“There were too many long words in this article for me to understand it. The only point I wanted to make is that religion itself doesn't cause all the major troubles in the world, it is people's reactions to other religions which cause trouble. Technically I am a Methodist, and therefore a Christian (not that you'd know it; I am the lazy sort). However, like most people of most religions, I just let other people of other faiths get on with it and believe what they believe. As long as people can do this peacefully, I really don't care what people think exists out there or who created Earth or where people go after they die. The problems occur when people decide that those who don't agree with their own, and start spouting off about how much nonsense religion is. By all means, disagree with peoples theories and beliefs, and yeah alright try and have a rational conversation/discussion about why you think they are wrong, but is there really any need to call people crazy etc? Surely it's when THAT happens that you start the major problems.

Other than that, I'm still undecided about the rest of it. Live and let live, eh?”

“" ...the 'Big Bang Theory' that evolutionists have faith in."

There's so many things wrong in just this one sentence.

The Big Bang isn't about evolution, it's about cosmology - the beginnings of the universe. Evolution is a theory on how life changes. It's a scientific theory, not a faith, because it's based on evidence that is abundant, increasing all the time, interconnected and easily available in museums, popular books, textbooks and a mountain of peer-reviewed scientific studies.

"With this old theory of evolution virtually discredited..."

Has it? and where has this been discredited?

The analogy about photocopiers and books is just bizarre.

Sadly, science, history, geology, biology, physics - and even modern theology - have failed to convince a minority of American-influenced fundamentalists that ancient writings were just our best first attempt at explaining the world.

Fortunately, most people of faith now see their scriptures as metaphors.”

“Just my two-pence:
As a Christian and a scientist (yet not a Christ's scientist - aha aha) I personally find faults and positive aspects to both God and evolution. Mr Jones' letter, I feel, reeks of factual inaccuracy regarding both science and religion and is dominated more by religious dogma than careful thought. "Bob" has set him straight regarding the finer aspects of molecular genetics, (although Mr Darwin's book is lacking tangible evidence for mutation - unsurprisingly, while Mr Dawkin's is rabidly anti-God and so heavily skewed), I would just like to enquire if Mr Jones would answer a couple of religious-based questions for me:
1. As many religious scholars insist, the Great Flood covered the world. Given that Mt Ararat is 5000km above sea level, that would result in a GLOBAL water column ~4500km high (allowing for the ark not descending bang on top of Mt Ararat) - a total of 2.2 billion km2 of water. Point of fact - there ain't that much water on the planet, ergo is it possible that the Bible is not a literal "Word of God"?
2. If, as you say, you follow the origins of a book to the beginning, you find the creator - does this mean that Moses, as the author of the Pentateuch, is God?

Religion is personal; why not just allow people to accept what they will rather than look foolish by insisting on ill-thought dogmas - religious or scientific.”

“Ha ha Gareth. As a wind-up it was perfect. As an accurate article it was boring, ill-thought out and lacked any convincing argument.
Well done, you have epitomised the sad religious folk we constantly hear banging on about the best selling fiction of all time...”

“Oh dear, not this nonsense again ... Gareth, I strongly recommend that as long as you remain completely ignorant on a given subject, you should entirely refrain from attempting to debate or debunk it. Your lack of knowledge on evolution (and science in general, it seems), troubles me greatly since the areas in which you display total ignorance are those with which anyone who ever actually went to school would be quite familiar and able to discuss confidently. I can therefore conclude that it is your religious upbringing that is responsible for undoing the good work education has done by replacing sound knowledge with unprovable fantasy.

I do respect your right to believe whatever you want, but I don't respect what you actually believe since you patently do so without question, and without any verifiable facts to support it. For centuries, science has proven, time and time again, the theories it proposes through experimentation, peer-review, accumulation of evidence, analysis of data, continual refinement of its ideas based on observable, measurable phenomena. Religion does none of this, and if you're going to debunk a scientific theory you should at least have the decency to hold your own replacement theories to the same standards.

In other words, its time for religion to put up or shut up ... prove your case, or move along. A 2000-year old, recycled hebrew soap opera is no more proof of its contents than Marvel Comics is proof of the existence of Spiderman.”