Why Science And Religion Are Not Compatible

Throughout human existence, there has been constant controversy between science and religion.  For instance, Galileo, in spreading his ideas of a heliocentric solar system, failed to convince the Catholic Church and was punished for his blasphemous scientific theories.  Under the rule of Edward VI, two heretics were executed for denying Christian beliefs.  Scientists use the scientific method to test ideas and let their work speak for itself.  Theists share supernatural experiences and teachings by testimony and holy texts with the expectation of tolerance.  Each purport to be the way to learn truth about human existence and the universe.  Some theists even claim that science and religion are complimentary, in that science gains truth by recording and studying natural phenomenon, while religion seeks to gain knowledge by way of the supernatural.  Supposedly, the universe is composed of both, but that is assuming the supernatural is real.

Methods of acquiring knowledge conflict in both science and faith.  Science includes the scientific method, which requires physical evidence before determining if a conclusion is true.  Thusly, if scientists begin their experiments with conclusions, like "the Christian god is real," such carelessness would destroy their credibility.  Conversely, believers of the supernatural create conclusions and then seek supporting evidence, of which there is none.  The biblical authors say the Christian god is real, but this claim isn't scientifically verified.  If there is no physical evidence, then a hypothesis should remain as such or be discarded, but theists tend to ignore this part of the process.  Essentially, believers reverse the scientific method, which in and of itself goes against a scientist's principles.

Alternatively, in response to the conflict of evidence collection methods, believers say that the supernatural cannot be tested as it is beyond the natural boundaries of the scientific method.  This statement is not only wishful thinking, but it gives the false assumption that science cannot test for the supernatural.  If a cause and an effect occur, it can be scientifically recorded.  For example, if a devastating hurricane destroys a city, but everyone survives, believers like to say that their god was merciful and His act of kindness was a miracle.  Yet, they don't consider the natural phenomenon of safety preparedness for the zero fatalities.  Statistics are available to measure these events.  Additionally, some people hear noises in their homes and assume ghosts are present, when in fact old water pipes or a foundation shift is the culprit.  Saying the supernatural exists and is outside the realm of the natural is simply not true.

Then there is the argument from some that science is a religion.  In Kansas, the Christian group, Citizens for Objective Public Education (COPE), "claim that public schools 'promote a non-theistic religious worldview by allowing only materialistic or atheistic explanations to scientific questions.'”  They say the teaching of evolution, which is a scientific theory, is indoctrination into the religion of atheism or secular humanism.  Such a claim is inaccurate on multiple accounts and widens the rift between religion and science.  Firstly, atheism is not a religion and neither is secular humanism.  Secondly, science is not biased toward atheism.  If there was scientific evidence for the supernatural, then atheists would be encouraged to change their mind.  Thirdly, evolution doesn't really say anything about atheism or secular humanism other than the fact that humans evolved with the ability to have complex beliefs, and that includes belief in the supernatural.  Also, don't confuse all beliefs, ideas, or scientific facts to be religious.  According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, religion has several definitions: "1. the belief in a god or in a group of gods. 2. An organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship a god or a group of gods. 3. an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group."  Scientists do not adhere to the first two since there is a consensus that the supernatural doesn't exist.  The third is so vague that anything of interest, like football, knitting, eating, or politics, can be considered a religion.  Yet, none these interests have a religious tax-exempt status as determined by the United States government by the people.  This is why atheists and secular humanists don't receive a religious tax-exemption.  This is why scientists don't receive a religious tax-exemption.  All three groups are simply not considered religious.

There are many theists who claim that such scientific theories as evolution are harmonious with Christianity.  Such people are more moderate in their beliefs and take a more figurative approach to the biblical story of Adam and Eve; in that women like Eve didn't come from a man's rib.  Yet, this approach is problematic because the veracity of the entire Bible comes into question if even one story is not understood literally.  If the Adam and Eve story is just a fable, then the flood, Noah's Ark, and Jesus walking on water could be too.  Essentially, if a Christian believes in the theory of evolution, they must perform a mental gymnastics routine in order to accept the supernatural bits included, since the Bible does not explicitly state what stories to read literally and metaphorically.  Otherwise, such a scientific theory and supernatural belief system are deemed incompatible.

Are We Intelligently Designed?

