{"id":1766,"date":"2009-03-01T11:59:53","date_gmt":"2009-03-01T18:59:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/?p=1766"},"modified":"2009-02-25T12:41:54","modified_gmt":"2009-02-25T19:41:54","slug":"evolution-best-explanation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2009\/03\/01\/evolution-best-explanation\/","title":{"rendered":"Evolution: Best Explanation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

According to a Pew Forum poll<\/a> (conducted in 2007, released in 2008), only 20% of Latter-Day Saints feel that evolution is the best explanation for human life.<\/p>\n

I’m a little miffed about this study for asking if evolution is the best explanation for the origins of human life<\/strong>, as opposed to asking if evolution is the best explanation for the origin of species<\/strong> (human or otherwise).<\/p>\n

People might interpret this question to mean is abiogenesis<\/a> the best explanation for the origin of life. As a member of the church, would this kind of wording make a difference to the way you answered the question?<\/p>\n

Many of the things LDS are taught about the creation story are metaphorical. For example, nobody believes there are actual cherubim with flaming swords<\/a> guarding any literal tree of life; intelligent people do not throw out evidence because of a metaphorical story.<\/p>\n

When science speaks about evolution—it generally refers to the way species change and are formed, it doesn’t usually address how life started, nor does the creation story literally address the way species evolve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

According to a Pew Forum poll (conducted in 2007, released in 2008), only 20% of Latter-Day Saints feel that evolution … Continue reading Evolution: Best Explanation?<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-evolution"],"yoast_head":"\nEvolution: Best Explanation?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2009\/03\/01\/evolution-best-explanation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Evolution: Best Explanation?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"According to a Pew Forum poll (conducted in 2007, released in 2008), only 20% of Latter-Day Saints feel that evolution …\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2009\/03\/01\/evolution-best-explanation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Our Thoughts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-03-01T18:59:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2009-02-25T19:41:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jeff Milner\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Jeff Milner\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2009\/03\/01\/evolution-best-explanation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2009\/03\/01\/evolution-best-explanation\/\",\"name\":\"Evolution: Best Explanation?\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-03-01T18:59:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-02-25T19:41:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/025ff7ef99625765714bb2875aa800db\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/2009\/03\/01\/evolution-best-explanation\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/\",\"name\":\"Our Thoughts\",\"description\":\"Thought-provoking commentary on life, politics, religion and social issues.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/025ff7ef99625765714bb2875aa800db\",\"name\":\"Jeff Milner\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ourthoughts.ca\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1875071dd98e71b97ad9f600d118a1e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/1875071dd98e71b97ad9f600d118a1e5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Jeff Milner\"},\"description\":\"I'm a thirty-something year old guy from Southern Alberta. 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