Can Science + Religion Co-Exist?

[dreadfulpenny81]

The answer is YES.

A recent study from Rice University indicates that 15% of scientists at major research universities see science and religion in constant conflict.
They interviewed a scientifically selected sample of 275 participants, pulled from a survey of 2,198 tenured and tenure-track faculty in the natural and social sciences at 21 elite U

Comments

[ytterbius]

I'm the person that Christians get warned about

[underlankers]

The one thing I'd disagree with is qualifying either Judaism or Sunni Islam and even Protestant Christianity as authoritarian structures. Both of them are in some senses *too* decentralized to qualify as organized religion of the Buddhism/Hinduism/Christianity sort. This is simultaneously blessing and curse.

[ytterbius]

Hmm, I don't really know the difference in this area between Sunni and Shia Islam, but Islam, itself is "Submission."

Id have to say that in general they are all authoritarian on some level. American Protestant Christians may not all bend before a single leader, but the different churches definitely have a hierarchy which is powerful, internally, at least.

There's definitely someone out there that is given a primary role in interpreting ancient texts, and defining God and God's Will.

Hinduism is pretty diverse, and I can't really speak to its centralized structure, but I'm surprised to see you list Buddhism as a highly organized religion. Of all of these listed religions, Buddhism is the least depending on a person learning and accepting the word of some human expert. Yes, there are temples, and teachers, but the journey is typically considered to be very personal.

[underlankers]

The difference is that Shia Islam is the more millennarian subset of the two religions and evolved the Mullah-Ayatollah-Imam triumvirate. All subsets await the return of the Imam but that takes some rather different forms, while the Imam is not there the Ayatollah is the temporal leader of the faith. The Sunni exalt individual reasoning and predated Protestants in this by several thousand years.

The difference between Buddhists and Hindus is that Buddhism has dogma and monastic orders, Hinduism embraces all-life. While it did create the caste/varna/jati system it has nothing of the organized bureaucracy that goes into Buddhist and Christian clergies.

[dreadfulpenny81]

Re: your latter point that children should question religious authority when they doubt what they're being taught. How about creationism vs. evolution? I can't speak for other religions but in the Christian faith (except Catholicism), the Big Bang theory is still questioned because of the concept of creation ex nihilo. It goes against some scientific laws. Shouldn't children (who understand it, at least) question that also? (This is not to say that this is my opinion on C vs E. I may be in a similar frame of thought as you.)

[ytterbius]

"Shouldn't children (who understand it, at least) question that also

[dreadfulpenny81]

So even science isn't 100% definitive in every aspect. Maybe science and religion have that in common?

[ytterbius]

Yeah, but scientists are more honest about it. They deal with uncertainties and changes to the understanding of the rules all the time. There is no "have faith and all will be right" kind of thing.

[dreadfulpenny81]

Some of that (changing of rules) exists within religions, too. Look at the change in the stance on homosexuality.