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

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

It's an issue that's been long settled in Western culture for quite some time. In fact, neither the Vatican or, to my knowledge, the Anglican Church ever formally objected to the theory of evolution, though there may have been some grumblings amongst a few individuals.

Are you seeing a serious attack on evolution in Canada? No.
Are you seeing a serious attack on evolution in the UK? No.
Are you seeing a serious attack on evolution in Australia?
Are you seeing a serious attack on evolution anywhere in Western Europe. No.

These are the countries and cultures that share the most in terms of values and ideologies, including religious, yet only in the US, and recently, has there been a concerted effort to push Creationism as a scientific theory. To me, that says it's less about religion vs science, and FAR more about local cultural conflict.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

to me it says a lot about the way school curricula are constructed. your interpretive mileage may vary.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

School curriculae reflects the interests of the local culture.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

er. besides which, a quick google shows that your claims are wrong. stick in creationism schools canada or creationism schools uk, and read up on it.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

I said 'serious'.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

i still think you're mistaken.

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

And I think I'm likely right. I guess we're at an impasse on this one.

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

oh noes, somebody is wrong on teh intarnets! :)

i think i can sleep soundly despite that :)

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Sadly, I cannot sleep soundly; I'm stuck working a graveyard shift. *pout*

[lyonesse.livejournal.com]

aww, i hated that, i used to work swing shifts. sweet dreams to you when you can get 'em!

[the-vulture.livejournal.com]

Thanks, though if I don't get sufficient amounts of caffeine, that may be sooner than anyone anticipates. :D