Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Is Science and Religion antagonistic?

(full write-up soon. for now, these are my points and themes)

Both sides can and have led to evil actions.
sci->social darwinism->Nazi racial policies
relg->only one God and it is my God!->crusades, transnational terrorism

Both sides can be flawed in thier approach.
sci->high barriers to entry (unavoidable but also may fall prey to "group think")->little or no transparency/accountability of objectiveness to public
relg->aliterative texts->interpretative explanations on hindsight Both can be supportive for humanity's benefit.

Science has brought us very far and religion often fuelled the mental drive.

Why is then that Religion looks more like the 'baddy" to some?
Relg ->our first attempt at explaning our world ->science came along and threatened the establishment-> Relg institutions and powerful individuals had position and privileges to protect->thus they naturally suppressed science (would it have been the same if it was the only way round? highly likely but we will never know)

Why is there then a re-emergence of faith and belief?
Sci has reached a 'brink of the edge' ->many fundamental understandings of the past now contradicted/untenable + theories have outstripped technological means to prove them + information revolution (means of acquisition and production/re-production of knowledge is much more accessible -> more voices in the debate)-> re-emergence of faith and belief to fill in the gaps of understanding (never really went away in the first place)

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