Science: observe -> make theory -> apply and test -> if good keep, if not, reject it, revert to step one.

Religion: idea -> if not rejected by current observations keep, if rejected, bend it around and make excuses to make it fit in reality anyhow -> "its only methaphorically/science is lies/its left wing propaganda/apply scare tactic/etc"

You forgot 'its right wing propaganda' too.

Is that really the way it happened, though? Perhaps in some religions... but in all of them? Most have a creation story. I doubt they were all "transparently made up" (that sort of phrase suggests a myth made up for reasons of control and power). I would imagine that many of these stories were based on ancient peoples' observations about the world around them. A lot of creation myths begin with nothing but water. That's a significant observation about the importance of water to all of life. Just because those people didn't have the technology to discover where the universe came from doesn't mean their observations were full of crap (and, to be fair, we don't actually know where the universe "came from", either).

That's true, you're right. Some of them are just terribly outdated superstitions, and were sincerely believed in a pre-scientific worldview. It's a fair point.

Well guys... this thread currently has over a 1000 posts, which puts it in the "kind of unwieldy" category. It's reaching the point where new debaters might have a difficult time joining in, so I'm going to go ahead and close it. I'll have a new thread posted shortly, where you can either continue with any topics that you may have previously started or move on to new ideas.

Those observations may have been the best that the people of the time could come up with, but they are not appropriate for people today. We have a much better understanding of the universe now and it is more than likely that the Big Bang is the correct theory of the beginning of the universe. To still believe in a religious creation story, even with scientific evidence opposing it, is foolish.