Aviva Directory » Faith & Spirituality » Science & Religion

Science refers to the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world through a systematic methodology that is based on verifiable evidence. Religion has reference to the service and worship of a deity or the supernatural, as well as to a personal or institutionalized system of religious attitudes, beliefs and practices. The relationship between science and religion has been a topic of discussion since antiquity. Theologians, philosophers, scientists and politicians have long addressed the subject, some characterizing science and religion as being incompatible or in conflict with one another, with others insisting that it is a harmonious relationship, while others have insisted on a complete separation, or of little interaction between the two. The interdisciplinary field of theology and science, also known as science and religion, studies historical and contemporary interactions between these fields, and seeks to provide an analysis of their relationships. This category presents a collection of sites whose topics concern both science and religion. These may include those whose focus is on the determination of a scientific base for (or against) religion, as well as those that seek to reconcile the two.

 

 

Feature Article


The God of Science or the God of Religion


God

Nearly every scientific society in the United States has issued statements rejecting intelligent design and, so we are told, nearly every scientist in America, and throughout the world, believes that God had nothing to do with the origin of species, specifically the human species.

U.S. courts have repeatedly ruled in favor of teaching evolution in public school classrooms, and against teaching creationism, even as an alternative theory.

Yet, a 2012 Gallup poll holds that 46% of Americans believe that mankind was created by God. Additionally, about one-third of Americans believe that humans evolved, but with God's guidance, while only 15% hold that humans evolved with no help from a deity. These results have remained largely unchanged since Gallup first asked these questions thirty years ago.

Approximately eighty-five percent of Americans believe that God was involved, in some manner, either in the direct creation or in the evolution of man. Only fifteen percent believe that God had no part in it. In fact, between 2010 and 2012, the number of respondents who believed in direct creation went up by six percent, while those who believed that God made use of evolution went down by the same number, and one percent fewer people believed that God had no part in the process.

"All in all, there is no evidence ... of a substantial movement toward a secular viewpoint on human origins," states the Gallup report

Why is this? Are Americans ignorant or is there some other reason why they don't trust their scientists?

Apart from the fact that scientists have been caught lying to us about global warming, I believe the answers are simpler than that.

The vast majority of Americans reject atheism, and thus, naturalism as well. A solid majority of Americans are Christians, and many more believe in God. It should be no surprise then, that when a choir of experts insist that evolution is incompatible with a belief in God, people are forced to choose one or the other.

If science is the enemy of God, then only those who do not believe in God would choose science over God.

It should also be unsurprising that many Americans are reluctant to have evolution taught as fact to their children in the public schools, which their taxes support. Protestants don't want Catholic doctrine taught to their children, yet the distance between Protestantism and Catholicism is far less than the distance between Christianity and naturalism. For that matter, Christianity has far more in common with Judaism and Islam than it does with naturalism, as naturalism stands in direct opposition to theistic religion.

Thanks largely to declarations made by the experts, whose gains have largely come through the court systems rather than by persuasion of the public, evolution is seen as being central to naturalism, and naturalism is viewed much like a competing religion.

Claims by members of the scientific community that religion and evolution are incompatible does harm to science because it forces people to choose between science and a belief in God, and most believers are not going to choose science over God.

The tactics of members of the scientific community of going to court in order to prevent the teaching of creationism or intelligent design, has led to suspicion and mistrust of the scientific experts.

The perception that the scientific community has allied itself with a specific political faction, on this issue as it has with global warming, has served only to exacerbate feelings of misgiving.

If there is anyone who Americans distrust more than their scientists, it is their politicians.



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