist
THAT IS NOT WHAT THE STUDY SAYS!
You are battting a strawman, thats not what it says


As someone who has seen this before you
should understand it IS NOT talking cause and effect.
If it were, its understandable that you
would see the i justice of it, and want it
corrected.
It is not understandable, though, that you
would find it fair and justified to turn around and do the exact same thing, commit the very injustice that you so wronglt attributevto others.

Now, if someone says "Belief in Christianity
caused people to commit the tortures of the
inquisition, take slaves, subjugste women,
etc etc etc- why, you would rise up and cry
foul, would you not?

"True Christians would never do those things"
you would say, " its a total perversion of Jesus'
teaching, excuses made by men of evil do
what is in their dark hearts!"

Would you not? If so i agree! I even said it for you.
The idea that understanding basic science,
be it how to make gunpowder, the gas laws or
the theory of evolution causes men to become
bigots or shoot cannons at eachother is simply
outrageous.
Perversions of science excused the abuses you
mention, as perverting Christianity excused
slavery and pulling hetetics arms off.

Decent and educated people would never
do such things.

If you want a very short version of what the study says it is that racists and basic science
(Evolution and deep time) deniers have a very
strong tendency to come from the same
demographic as bigots. This is hardly news.

Similarly, the demographic of upper income/
education people overwhelmingly understand
basic science and embrace "multivulturalisn".
This is not news either.

Now you, 74x, we have all observed to be a
thoroughly decent and hinourable person.
This is not to be questioned.

You have, however, made a terrible mistake
and literally fallen into the same trap as the
Nazis, eugenics, Aryan etc people- believing in
a sick, perverted and utterly false understanding of evolution.

And, look what you do with that mistaken
idea! You arent going Nazi or pulling arms off,
BUT you are making the same mistake.
And look at what you say.

I or others can explain in great detail how
those people of evil pervert science- if you
are willing to listen.

For now though I hope you will think well
on what Ive said. I dont believe you could
want to the person who follows that dark
path that you stepped onto, for all that
your heart is pure of any ill intent.

 

[Subduction Zone]

As I pointed out on another thread on this topic, it is not necessarily the knowledge of evolution itself, but more likely general education that lessens bigotry. More educated people do tend to understand and accept the fact of evolution more than uneducated people.

 

[9-10ths_Penguin]

If you ask many religious people they will respond immediately that they dont approve of LGBTQ as an example. That is because of their religious upbringing, not because they dont believe in evolution. The assumption of the study of causation is fallacious. The causation is not the belief in evolution, it is just a correspondence.

Sure. Just by the correlation, it seems more plausible to me to say that both the bigotry and the evolution denial share a common cause - fundamentalist religion - than to say that one caused the other.

That being said, it's also hard to say whether the correlation between fundamentalist religion and bigotry is because the religion tend to instill bigoted views, or because the religion tends to be attractive to people who were bigoted anyway.

 

[Audie]

That was a belief in Social Darwinism, which was actually a misinterpretation of what Darwin was proposing in Origin of Species. People took his ideas, and thought they could apply it wholesale to the way in which culture, societies and civilizations evolved, which we now know was an egregious error (they obviously don't evolve), but the mechanics behind evolution still point to it as an accurate force in speciation.

So yes, evolution made some people bigoted, but it has been since addressed in the majority of circles, minus the odd straggler. Organized Religion has and always will foster a sense of bigotry though, because they automatically set themselves up on a pedestal of "Us" good, them "Other". And that is the basis of all bigotry.

It DID NOT make anyone bigoted.

 

[Audie]

The variables related to public acceptance of evolution in the United States | Evolution: Education and Outreach | Full Text

 

[Guitar's Cry]

What’s life if you can’t be just a little bit of a bigot...?

 

[InChrist]

People who reject the theory of human evolution tend to have more bigoted attitudes

"Individuals who accept human evolution tend to exhibit reduced levels of prejudice compared to those who reject the scientific theory, according to new research published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study indicates that disbelief in evolution predicts racism and prejudice around the world and in various cultural contexts."

Who knew that denying evolution made one more susceptible to being a bigot.

I’d say that anyone is prone to bigotry. According to the biblical account of creation God created ONE human race, as well all have sinned, so this understanding allows no excuse for discrimination or bigotry against anyone.

 

[InChrist]

For a good chunk of even US history even being white wasn't always enough, but rather the "right white" (Anglo-Saxon) and not being suspected or confirmed of having any others in you. Like whites who lost it all over having a black ancestor.

That’s Anglo- Saxon white supremacy, which is not based in God’s creation of the human race. More likely inspired by satan who is the enemy of God and humans and is intent on causing division and attempting to bring destruction.

 

[The Hammer]

It DID NOT make anyone bigoted.

I know. It gave them the tools to express their bigotry, in a supposedly scientific manner.

When that failed that had to cling back to religion

 

[74x12]

One thing that should be considered here is the severity of forms of racism. I mean you have simple prejudice and then you have outright genocide. I think belief in evolution during the 20th century was really used as a justification and even a reason for genocide. So that's a mark against the belief in evolution as a supposed means to reduce racism in the world. It actually seems to make things worse. To increase the feelings of racism and turn them into murder.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

That’s Anglo- Saxon white supremacy, which is not based in God’s creation of the human race. More likely inspired by satan who is the enemy of God and humans and is intent on causing division and attempting to bring destruction.

Anglo-Saxon supremacy spread in part due to Christianity. The Angles and Saxons formed a united England, Christianity was indeed a part of that as they insisted they had the "correct" god and religion.

 

[Audie]

I know. It gave them the tools to express their bigotry, in a supposedly scientific manner.

When that failed that had to cling back to religion

What religion would that be

 

[InChrist]

Anglo-Saxon supremacy spread in part due to Christianity. The Angles and Saxons formed a united England, Christianity was indeed a part of that as they insisted they had the "correct" god and religion.

It may be that it spread by some convoluted form of religious Christianity, but such beliefs are in conflict with the biblical scriptures.

 

[Audie]

One thing that should be considered here is the severity of forms of racism. I mean you have simple prejudice and then you have outright genocide. I think belief in evolution during the 20th century was really used as a justification and even a reason for genocide. So that's a mark against the belief in evolution as a supposed means to reduce racism in the world. It actually seems to make things worse. To increase the feelings of racism and turn them into murder.

Now that i went to so much effort to help
you see where you made your mistake. I see
this belief of yours is a mark against you, it
being evident now how you cling to a mirror image of any deliberate and malicious misrepresentation of Christianity.

You know they say that you'll reap
what you're sowing.

Oh...and nobody makes the idiotic claim that
evolution is a means to eeduce racism.
You just made that up.

 

[Audie]

It may be that it spread by some convoluted form of religious Christianity, but such beliefs are in conflict with the biblical scriptures.

Of course. Like blaming evolution for bigotry,
genovide etc.
Calling it that is stuoid, and, worse, its the same misuse
ofvsomething good, turning it it evil.