The short answer is yes and no.  Most people question how they came into being and what it means to exist.  Is there an intelligent designer?  If a supernatural creator put us here, what were his or her motivations?  What is our purpose for living?  Yet, what many people seem to ignore is the likelihood that nothing paved the way for the human species, other than millions of years of selective reproduction, or natural selection.

To understand these questions, we must first know how we each individually got here.  The birds and the bees discussion is quite handy.  Most caring parents at some point or another discuss this with their children at maturity.  Yet, it appears that when people question their existence, they don't think about the birds and the bees.  Each individual can determine whether or not their parents are intelligent, but the problem is that they take their mom and dad out of the equation completely and look toward a god for help in understanding their questions.

Human parents are the creators of baby humans and their parents were their creators.  The logical conclusion here is that there had to be a first human, the first common ancestor.  Surely, they were created by a god right?  No.  Evolution points to tranistions between species.  We have to look further into the past at the first single-celled organism as the common ancestor to all life on Earth.  Was that cell intelligently created?  Science tells us that the world and universe are constantly changing.  Particles enter and exit each other all of the time.  The first lifeform came into being because the particles needed to sustain life came together.

If we look at statistics, the likelihood of such particles coming together was astronomical given that Earth has water, a fluid substance.  We call this chance and people don't like that they were created by chance.  Chance makes it more difficult to determine self-purpose.  The question then becomes if we weren't created by a god, then what is our purpose for being here?  Humans are silly creatures.  We must know why and how everything works.  People also like having mentors help them through the difficult and winding path that is life.  They like thinking that there is a supernatural sky daddy watching over them.  They like wondering if this sky daddy gave them a pre-determined destiny.

The cool thing about not having a divine purpose is that we get to decide our own purpose.  Just as we have our parents to thank for our existence, we also have our parents to thank for our specific skills and talents, due to genetics.  Such skills and talents are often what people use to determine identity, friendships, love interests, and occupations.  Other than that, it is up to each person to figure out how they want to live, given that they live in a country that supports free will.

Evolution is the Fittest Survivor

Despite the Theory of Evolution becoming more refined as the years pass, it still remains one of the most contentiously debated topics since Charles Darwin's scientific breakthrough in the 19th century.  So, why is this theory controversial?  Why don't theists hotly debate the Theory of Gravitation as well?  It is because the Theory of Evolution goes against the religious idea that the Christian god made all species as they were in the beginning of creation.  Evolution tells a different story than the one within the Bible; and if major plot points in the Bible do not correlate with such a major history telling theory, then that theory is assumed to be detrimentally flawed.  Such a theory must be wrong, in their eyes, because if it is true, then the Biblical history begins to fall apart.

Hence, the reason for breaking ground on the Discorvery Institute, an organization devoted to finding evidence for Creationism or Intelligent Deisgn, and the wide attack on the integrity of science in public schools.  Theists posit that if schools "teach the controversy" or include all competing ideas in the science curriculum, Creationism has a fighting chance to stick with the next generation of youth.  What they don't realize is that the Theory of Evolution and Creationism are not competing scientific theories.  In fact, Creationism isn't a scientific theory at all.  Creationism doesn't have testable data that can help explain its process, despite the Discovery Institute's best efforts.  In the end, it cannot receive the consensus it needs in the scientific community to become a legitimate contender.

Even if we were going to "teach the controversy," we might as well include all available ideas and not just the false dichotomy between Evolution and Creationism.  For instance, time would be doled out to discuss spontaneous speciation.  This is the idea that species randomly and suddenly change into other species; poof.  Douglas Adam's The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy tells of the Heart of Gold ship with the Infinite Improbability Drive that displays this concept quite nicely when its use spontaneously turns the main characters into flowers.  A second idea that should be considered is the one that many proponents of Creationism incorrectly use to describe the Theory of Evolution, known to them as Macro-Evolution.  An example of such is the duck turning into a cat or a dog turning into a horse over time.  Another idea to consider would be that all species have a changeling ability, in that they can selectively quickly morph into whatever species meets their needs, like Mystique from X-Men or Odo from Star Trek Deep Space Nine.  Perhaps we can teach that contact with toxic waste or venomous creatures mutates the affected into completely different species with super powers, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Spiderman.  There's also Creationism, the idea that all species were created just as they are now and no changes occur whatsoever.  These are all options that flood the realm of hypotheses, or testable ideas.

