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| Science and Religion
Posted: 6/19/2007 8:49:03 AM | I believe at this point in time, speculations of this type have HUGE definitional problems. Having said that, the scope of religion has been declining at an increasing pace, at least since the time of Pythagoras. Science has been much more accurate in explaining the nature of reality than religion has. Very few engineers design a bridge based upon information gleaned from religious writings.
On the other hand, my understanding is that spiritual approaches to certain problems, especially in psychology, seem to have an impressive success rate. For example, the AA approach to alcohol abuse seems to have been impressively successful. The AA approach essentially relies upon a development of spiritual abilities. Another example would be the Budhist approach to spiritual development. This type of approach is now gaining ground in western psychology. See, for example, Learned Optimism by Mark Selegman. The Budhist approach promises to increase happiness and decrease negative emotions. There is even an article in National Geographic (about 1 and 1/2 years ago) detailing objective evidence of the success of Budhist meditation practices on happiness.
Thus, I conclude that science is generally more reliable in explaining the nature of the physical world. I also conclude that in those areas where science fails to give us clear understanding, a spiritual approach can often result in a beneficial outcome.
Just my 2 cents. | |
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| Science and Religion
Posted: 6/19/2007 11:36:28 AM | Science was born alongside christianity???
Oh well that's where I'm going wrong, thinking it was born pre history alongside philosophy.
You really don't have to be sarcastic. I'm not offending you, so I would expect the same respect. I am speaking of the enlightement period in which the explosive scientific progress took place post dark-ages. This is what I originally meant. This is when the when "Science vs. Religion" began to manifest as debates. | |
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| Science and Religion
Posted: 6/19/2007 3:38:14 PM | Synch -
I understand your point and that is one of the reasons I started with the definitional disclaimer. If "religion" is construed as the belief in an all powerful diety with conscousness - well I, personally, see no evidence of any kind substantiating this allegation. I do, however, acknowledge that some spiritual undertakings appear to have consequences favorable to human existence. | |
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| Science and Religion
Posted: 6/20/2007 10:27:08 AM | Hey there,
I also think that science and religion hasnt evolved enough to understand how the two are like two wings of a bird, people should be willing to admit that they might be ignorant and thats why they might not understand something, science still has a very limited way of investigating reality, as humans evolve the many other ways will become known, and the same goes for religion, most religious people are following religion more out of conditioning then a conscious choice, so untill they become conscious it will be difficult for religion to access the potential thats there.
Thanks | |
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| Science and Religion
Posted: 6/20/2007 8:06:53 PM | Hello!
You said: I should say I wonder why anyone would introduce a supernatural entity in the first place. I wonder why one would accept that idea anymore than imagining we're on the back of a turtle. And nobody here is saying they do believe...
I think it's obvious why. Science is not well equipped to answer some important questions. I'm not knocking science, it does what it does wonderfully and efficiently, thank God, but it never adresses some very important aspects of our lives; such as what our purposes are, what is good and right and beautiful.
If you would deny that these issues play an important role in all of our lives, then you would do well by sticking strickly to science. However, if you acknowledge that these things are part of your reality as a human being, then you start asking different kinds of questions and looking for different kinds of answers.
I have no qualms at all about saying I'm a believer. However since I am a Christian and believe in a God of love, to me, this 'entity' is only natural...and all around us...
Simone Weil, a philosopher who has been called our modern Saint said (in a wonderful but difficult book called Gravity and Grace), that 'faith is the experience of intelligence enlightened by love.'
Thoughts to sleep on....
God bless you
Queen Margo | |
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