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CJ
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Joined: 22 Aug 2004
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Location: Way, way up North
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 Posted: Sun May 24, 2009 12:10 am Post subject: Science and Religion |
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Jerry Coyne seems to think science and religion are doomed to never reconcile. Others, like Karl Gibberson, David Berlinski, and Kenneth Miller work in their respective fields as if a reconciliation has already happened.
I wonder, personally, if there was ever a split to begin with. If I take a stance from Eastern philosophies, the two spheres of influence are co-existent and harmonious. If I take Stephen J. Gould's twin magisteria, the reconciliation is in a separate peace: superficial, but functional.
More, if I adopt a hardline practical look at both fields of inquiry, I really don't see either field as having ever split such that a reconciliation is necessary: both practices have evolved from primitive understandings to the understandings they currently present. So, excepting epistemological dualists (that is, people who divorce the metaphysical from the physical), it seems to me that pushing an agenda for reconciliation does nothing more than, ironically, drive a wedge between the two bodies and further separate them; constantly talking of a separation may actually lead to the self-fulfilling prophetic end of an actual epistemological separation.
To me, that would be a dual tragedy: science would lose an ally in wonder, and religion would blind itself.
What are your thoughts?
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matt.f
Died and Gone to Hip-Hop Heaven
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| Posted: Mon May 25, 2009 9:06 pm Post subject: Re: Science and Religion |
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| CJ wrote: | | What are your thoughts? |
I think I'm OK with losing the ally.
For me though, science and religion WERE incompatible. It's what lead to me kicking religion to the curb. |
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CJ
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| Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 1:13 am Post subject: Re: Science and Religion |
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| matt.f wrote: | | CJ wrote: | | What are your thoughts? |
I think I'm OK with losing the ally.
For me though, science and religion WERE incompatible. It's what lead to me kicking religion to the curb. |
Okay, matt. I'm not in possession of the details of your previous religious life. We've never really examined that aspect between us. I am curious to know, however, if your former life as a Christian was encased in more fundamentalist and charismatic influences. Because, as I'm sure you're aware, there are a good many Christians out there who eschew traditional notions like, say, creationism, and opt for scientific conclusions like evolution.
Usually, those particular Christians are labelled by the religious community as heretical, or 'liberal', but so what? They still profess faith and simultaneously agree that evolution is factual. Do you see that as being evidence of potential co-operation between science and religion?
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matt.f
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| Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 7:21 am Post subject: Re: Science and Religion |
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| CJ wrote: | | I'm not in possession of the details of your previous religious life. |
Tsk. No need to be snippy. When I was religious, I would indeed have been considered a conservative Christian.
| CJ wrote: | | Usually, those particular Christians are labelled by the religious community as heretical, or 'liberal', but so what? They still profess faith and simultaneously agree that evolution is factual. Do you see that as being evidence of potential co-operation between science and religion? |
To be honest (and this is why I didn't post much to begin with), liberal Christianity seems like a cop out. Where do you draw the line as to what is true and what is allegoric/metaphoric/parable-ic? If the creation story is not really true, did the tower of Babel exist? Did the Isrealites really walk through the desert for 40 years? Did Jesus really exist? Is Christianity even the truth? Is there even a god? I guess that's the downfall of being raised a conservative Christianity though. I wasn't trained to handle a non-infallible word of God. Once I learned about evolution, anthropology, the history of the Bible, etc, it became clear that science was able to paint a clearer picture of our world. Religion became unnecessary. I don't care about demons and angels. I don't care about heaven and hell. I don't care about Jesus. I don't want to live forever somewhere where I can't even have sex. Sit around some gold mansion (gold buildings? tacky!) and sing praises to Jesus for eternity? No thanks. Sounds boring.
So for me, yes, religion and science are incompatible. |
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SABBATICAL!
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| Posted: Tue May 26, 2009 7:21 pm Post subject: Re: Science and Religion |
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| CJ wrote: | Because, as I'm sure you're aware, there are a good many Christians out there who eschew traditional notions like, say, creationism, and opt for scientific conclusions like evolution.
Usually, those particular Christians are labelled by the religious community as heretical, or 'liberal', but so what? They still profess faith and simultaneously agree that evolution is factual. Do you see that as being evidence of potential co-operation between science and religion? |
Labelled by the *fundamentalist* religious community, you mean.
Even at my fairly conservative and quite evangelical bible college, the textbook we had for my Romans class expounded in great detail a theory of evolution which still incorporated a somewhat literal interpretation of Genesis 2-3. Pure speculation on the theologian's part, of course, but there were no cries of heresy, nor a banning of the textbook, nor even a warning from the course prof (a very conservative by-the-colours Baptist minister + theologian.) Free thought isn't only found on the liberal fringes. Even the most theologically conservative profs were encouraging critical thought, questioning assumptions, following evidence. And letting there be room for a diversity of thought, faith and practice. As it should be! |
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