Religion Works Too

[ysabetwordsmith]

I read this article in which Stephen Hawking argues against the afterlife.  Okay, he's a smart guy.  I admire him greatly.  But he's a smart science  guy; he doesn't have nearly the same credentials in terms of researching religion.  (Consider that it's a poor idea to take the Pope's advice on science.  I'm not sure it's a better idea to take Hawking's advice on religion, for similar reasons.  It's not his field.)  He argues that science will win against religion "because it works."

Science is a relatively recent human discovery.  Religion seems to go back to the origin of human artifacts that we can interpret, and possibly farther.  Science exists in some but not all human cultures.  Religion exists in all known human cultures, and when people try to stamp it out, it regenerates.  When it comes to decision-making, if there is an apparent conflict between science and religion, considerably more people will decide based on religion even if the practical effects of doing that are negative.  I like science a lot.  But I don't think it's fair to imply that science works and religion doesn't.  Certainly it's possible for religion to malfunction, as anything can in a flawed universe.  But when something has been around for 50,000+ years throughout an entire species, that pretty much has to fit some  definition of "it works."

You can have the most awesome metric toolkit in the world, but it's not going to be a lot of use on standard machinery.  Some tools generalize well across disciplines; others don't.  This is not to say that the tools of science are never useful in religion, or vice verse; but it does mean you need to know your tools and both fields before understanding what will swap and what won't.

Comments

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

there hasn't been anything remotely like consensus on the afterlife across religions, either. particularly not among religious "experts", if you consider being an appointed head (such as the pope) to count for religious expertise. scholars of religion in general have made very few claims about the afterlife for this reason.

that said, popes have certainly attempted to impose their views on matters such as cosmology, which i think they have since ceded to physicists in some public arenas -- though of course there are still all the billboards proclaiming the end times as of saturday the 21st. "religious experts" still attempt to impose their views on other areas such as medicine, women's roles, &c., that one might imagine would be better served by biologists or physicians, or perhaps patients or women.

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

And just in case those wackos have guessed right this time,
and I'm taken up on saturday,
I'll be praying for all you over the next seven years...
:)

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i'm sure that's very kind of you :)

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

Not as kind as the atheist who has agreed to look after
the pets of anyone who's raptured...

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

*nods* if any of the horses at my barn are abandoned, i shall certainly partake in ensuring their wellbeing. (and me not even an atheist exactly :) i also volunteer at the mspca, and i'm sure we shall not shut our open doors on any abandoned pets.

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

Meanwhile,
someone on FB went ballistic over my saying this.

If you don't mind my asking,
is there any reason someone who doesn't believe this rapture thing
will ever happen,
let alone happen in a few days,
would care what I intend to do after it happens?

I mean, if I thought I was the Emperor Napoleon,
and promised to give everyone a Faberge Egg after I conquer Russia,
why would anyone in their right mind get upset with me?

Wouldn't a sane person would say,
as you did,
"I'm sure that's very kind of you."?

:)

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

please forgive an overbroad statement,
but facebook seems to be full of teh crazy.

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

That statement only sounds overbroad.

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com]

That really depends on what you're using Facebook for and which people/pages/groups you connect with. I'm using it for rocket science and activism, myself, along with professional networking among fans and writers. So there is far less dumb and crazy stuff in my FB stream than average, because I arranged it that way.

Re: Well...

[msstacy13.livejournal.com]

Friending on FB is a lot like catching a cold.
I only started it because two LJ friends left
because of hardware/software problems...

I'm getting better at the equivilent of
keeping moving and not making eye contact...