Science, religion and compatibility
Søren Kierkegaard, a 19th century Danish philosopher and a religious man, believed that faith in a god is not the result of reason.
I agree with him on this point.
I’ve seen lately science and religion trying to be reconciled.
I want to show that these two schools of thought are not compatible.
As difficult as it is to define religion, I’ll make a pathetic attempt that is biased toward the ones with which I am most familiar.
Religion is a devotion to a set of beliefs that rely on faith in a supernatural being.
I was raised a Christian, so I know, at least, a lot about one religion.
I went to church and was confirmed.
I know first-hand from my experiences that in class my extensive questions were answered matter-of-factly with no logical bias.
Questions such as, “How do we know that Jesus was raised from the dead?” or, “How does one know the way the world was created from Genesis alone?” all received responses such as, “Jesus is your lord and savior. He will forgive what you have done.”
I realize this kind of answer may not be the answer that all Christian denominations give.
However, I think if one wants to answer questions in such a way, it is OK in a religious sense.
It is not OK in a scientific sense.
With science you typically get an idea and perform experiments to see if the evidence generated supports the theory.
You use the theory to better understand the universe and modify it as new evidence emerges.
If the evidence disproves the theory, you throw it out.
Often, religion is based upon faith and faith, by nature contradicts science.
Inherently with faith, ideas are kept for thousands of years with no attempt to justify them through data collection or experimentation.
Science is a whole different field than religion.
Science requires facts.
Science requires experiments that predict something and can be reproduced.
Science uses logic.
When one stops to think about it, religion seems to be the opposite.
Accepting an idea like creationism is one’s own choice, and that’s OK.
But to trying to prove these kinds of things with science is not possible.
Some people want creationism taught in schools.
If that is to be done, it does not belong in the scientific curriculum because it is not science.
Because there are some problems with evolution, it does not make creationism a viable scientific option. Evolution has been tested and used to make predictions.
It is faith that makes one believe creationism as the way our world came into existence.
The only reason the story exists is because it was written in a non-scientific book.
It is not science.
Please keep these two things separate.
Mandy is a senior studying Pharmacy
Columnists' opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of The Spectrum