Science and Religion

Science and Religion

In my sixth form we had days called shape days. They were boring life skills development days that wasted time when we all had exams to revise for or coursework to complete. For one of these sessions we had an hour long period set aside for an unknown discussion. Shaking with excitement I walked into the class room to see on the board the title Science vs Religion. I looked at the person sat opposite me who clearly had the same thoughts on this, can we leave yet. The PowerPoint started and a dumb joke about Islam came up and I proceeded to zone out for the next sixty minutes.

 

It was only when I left that I thought about it a bit more. But I wasn’t thinking about the discussion itself, rather why people feel the need to compare Science and Religion in the first place. These are two things that while both pursue knowledge in some way, not only have completely different reasons for doing so but are not linked in any way outside of ignorant people trying to put them in some sort of competition.

 

I am non-religious. I study Chemistry and have always had an interest in Science. When people tell me Religion is wrong or unproven however I am instantly baffled. I don’t have a religion and don’t believe in a God because I need to know things. I don’t like to leave things unfinished and I can’t put my faith in something I am not sure exists. I do respect people who do but this isn’t really the point here. Saying Religion is wrong because you can’t prove it seems to me to be missing the point so much that the point is in an opposite direction behind a brick wall and a fire. It doesn’t seem to me like Religion is supposed to be taken as factual evidence for how things happen, but rather the beliefs for why things happen I am no expert but from what I can gather Religion has the purpose of peaceful and harmonious living, I cannot see how you could fault someone living in that mind set.

 

The key difference between Science and Religion is that they look into different concepts. Science looks into how things happen, whether it’s how chemical react or animals have evolved over the years. Religion wants to know why things happen. Why people are on the earth in the first place. Interestingly neither can answer each other’s questions.

 

My former physics teacher was a devoted Christian. I know multiple people interested in Science who are also religious. I also know people devote their life to their Religion but also have a scientific mind and are interested in how the world works. That’s not to say people aren’t ignorant about it. There was a very religious teacher at my high school that didn’t believe in gravity. Let’s ignore the fact that gravity can and has been proven and focus on how naïve this is. Similarly I once met someone who discarded religion as backwards. This is equally naïve.

 

You’ll get people who try to tell you that Religion cannot be proven. So what? Not all Science can be proven either and Science is often disproven as new theories and concepts come to light. We don’t understand a huge majority of what happens and it’s very possible that we are wrong about a great many things. However a lot of things can be proven. Gravity for example has been proven to exist. It isn’t by chance that things fall and we don’t float off the earth and it isn’t coincidence that if you drop 2 identical items they will accelerate at the same rate. However you can think of the amount of Science that is theoretical and can’t be proven. Quantum Science is a good example. Albert Einstein rejected the idea of Quantum mechanics as he didn’t believe Quantum Mechanics makes sense. Scientists can’t agree, just like scientific and religious people cannot agree.

 

It should be noted that a lot of scientific method was pioneered in ancient civilisation, a time where everyone was religious. It was also a time with far less scientific understanding and maybe the miracles described in Religion were deemed possible. To use the Bible as an example we all know the Story of Noah is impossible and almost certainly didn’t happen but then again no one ever said the Bible was a historical document. Nearly every Christian I have ever met has told me they take the Bible in a more metaphorical sense and it means something different to each person. The Bible was written in a time long before the scientific benefits we have today. On the other hand it is important for people who put their faith in Religion to appreciate scientific advancements. Without Science medicine would probably still involve a huge number of leeches and we wouldn’t even have the technology for me to publish this blog.

 

So the question here is what you value more. Do you want to know how something works or why it happens in the first place. Personally I need to know how things work. There are times however where I would prefer to just know why. Both are difficult, but trying to argue that one is more relevant, or better than the other would make you the naïve person here. Science and Religion don’t disprove each other, rather they look into what the other never will.

 

So what’s the point of all this. Some people say Science and Religion are completely incompatible. This is wrong. Science and Religion intended how they were meant can never conflict. Perhaps a respect for both is the most progressive way of thinking, no matter which you feel more connected to.