Sephia
Supreme Goddess
Reged: 11/28/03
Posts: 876
Loc: MA, USA
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The pope in this book (the one who died) was a big fan f tryiong to unite science and religion. The question is, will it ever happen? I mean, there are opposites, science requires proof, religion is based on the un-provable. SO, can these 2 coexist or someday synthesize?
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"Your life is yours alone, rise up and live it" ~Terry Goodkind
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nu11
stranger
Reged: 01/09/04
Posts: 1
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You should take a look at the work of the famous psychologist, Abraham Maslow -- yes this is the guy who gave the field Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. His essay/book "Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences" directly addresses the need to unify religion and science for either/both to continue to be useful. He does a good job discussing how both science and religion have their strengths and weaknesses an convincingly proposes how they have the potential to compliment each other in our search for both truth and meaning. The book might be a bit frustrating if you're the type of person who defines "religion" as blind adherence to what others preach.
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stegsaw
stranger
Reged: 12/28/03
Posts: 2
Loc: Virginia
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Ian Barbour is another writer who addresses the religion/science debate. He's a physicist by trade who is also an ordained minister(Christian I think).
Earlier there was a post by Guinevere (I think - sorry if I'm wrong!) who said that science and religion are basically two different world views. Religion attempts to answer "why", science really answering "how". Barbour sort of agrees with this but attempts to show that the two fields can and should be complementary. As the previous poster mentions, religion in this context is NOT about adherence to a set of doctrine.
If I'm not mistaken, I believe the current pope issued a statement about science and religion not being contradictory. While it's not really an attempt at uniting the two, it's something.
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The heart has its reason that Reason cannot know. - Blaise Pascal
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Sephia
Supreme Goddess
Reged: 11/28/03
Posts: 876
Loc: MA, USA
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What if someone wants to know the why and the how and the two answers contradict? that would make unifying the 2 difficult.
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"Your life is yours alone, rise up and live it" ~Terry Goodkind
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stegsaw
stranger
Reged: 12/28/03
Posts: 2
Loc: Virginia
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Well, if one believes in both god and science, I don't think there can be a contradiction.
I'm more than a little out of my depth here, but the way I see it any contradictions that have arisen have more than likely come from those who speak for organized religions.
Of course, the alternative is that our perceptions are contradictory because chaos is the natural order! 
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The heart has its reason that Reason cannot know. - Blaise Pascal
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NoLifeKing
stranger
Reged: 01/13/04
Posts: 3
Loc: Wichita, KS
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I think of it this way... Science is the knowledge we use every day, Religion is the moral structure in which we use that knowledge. It seems kind of dangerous to have one without the other.
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rayflit
stranger
Reged: 01/19/04
Posts: 7
Loc: Wichita, Kansas
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Quote:
NoLifeKing said:
I think of it this way... Science is the knowledge we use every day, Religion is the moral structure in which we use that knowledge. It seems kind of dangerous to have one without the other.
As he said, they can coexist but they will probably never combine because one has people that are set out to disprove God while the other knows they can.
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AAnnAArchy
Gifted Procrastinator
Reged: 10/20/03
Posts: 643
Loc: Las Vegas
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Quote:
NoLifeKing said:
I think of it this way... Science is the knowledge we use every day, Religion is the moral structure in which we use that knowledge. It seems kind of dangerous to have one without the other.
Why does one need religion for moral structure? I have no use for religion, but my moral structure is pretty darned sound. 
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truth
stranger
Reged: 02/16/04
Posts: 4
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I get what you're saying AAnnAArchy, but ever wonder about that natural "Right and Wrong" we as humans just 'know'? I mean, it's not instinct because instinct comes as something we react with withouth thinking...it is very difficult and not our reaction most times to be in the 'right'; it seems we have to battle for it sometimes. It may have to do with environment, but throughout history, men from different religions, and no religion, in totally different places on earth all seem to talk about right and wrong as the same things. Sure, extremeists are a different story, but aren't they basically brain washed? I just find it interesting that as humans we all have this natural sense of right and wrong...just put in us. Common sense? Maybe, but isn't common sense just another word for it? Interesting. TRUTH
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Sephia
Supreme Goddess
Reged: 11/28/03
Posts: 876
Loc: MA, USA
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I think it is environment. Yes, almost evey culture has similar rights and wrings, but then again, every culture is intrinsically similar. A group of people living in some sort of shelters, governed in some way by a group of people/1 person. And all of these cultures have "wrongs" such as stealing, murder, etc. If you visit a perfectly communist society (which has never existed), "stealing" will have become obsolete and therefore not a wrong. Similarly, if yo go to a hippie society somewhere, free sex is not a wrong, though it is looked down upon in other societies.
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"Your life is yours alone, rise up and live it" ~Terry Goodkind
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