Religion vs. Belief vs. Science
Feb. 12th, 2010 09:07 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobriquehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/low/uk/8511951.stm
Short story this, but something I felt a need to make comment on.
"Dr Capon, himself a former lecturer in computer science, says atheists are misleading the public when they claim science and religion are incompatible.
He believes that some popular science and nature programmes also repeat this line too easily, ignoring the fact that many scientists hold spiritual beliefs. "
I understand his sentiment, but disagree with his premise. You see, I'd draw a distinction between spiritual beliefs, and religion. To my mind, there is room for 'spirituality' and 'science'. Every time you look really closely at the world, you can see an intricate beauty there. You can be moved by just how cool some of the scientific principles are.
You can even hold an untestable hypothesis, such as 'Does God Exist?'.
Scientists can fall in love.
But religion? Well, that's where it starts to go a bit wrong - religions aren't about spirituality any more than science is. It's really easy to hold a spiritual belief.
What religions do though, is aim to direct that spiritual belief. That's not intrinsically bad, but what is is that it naturally tends to accumulate dogma. Rules about what is, or isn't. And this dogma becomes part of the 'faith', and rejects scientific analysis.
That's where religion and science become incompatible - when the pope calls homosexuality unnatural, it's not the 'word of god' it's the word of one man. Word that _should_ get exposed to scrutiny. Religious texts are much the same - treat the Bible as literally true, and you're an idiot. There's all sorts of reasons that's a bad idea, and not least that the version you've probably been reading has been (mis)translated quite a few times. But y'know, I'm pretty sure God isn't credited as an author, either. So certainly, you can treat the Bible as something to read, contemplate, enjoy and ... perhaps draw wisdom and meaning from.
But you could say the same about a lot of books. They don't need to be 'literal truth' either.
So yes. I think they're setting up an unwinnable fight here - they've built a sandcastle, and the tide is coming in, because people are ever more able to understand and think for themselves.
I think religion - rather than belief - has been good for humanity as a whole. It provided a structured system of education, legality and control - a bit like a parent, watching over a child as it grows up. Until the child understands, the parent has to assert authority and guide them.
But the day comes when the child grows, and is ready to stand on their own feet and make their own choice.
The day when people outgrow religion is coming - there are already many who have made their own choices and took their own steps. There are many more who have yet to do so.
It's not a tragedy though, nor is it a schism. You love your parents past when you leave home, and you don't begrudge children the shelter they still need. But the time comes to move on, grow, and stand on your own feet, make your own choices - in belief and spirituality, as much as in life.
Short story this, but something I felt a need to make comment on.
"Dr Capon, himself a former lecturer in computer science, says atheists are misleading the public when they claim science and religion are incompatible.
He believes that some popular science and nature programmes also repeat this line too easily, ignoring the fact that many scientists hold spiritual beliefs. "
I understand his sentiment, but disagree with his premise. You see, I'd draw a distinction between spiritual beliefs, and religion. To my mind, there is room for 'spirituality' and 'science'. Every time you look really closely at the world, you can see an intricate beauty there. You can be moved by just how cool some of the scientific principles are.
You can even hold an untestable hypothesis, such as 'Does God Exist?'.
Scientists can fall in love.
But religion? Well, that's where it starts to go a bit wrong - religions aren't about spirituality any more than science is. It's really easy to hold a spiritual belief.
What religions do though, is aim to direct that spiritual belief. That's not intrinsically bad, but what is is that it naturally tends to accumulate dogma. Rules about what is, or isn't. And this dogma becomes part of the 'faith', and rejects scientific analysis.
That's where religion and science become incompatible - when the pope calls homosexuality unnatural, it's not the 'word of god' it's the word of one man. Word that _should_ get exposed to scrutiny. Religious texts are much the same - treat the Bible as literally true, and you're an idiot. There's all sorts of reasons that's a bad idea, and not least that the version you've probably been reading has been (mis)translated quite a few times. But y'know, I'm pretty sure God isn't credited as an author, either. So certainly, you can treat the Bible as something to read, contemplate, enjoy and ... perhaps draw wisdom and meaning from.
But you could say the same about a lot of books. They don't need to be 'literal truth' either.
So yes. I think they're setting up an unwinnable fight here - they've built a sandcastle, and the tide is coming in, because people are ever more able to understand and think for themselves.
I think religion - rather than belief - has been good for humanity as a whole. It provided a structured system of education, legality and control - a bit like a parent, watching over a child as it grows up. Until the child understands, the parent has to assert authority and guide them.
But the day comes when the child grows, and is ready to stand on their own feet and make their own choice.
The day when people outgrow religion is coming - there are already many who have made their own choices and took their own steps. There are many more who have yet to do so.
It's not a tragedy though, nor is it a schism. You love your parents past when you leave home, and you don't begrudge children the shelter they still need. But the time comes to move on, grow, and stand on your own feet, make your own choices - in belief and spirituality, as much as in life.
