Science vs. Religion

*Originally published on 2/4/09


We've become cynical in recent years. People of faith aren't shown the reverence that they once were. Nowadays religion is seen as out of touch with the modern world. They say that science is the way to go. Religious people say that faith is important, even now.

The problem is that nuts on both sides try to make it seem like the two things are mutually exclusive. Either you accept evolution or you're some nut who says that the world was created only a couple thousand years ago. Atheists are convinced that saying evolution occurred proves all religion wrong. Sorry, fail, watch this, evolution occurred and God exists. Egad!

I say we try to have our cake and eat it too. Rather than both sides being stubborn and refusing to even see the other side, how about we reach a compromise?

If both sides would only meet each other halfway, we could save ourselves a lot of trouble. Take that abstinence vs. safe sex argument in schools. Promoting abstinence is seen as naive as kids are going to have sex anyways so they should be knowledgeable. Abstinence people say that promoting sex isn't going to solve anything. People insist it's an either/or when it really really isn't. You can promote abstinence while still teaching safe sex. This isn't complicated stuff people, I don't see why this is such a big "confusing issue" for you.

Science and religion can co-exist. I'm sure of it. As long as hatemongers don't use it as a weapon, I see no problem in using science to learn more about our universe. With that, we shouldn't just dismiss religion as a "mental illness". There is nothing wrong with having faith in a higher power. Even if you don't believe it, that's your choice. You shouldn't rob others of the freedom to believe what they want.

While religion's biggest weakness is the fact that you need to rely on faith, science too has it's weaknesses. Try as it might, it can't explain everything. There are aberrations and things that seemingly defy conventional theories. This doesn't mean that science needs to overcompensate and try to "explain" everything; it just means that it has limits. Like, the Bermuda Triangle, it's a gateway to another dimension, that's it, there is no "scientific explanation" for what occurred. It's one of those unsolved mysteries. Enter religion, to fill in the gaps with paranormal activity that science can't always explain.

Actually, I find the documentaries where historians kind of figure out how the stories in the Bible really did happen fascinating. By looking at astronomical patterns, scientists have been able to create theories as to what the bright star that the mejis saw on the night of Christ's birth might have been. I saw another one that explained the ten plagues. While I used to find it vexing that they were trying to show us that it wasn't really God's work, just natural phenomenon. It lends credence to the book that the things actually did happen as opposed to just being allegories that we're supposed to take lessons from.

The time for petty bickering and self righteousness on both sides has passed. We can accomplish much more if we bring both religion and science together as opposed to keeping them at odds with each other.