Why science and religious fatih need not be in conflict: It's as easy as 1-2-3!
May 1, 2017 at 12:11 pm
(This post was last modified: May 1, 2017 at 12:16 pm by Whateverist.)
These are instructions for how to be religious without being a science moron. To be fair the market for these instructions is apt to be minuscule. I am not therefore seeking any trademark.
Instructions:
1) Think about the core mystery of your religion. (Okay, I'll break "think about" down for you; I realize you may be a little out of shape.) Whatever it is that you think of as supernatural, consider how it is that anyone ever found out about that stuff. I mean all of the priest class agrees you can't detect it with an instrument of science nowadays. The usual story is that the mystery itself reached out to some ancient scribe, possessed his body and wrote out everything He/they/it wanted known about itself .. and then went back into hiding. At this point you have to decide whether your faith is in the core mystery of your religion or the claims of some ancient scribes. If it's in the latter, you're doing faith wrong. Try again.
2) Okay, if you got past step one you now realize that faith requires open ended-ness. You can't dictate the details of God's nature or intentions. If you're feeling a little insecure and humbled, you're actually on the right path now. Keep it up.
3) Next step, think about the nature of science. It is not a body of facts. It is a method of empirical investigation, the observational facts and theories which arise are always subject to reinterpretation. But the beauty is in the openness of process and how readily one can assess the soundness of the experiments proposed to test the hypotheses. You can trust science-the-method to investigate the nature of the empirical world more than any other method ever proposed. In the absence of an authoritative alternative, scientific theory represents the best operating hypotheses for what's out there. Embrace it, it won't bite - and cannot conflict with your religious faith if done correctly.
You may now walk in faith regarding the central mysteries of who and what we are and any purposes you feel accrues to that, keeping in mind that little ole' you do not control the nature of that mystery; presumably the actual state of affairs is vice versa. But by picking up and embracing the mantle of science you need not go blindly into the (empirical) world. Rather you may stride confidently knowing you enjoy the fruits of a long history of careful investigation, which at its core is just as humble and open as you're now trying to be. That's it. Carry on.
Instructions:
1) Think about the core mystery of your religion. (Okay, I'll break "think about" down for you; I realize you may be a little out of shape.) Whatever it is that you think of as supernatural, consider how it is that anyone ever found out about that stuff. I mean all of the priest class agrees you can't detect it with an instrument of science nowadays. The usual story is that the mystery itself reached out to some ancient scribe, possessed his body and wrote out everything He/they/it wanted known about itself .. and then went back into hiding. At this point you have to decide whether your faith is in the core mystery of your religion or the claims of some ancient scribes. If it's in the latter, you're doing faith wrong. Try again.
2) Okay, if you got past step one you now realize that faith requires open ended-ness. You can't dictate the details of God's nature or intentions. If you're feeling a little insecure and humbled, you're actually on the right path now. Keep it up.
3) Next step, think about the nature of science. It is not a body of facts. It is a method of empirical investigation, the observational facts and theories which arise are always subject to reinterpretation. But the beauty is in the openness of process and how readily one can assess the soundness of the experiments proposed to test the hypotheses. You can trust science-the-method to investigate the nature of the empirical world more than any other method ever proposed. In the absence of an authoritative alternative, scientific theory represents the best operating hypotheses for what's out there. Embrace it, it won't bite - and cannot conflict with your religious faith if done correctly.
You may now walk in faith regarding the central mysteries of who and what we are and any purposes you feel accrues to that, keeping in mind that little ole' you do not control the nature of that mystery; presumably the actual state of affairs is vice versa. But by picking up and embracing the mantle of science you need not go blindly into the (empirical) world. Rather you may stride confidently knowing you enjoy the fruits of a long history of careful investigation, which at its core is just as humble and open as you're now trying to be. That's it. Carry on.
