51 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
51 lines
2.9 KiB
Plaintext
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RELIGION and SCIENCE
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Modern science had its origins in the late Middle Ages, especially
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during the period called the Renaissance. Many of its discoveries
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brought it into conflict with the traditional beliefs held by the
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medieval church. The assertion by Galileo and others that the Earth
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was not the center of the universe outraged many church leaders, and
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Galileo was brought to trial for teaching unacceptable doctrines.
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Conflicts between religion and science did not cease with the
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Renaissance. Today there are many religious people who condemn all
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teaching about the theory of evolution. They assert that the Biblical
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account of creation is literally true; therefore, evolution is
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unacceptable to them.
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Opposition between religion and science arose from the mistaken notion
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that religion could present its doctrines as undisputed knowledge that
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would hold true for all time. The medieval church had incorporated
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into its system of belief certain ancient scientific assertions about
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the Earth and the heavens. As these assertions were slowly proved
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false, the church reacted because it had used ancient science to
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support its doctrine. In other words, it had attempted to use assumed
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facts of science to support belief. It feared, consequently, that if
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the facts were swept away, the belief would crumble. As it happened,
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religious resistance to science alienated many educated people.
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The church did not realize that real belief cannot be supported by
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evidence from science. Nor can belief be undone by scientific
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evidence. The sciences deal with what they can see, inspect, and
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experiment with. They can make no valid statements about the existence
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or nonexistence of a god, for instance, because such statements must
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be made without any available evidence. On the other hand, religion
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cannot pretend to invalidate the findings of scientists for fear that
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belief will be challenged. If the objects of faith are true and the
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objects of scientific discovery true as well, then the objects are
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equally true and cannot contradict each other.
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The uneasiness between science and religion has not been limited to
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Christianity. Marxist communism of the 20th century has become a kind
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of religion. It has an all-embracing worldview, and it has a faith in
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the historical process for which no evidence exists. During Joseph
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Stalin's rule in the Soviet Union, scientific theories that seemed to
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contradict his version of Marxism were suppressed. Stalin's favorite
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scientist was Trofim Lysenko, a biologist and agronomist who supported
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theories on heredity completely at variance with the genetic
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principles developed by Gregor Mendel. Through Lysenko's influence
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and under Stalin's insistence, all other approaches to biology
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were outlawed. Some scientists who had previously taught Mendelian
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genetics were forced to change their opinion and teach Lysenko's
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version of biology.
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