Howerver, based on the available evidence on Earth, including fossils and studies of fruit flies and flu viruses, the only idea that can explain what we see in nature and in laboratories is evolution.  Time and again fossils are dug up by paleontologists that repeatedly test and improve our understanding of evolution.  Sure there are holes in understanding and findings sometimes create questions, but the available data nevertheless continues to show that species change into other species over time through natural selection.  This is why only Evolution out of the bunch is granted the esteemed title of scientific theory.  All other ideas fail the rigorous test of the scientific method and should not be included in a science curriculum.  Hypotheses, like Creationism, deserve only a tiny side note when teaching Evolution.  A better outlet to discuss this concept within public school grounds would be electives, like the History of Creationism and Religious Studies, or perhaps a debate club focusing on Evolution versus Creationism.

5 Reasons The Christian God Doesn't Exist

1.  The Christian god was created by man.

Early civilizations included imaginative people.  For what they lacked in scientific understanding, they balanced with creative stories.  They thought supernatural beings controlled every aspect of daily life.  Good fortune in weather, food, and war required prayer, ritual, and sacrifice to specific deities.  When Christianity was first created, founders borrowed holidays and traditions from other religions.  Instead of multiple deities to explain each facet of daily life, Biblical writers figured it would be easier for people to believe in one god that controlled all of life.  Instead of a god creating man in his image, man created a god in his image.  The Christian god is vengeful, petty, insensitive, racist, sexist, destructive, greedy, a liar, a killer, and a male.  Of course, man also gave the Christian god many kind and loving qualities so that there would be reasons to like him.

2.  The Christian god doesn't physically manifest itself.

It would be easy to know and potentially have a relationship with a deity if they showed up every once in a while.  The Christian god is invisible, mute, and non-corporeal.  We can't see, hear, or touch him.  The scientific method is important when deciding what is real and not real.  If one can not sense a physical presence with any of their five senses, record their measurements, and have their findings scientifically verified, how do they know a being actually exists?  The phrase, "pictures or it didn't happen," is apt here.

3.  As scientific discoveries increase, credit given to the Christian god decreases.

Discoveries and inventions made as a result of the scientific method are diminishing what the Christian god supposedly does for people.  Medicine erases the need for faith healers and exorcists.  Technology brings information to the masses rather than priests in churches.  Math, probabilities, and chance show us that "miracles" are statistically predictable and therefore are not a result of a deity.  Flip a coin to determine the accuracy of prayers.  Over time, fear of the unknown has become confidence in the known.  We can now explain what used to be attributed to gods, including the Christian god.

4.  The supernatural doesn't exist, therefore the Christian god doesn't exist.

The Bible tells of instances when the Christian god is physically present and regularly interacts with the populace.  This book also tells of talking snakes, talking burning bushes, walking on and parting water, and turning inanimate objects into animals.  These abilities and beings are not present today and there is no evidentiary support for such Biblical examples; therefore the supernatural, as dictated by the Bible, isn't real.  Since the Christian god is of the supernatural, he is also a work of fiction.

5.  The Biblical description of the Christian god is impossible.

The Christian god is said to be omnipresent (everywhere at once), omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), and omnibenevolent (all-good).   These are very high and scientifically testable standards.  However, nothing in nature shows that any of these qualities are possible.  Fictional powers that would allow for omnipresence, like telepathy and astral-projection, are not representative in nature.  An all-knowing god would not write a book riddled with errors and inconsistencies.  He would also know how his scientific laws worked and would have created the sun first and then plants; not vice versa.  An all-powerful god would be able to save all lives in a natural disaster and not just the lucky ones.  An omnibenevolent god would not commit genocide and start over with what can only be an incest ancestry for all living species.  Since the "infallible" Bible does describe the Christian god with each of these characteristics, in addition to his limitations, we can safely know that the Christian god doesn't exist.

What is a Scientific Theory?

A scientific theory is an explanation of facts.  It explains why and how a set of facts work.  Often there is confusion on the use of the word, theory, because the word by itself can also mean an idea or opinion, and therefore can be up for debate.  A scientific theory, on the other hand, deals with real information that is not debatable.  For example, the theory of gravity explains why objects attract to each other.  If a person lets go of a ball, it will fall.  The theory of evolution explains how organisms adapt in a changing environment over time.  Fossils show this record of change.  Other theories include the big bang theory, climate change theory, and the theory of relativity.