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Religion in America is on the defensive. An excerpt from Jerry A. Coyne (USA Today)
Physicist Richard Feynman observed that the methods of science help us distinguish real truth from what we only want to be true: "The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool."
Science can, of course, be wrong. Continental drift, for example, was laughed off for years. But in the end the method is justified by its success. Without science, we'd all live short, miserable and disease-ridden lives, without the amenities of medicine or technology. As Stephen Hawking proclaimed, science wins because it works.
Does religion work? It brings some of us solace, impels some to do good (and others to fly planes into buildings), and buttresses the same moral truths embraced by atheists, but does it help us better understand our world or our universe? Hardly. Note that almost all religions make specific claims about the world involving matters such as the existence of miracles, answered prayers wonder-working saints and divine cures, virgin births, annunciations and resurrections. These factual claims, whose truth is a bedrock of belief, bring religion within the realm of scientific study. But rather than relying on reason and evidence to support them, faith relies on revelation, dogma and authority. Hebrews 11:1 states, with complete accuracy, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Indeed, a doubting-Thomas demand for evidence is often considered rude.
And this leads to the biggest problem with religious "truth": There's no way of knowing whether it's true. I've never met a Christian, for instance, who has been able to tell me what observations about the universe would make him abandon his beliefs in God and Jesus. (I would have thought that the Holocaust could do it, but apparently not.) There is no horror, no amount of evil in the world, that a true believer can't rationalize as consistent with a loving God. It's the ultimate way of fooling yourself. But how can you be sure you're right if you can't tell whether you're wrong?
The religious approach to understanding inevitably results in different faiths holding incompatible "truths" about the world. Many Christians believe that if you don't accept Jesus as savior, you'll burn in hell for eternity. Muslims hold the exact opposite: Those who see Jesus as God's son are the ones who will roast. Some Jews see Jesus as a prophet, but not the messiah. Which belief, if any, is right? Because there's no way to decide, religions have duked it out for centuries, spawning humanity's miserable history of religious warfare and persecution.
In contrast, scientists don't kill each other over matters such as continental drift. We have better ways to settle our differences. There is no Catholic science, no Hindu science, no Muslim science — just science, a multicultural search for truth. The difference between science and faith, then, can be summed up simply: In religion faith is a virtue; in science it's a vice.
Science can, of course, be wrong. Continental drift, for example, was laughed off for years. But in the end the method is justified by its success. Without science, we'd all live short, miserable and disease-ridden lives, without the amenities of medicine or technology. As Stephen Hawking proclaimed, science wins because it works.
Does religion work? It brings some of us solace, impels some to do good (and others to fly planes into buildings), and buttresses the same moral truths embraced by atheists, but does it help us better understand our world or our universe? Hardly. Note that almost all religions make specific claims about the world involving matters such as the existence of miracles, answered prayers wonder-working saints and divine cures, virgin births, annunciations and resurrections. These factual claims, whose truth is a bedrock of belief, bring religion within the realm of scientific study. But rather than relying on reason and evidence to support them, faith relies on revelation, dogma and authority. Hebrews 11:1 states, with complete accuracy, "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Indeed, a doubting-Thomas demand for evidence is often considered rude.
And this leads to the biggest problem with religious "truth": There's no way of knowing whether it's true. I've never met a Christian, for instance, who has been able to tell me what observations about the universe would make him abandon his beliefs in God and Jesus. (I would have thought that the Holocaust could do it, but apparently not.) There is no horror, no amount of evil in the world, that a true believer can't rationalize as consistent with a loving God. It's the ultimate way of fooling yourself. But how can you be sure you're right if you can't tell whether you're wrong?
The religious approach to understanding inevitably results in different faiths holding incompatible "truths" about the world. Many Christians believe that if you don't accept Jesus as savior, you'll burn in hell for eternity. Muslims hold the exact opposite: Those who see Jesus as God's son are the ones who will roast. Some Jews see Jesus as a prophet, but not the messiah. Which belief, if any, is right? Because there's no way to decide, religions have duked it out for centuries, spawning humanity's miserable history of religious warfare and persecution.
In contrast, scientists don't kill each other over matters such as continental drift. We have better ways to settle our differences. There is no Catholic science, no Hindu science, no Muslim science — just science, a multicultural search for truth. The difference between science and faith, then, can be summed up simply: In religion faith is a virtue; in science it's a vice.
Comment
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Comment by Lyra Silvertongue on January 15, 2011 at 5:25pm -
Well said. This also struck me:
There is no horror, no amount of evil in the world, that a true believer can't rationalize as consistent with a loving God.
although I think the half-ass believers, like I was, have a lot of cognitive dissonance trying to rationalize.
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Comment by Chris G on January 15, 2011 at 3:26pm -
I don't understand why people still think our predecessors thought the earth was flat. It's false history to believe anyone did.
Unfortunately people still subscribe to the following ethos
We believe:
- The bible is the inspired Work of God. It is inerrant in its original writing, and that it is the only infallible rule for faith and life.
- In one God, creator of heaven and earth, eternally existing in three persons: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
- Jesus Christ is God’s only begotten Son, born of a virgin, and is fully God, and fully man. God’s revelation of Himself, His purpose, and His will was completed in Jesus Christ as is recorded in the Bible.
- The Holy Spirit is the third person of the Trinity. His ministry is to glorify the Lord Jesus Christ. During this age, He draws men to God; convicts men of sin, righteousness and judgment; indwells and seals the believer at conversion; comforts, guides, instructs and empowers the believer for godly service. The evidence of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit is the fruit that He produces in believer.
- Man was created in the image of God. Man sinned, bringing upon himself both physical and spiritual death, which is separation from God.
- Jesus Christ died for our sins as a substituionary sacrifice; He arose bodily from the dead, and ascended into heaven where He now serves as our advocate.
- The shed blood of Jesus Christ provides the only basis for salvation to all who believe.
- We are eternally saved when we recognize ourselves as sinners and put our faith in Christ, not because of any work we do. All who receive Christ through faith are born again in the Holy Spirit.
- In the personal, premillenial, and imminent return of Jesus Christ, and that this “Blessed Hope” has a vital bearing on the personal life and service of the believer.
- The church is the body of Christ which is made up of every born again believer and will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air at the rapture. A local church is an organized body of baptized believers voluntarily associated together for the worship of God, growth in godliness, the fellowship of believers, the speaking forth of the gospel of Jesus Christ throughout the world, and the observance of the biblical ordinances (immersion baptism and communion supper). The local church is independent and free from all outside ecclesiastical or political interference.
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Comment by Maverick Jester on January 15, 2011 at 10:31am -
I like this quote: In religion faith is a virtue; in science it is a vice.
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