Religion & Science (ritual, reject, Earth, tradition, Buddhism)

[evearael]

Can religion and science coexist peacefully with only the occasional ethics debate over a line of inquiry? For example, no problem with gravity, but absolutely no human cloning.

Or are they mutually exclusive? There is no gravity! or The world is what we can observe and measure, nothing more.

Note: This is not a forum to debate specific issues you may have in either, but rather to debate whether or the two are ultimately incompatible.

[Sunstone]

Science rests on the premiss that any competent observer will (potentially) observe the same thing that any other competent observer will observe. Religions, often but not always (Buddhism is a notable exception), rest on the claim that someone has had a revelation unaccessible to anyone else. In that respect, religion and science are incompatible.

[Proud Autumn]

In my opinion, scientists seem to be some of the most spiritual people, not atheists, as they are commonly labeled. Science seeks to understand the world, not pick it apart and make it less amazing.

Funny how my happening upon this thread occurs just after I moved away from my diligent reading of a book concerning string theory, quantum physics, and Einstein's theories. I am not defensive or less spiritual because of it; in fact I am MORE spiritual--the universe is amazing.

Watching the movie "What the Bleep Do We Know" underlines the fact that observing what we know does not clash with believing. That film concerns cutting-edge thought and theory, but is also deeply spiritual. Science may have had its humble beginnings with a departure from religion, but it is no surprise that it will -and is- connecting back. Both science and spirituality are facts of human existence; we must have them both. We are ignorant without science and empty without spirituality.

[MdmSzdWhtGuy]

I think in many respects they are mutually exclusive. One (science) is based on facts which are, or can be, perceived by everyone willing to look. The other (religion) is not based on any particular prove-able fact and is based on faith, to hear religious people tell it. Science relies on verifiable facts, and religion goes on in the absence of such proof.

Any time someone rejects known science because their religion tells them that such a thing can't be (age of the Earth, age of the universe, evolution, etc. . . . ) then they are showing how incompatible science and religion often are.

B.

[Booko]

Science deals with the physical. Religion (and philosophy) deal with the metaphysical. Problems occur when religion tries to be science, and when science tries to be religion. Religion should be used to inform science on how to use its knowledge for the betterment of humanity. Science can give us needed information to weigh ethical decisions. Humanity propers when science and religion are able to work together.


"The fourth teaching of Bahá'u'lláh is the agreement of religion and science. God has endowed man with intelligence and reason whereby he is required to determine the verity of questions and propositions. If religious beliefs and opinions are found contrary to the standards of science they are mere superstitions and imaginations; for the antithesis of knowledge is ignorance, and the child of ignorance is superstition. Unquestionably there must be agreement between true religion and science. If a question be found contrary to reason, faith and belief in it are impossible and there is no outcome but wavering and vacillation."

(Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith - Abdu'l-Baha Section, p. 240)


"Religion and Science are inter-twined with each other and cannot be separated. These are the two wings with which humanity must fly. One wing is not enough. Every religion which does not concern itself with Science is mere tradition, and that is not the essential. Therefore science, education and civilization are most important necessities for the full religious life."

(Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 28)

[Scuba Pete]

Originally Posted by MdmSzdWhtGuy

Any time someone rejects known science because their religion tells them that such a thing can't be (age of the Earth, age of the universe, evolution, etc. . . . ) then they are showing how incompatible science and religion often are.

Bull crap. They are showing their fear of science just as many scientists show their fear of religion. Their mutual phobias and petty biases are equally pathetic.

We ALL fear what we don't understand. To extrapolate that the fear of a FEW means that the whole premise is false is MORE than absurd. It's down right un-scientific!

There is nothing in the scriptures of the Abrahamic faiths that condemns science and I have yet to read a science book that condemns God.

[Booko]

Originally Posted by NetDoc

Bull crap. They are showing their fear of science just as many scientists show their fear of religion. Their mutual phobias and petty biases are equally pathetic.

We ALL fear what we don't understand. To extrapolate that the fear of a FEW means that the whole premise is false is MORE than absurd. It's down right un-scientific!

There is nothing in the scriptures of the Abrahamic faiths that condemns science and I have yet to read a science book that condemns God.

[MdmSzdWhtGuy]

Originally Posted by NetDoc

Bull crap. They are showing their fear of science just as many scientists show their fear of religion. Their mutual phobias and petty biases are equally pathetic.

We ALL fear what we don't understand. To extrapolate that the fear of a FEW means that the whole premise is false is MORE than absurd. It's down right un-scientific!

There is nothing in the scriptures of the Abrahamic faiths that condemns science and I have yet to read a science book that condemns God.

There is nothing there which condemns science because the MEN who wrote those texts were unfamiliar with scientific thought, good sir. They also did not condemn or endorse computers or hybrid cars, for that matter, and for the same reasons.

B.

[Scuba Pete]

Originally Posted by MdmSzdWhtGuy

There is nothing there which condemns science blah, blah blah, blah, blah...

(Blahs added for effect). So great. You agree with me and now we can all go home. TTFN!