Evolutionalist--evolutionist

[Shawna in Texas]

So, I spar with my BIL about religion and politics. He's liberally Christian and is quite conservative politically. I'm the opposite, so we have some interesting conversations. Anyway, the term 'evolutionalist' comes up sometimes. He says he's an evolutionalist. Is he misusing the word? Does it mean something different? He brings it up when we talk politics and not religion, so it really confuses me.

 

For some strange reason, with toilets to scrub and dishes to wash, this has been bothering me for over a week. :D

 

I lose patience with google after a couple of pages.

[kalanamak]

See the final paragraph:

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evolutionism

 

Perhaps he does view it as a religion, but instead of claiming others are believers in the religion of evolution, he thinks he is one. That's a new one for me.:001_smile:

[jewellsmommy]

So, I spar with my BIL about religion and politics. He's liberally Christian and is quite conservative politically. I'm the opposite, so we have some interesting conversations. Anyway, the term 'evolutionalist' comes up sometimes. He says he's an evolutionalist. Is he misusing the word? Does it mean something different? He brings it up when we talk politics and not religion, so it really confuses me.

 

For some strange reason, with toilets to scrub and dishes to wash, this has been bothering me for over a week. :D

 

I lose patience with google after a couple of pages.

 

This was not recognized, as a word, by any online dictionary that I searched. I did see one use of this word in an article/post but was followed by parenthesis acknowledging that it is not a 'real' word. Because of that, I am wondering if it is slang for a particular subset of understanding or belief. The article/post was quite unclear and I could not extrapolate how the author was attempting to define the term.:glare:

[JeneralMom]

I have never heard evolutionalist and I am a geneticist with a specialty in population biology. Maybe I missed something.

[mommaduck]

Maybe you should ask him for HIS definition of the non existent term ;)

[duckens]

Maybe you should ask him for HIS definition of the non existent term ;)

 

Or tell him that you can't find it in the dictionary and ask him where/what article he got it from.

[Shawna in Texas]

I was thinking he was meaning 'evolutionist' but saying 'evolutionalist' instead (which is being underlined in red on my browser). So, I thought maybe it's a new political phrase that I wasn't aware of.

 

I'll ask him next time he says it. I didn't want to bring it up randomly because then I'd be admitting that I haven't been understanding what the heck he's talking about or I'd be calling him stupid for adding an extra syllable to evolutionist.

[Gooblink]

Never heard of it. Does he also say "NucYOOler"? :)

[Smithie]

I hear "evolutionist" a lot in these here parts, generally from people who are about to tell me that I have a religious belief in science, which I so do not. I think the REAL definition of "evolutionist" or "evolutionalist" should be "term used by Creationists to indicate that they have an unshakable religious conviction about the origins of life on earth and they are quite sure that you do, too!" :D

 

But in that case, your BIL would be using the term incorrectly. It sounds like he is a person who thinks that the scientific evidence for evolution is strong. Unless he is totally unwilling to consider future scientific discoveries that cast doubt on the current evolutionary model, then evolution is not a religious-style conviction for him.