Religion: Sections D & E

• "Do you think one must believe in either God or in evolution? Can one consistently believe in both?"

Coming from someone who can easily see both sides to every argument, I don't think one has to believe in either, and perhaps could form a hypothesis which involves both theories uniformly.  Quite simply these beliefs are just that beliefs, there is no real proof for the existence or lack their of, of a higher power. And there is no way too prove or disprove that this higher power did not cause this evolutionary chain to occur. So because of this, I like to think of it like this, somehow a power greater than us, be it a physical manifestation or a force, threw into motion all of these events that eventually led to our existence and everything we know to exist. I feel like thats the best way to look at it, and some may say thats not ideal because I'm choosing to take both sides on the matter. But the truth is, what you believe is what you believe. One doesn't have to believe in God, one doesn't have to believe in evolution. One can believe in anything they want, even if their theory is that some mystical unicorn created the known universe. People might look at you funny, but it's no different than a belief in God or evolution. Creation myths can be a tricky subject because of the lack of evidence supporting, and as such, it only makes to remain open to different possibilities. So believe what you want, whether it be God, evolution, a mix of the two, or anything in between!

• "Can you will yourself to believe something? Is will sufficient to counter religious doubt?"

Free will is a much stronger force on the human experience than I think we really understand. I've seen on occasions where will has made the absolute difference. Sports is a good way to think about will. For instance, I used to wrestle in high school, and I can't tell you how many times my coach told us, "will what you want". When you're on a wrestling mat, and you're looking at that one kid who wants to win just as bad, if not more than you do, believe me when I say that will is everything. If you don't want something bad enough, if you don't believe you can do something, you won't. And I guarantee, you're hand won't be the one raised in the air. In terms of believing in something as doubtful as religion can be, I'm not sure will is strong enough to cause some sort of spiritual enlightenment. A belief like that cannot really be had simply by mere assertion to yourself or someone else. In order for belief to be there in this sense, I think hope really needs to become a factor. Because thats really all that religion is, hope. Hope is all you really have in this sense because its not something thats there physically, but something you just have to believe. And thats where hope comes into play. Will is only useful when what you want to believe is something you can actually see or touch, like beating your opponent that stands across from you on a wrestling mat. But a belief in something you can't touch or see, its not as simple as willing this belief, you must have hope.