RE: Religion may not be the enemy.
December 25, 2014 at 5:18 am
(This post was last modified: December 25, 2014 at 5:24 am by Smaug.)
Isaac Asimov described a religion somewhat similar to what you propose in his Foundation series. This religion was invented by a would-be political superpower to spread their influence over barbaric degenerate worlds. It allowed science and technology but only to an extent and only interwinded with religious beliefs based on a universal deity to maintain rigid control over heathen worlds through awe and superstition. It worked for a period of time and brought some results but had to be discarded eventually (trough a very painful and rather bloody transitional period).
Such a scheme may have worked in a similar manner in the real world but it has the same major flaw as every other religion: divine authority. And such concepts as blapshemy, apostasy and heresy go hand in hand with divine authority. So sooner or later there are going to be sects infighting over, say, divine interpretation of Schrodinger's wave functions. It won't be principally different from the intelligent design or old-earth creationism we have now. Divine authority takes away the very basis of science: the ability to adapt and evolve in light of critical thinking. The ability to consider new facts, to create theories to supplement and replace the old ones.
Such a scheme may have worked in a similar manner in the real world but it has the same major flaw as every other religion: divine authority. And such concepts as blapshemy, apostasy and heresy go hand in hand with divine authority. So sooner or later there are going to be sects infighting over, say, divine interpretation of Schrodinger's wave functions. It won't be principally different from the intelligent design or old-earth creationism we have now. Divine authority takes away the very basis of science: the ability to adapt and evolve in light of critical thinking. The ability to consider new facts, to create theories to supplement and replace the old ones.
