Can science and religion coexist peacefully?

[Pietro]

The Institute for Ethics and Emerging Technologies is running a poll:

Can science and religion coexist peacefully?

Please considering voting. Today is the last day.

[Brian]

...

[Marblehead]

Thank you, Pietro! I just voted.

 

As did I.

[Stigweard]

An interesting poll, but I am unsure of how accurate it will be because of the wording of the questions.

 

• Yes, they can. But more than that, faith and spirituality can teach us things that science cannot.
  
• Everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want, rational or not. Leave them alone.
  
• No, they can’t. By its very nature, religion is an enemy of reason and will always stifle progress. It must be opposed.
  
• I’m not sure.
  
• Other
  

I believe they have distorted the main question. I mean take, "Yes, they can. But more than that, faith and spirituality can teach us things that science cannot". What does that even mean? They should have just left it as Yes or No.

 

I sense that the creators of the poll have woven their own beliefs into the survey and thus the validity of the results are seriously suspect.

 

I voted: Other - True spirituality is the science of awareness

 

[joeblast]

I didnt like the phrasing of the questions, therefore no vote.

[宁]

worth creating an honest poll here thou'

i think the question is pretty deep

[forestofclarity]

I voted yes, but religion would have to change. I don't think science is compatible with literal religion, but it is very consistent with more mystical parts of religion. I mean, there is no way science is going to get along with people who say that the world was created in sex literal days, or that infidels should be put to death.

[Stigweard]

I mean, there is no way science is going to get along with people who say that the world was created in sex literal days, or that infidels should be put to death.

Freudian slip there perhaps ...

 

I'd like to have a sex literal day!

 

[majc]

Based on Lao Tzu, my response would be "let's find out."

And I imagine a good scientist's answer would be exactly the same.

Edited November 11, 2010 by majc

[goonis38]

Edited November 11, 2010 by goonis38

[goonis38]

Hey there,

No!

[goldisheavy]

[Birch]

No vote. I didn't think the poll was "scientific" enough.

[Mal]

"Everyone is entitled to believe whatever they want, rational or not. Leave them alone." appealed to me

 

as did the nifty little symbol but I still prefer

[exorcist_1699]

Although the world is said to be created by God, in Western Christian framework , the answer to the question is "No " .While science studies cell, molecule, atoms and particles, Theology studies God and human beings' relation with Him; there is no real bridge in between these two arenas.

 

 

In Taoist framework, the answer is "yes" . All things are just composed by qi, and shen, which is some kind of god-like entity, is just the high expression of it . There is no gap between them .

 

Of course, the study and cultivation of qi can't exactly be called a science, however, the point is , with the introduction of qi, the gap between physical and spiritual world is eliminated .

 

Man is now really grasping his fate in his hands..

Edited November 12, 2010 by exorcist_1699

[Marblehead]

I sense that the creators of the poll have woven their own beliefs into the survey and thus the validity of the results are seriously suspect.

 

Well of course they have Stig. Nearly all pollsters do that because most are looking for a response that supports their own ideals.

[DaoWaDiddy]

I left no answer on the poll. As others have said the choices were poorly worded - except for perhaps "Other".

 

The larger problem is that "Religion" and "Science" are such large generalizations that they are realistically meaningless in terms of describing actual behavior by real people.

[Sloppy Zhang]

I do not think that science and religion are inherently oppositional, but people make them out to be that way.

 

If the goal of science is to figure out what's going on in the universe, figure out how things happen, and why, and things of that nature, then that does not conflict with the goal of spirituality. If there is a God, universal cosmic force, or some other thing, then somewhere along the line, I believe it should be discovered by science, because the goal of science is to learn about such things. So in the end, I personally think they are going to the same place.

 

As part of the requirements for my college, I have to take upper level science classes, and I have taken upper level astronomy courses for that requirement. It's amazing how many things we learn about that coincide with things like daoist cosmological views. It's amazing how many times I hear my professor say things that you'd hear a spiritual teacher say.

 

It's just that people like to make such a big deal of "thinking vs. feeling", "rational thought vs. intuitive thought", and on and on and on and on. About how one is better, how one will get you something better, and on and on. Humans are not one dimensional, and neither is the universe that we live in!

 

But people like to fight. People like to be "better" than someone else. "Scientists" like to look at "mystics" and say, "hah, there's no logical reason for why they believe the crap they believe!" and "mystics" look at "scientists" and say, "hah, they do not yet realize that their logic is not suitable to encompass everything that goes on in the universe, and their reliance on logic will cripple their ability to truly see!"