AMORAL SCIENCE BRAINLESS RELIGION: two World views
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From Amoral Science-Brainless Religion:
The quality of the ideas and beliefs held by an individual or organization can best be judged by their willingness to be exposed to alternative ideas and beliefs, competently and forcefully presented. Only after such a fair hearing can an informed decision be made about their relative merit. So argued John Stuart Mill in his short book, On Liberty. In that spirit, this paper considers the strengths and weaknesses of the two great interpreters of reality in our culture, science and religion.
An honest dialogue has often been made toxic by too many people among such groups as secular humanists and fundamentalist Christians who cherry pick history, straw man the other side, and indulge in sad, mean-spirited ad-hominem attacks. For instance, secular humanists I have known greatly enjoy making fun of and trivializing religion. Along with the hopelessly irrational literal interpretations of the bible, the horrors perpetrated by religion in the name of love are pictured in detail and living color. The politics of the far right is seen as an attempt to return to the good old days, when rack and stake will once again put the fear of Almighty God in the hearts of Satan and his minions, and anyone else who doesn’t grovel low enough. And the examination of religion is usually left there, with a fervent commitment to the fight for rationality and freedom wherever ignorance and superstition are found. Such fine words indeed stir the soul.
And I have known fundamentalists who do much the same. They point out science has no morality, and the tools of destruction created by godless, atheistic scientists have caused more suffering and death than all of the religious wars put together. The picture of amoral scientists spreading terror and pain, and threatening all life on this beautiful planet is not pretty. And imagine the terrified last moments of all those millions and millions of innocent, little babies dying in horrible agony, killed by doctors trained in the scientific tradition who care more for money than the sanctity of life. More than ample justification for an even greater commitment to the Holy Crusade to spread God’s Love and Mercy to all mankind.
The ideologues on both sides trivialize and demonize, easily knock down the straw men they create and have a fine time stomping the stuffing into the mud. There is some truth in how each views the other, but the selectivity and exaggerations are a little less than honest. Hopefully the following will be a bit more even-handed.
The quality of the ideas and beliefs held by an individual or organization can best be judged by their willingness to be exposed to alternative ideas and beliefs, competently and forcefully presented. Only after such a fair hearing can an informed decision be made about their relative merit. So argued John Stuart Mill in his short book, On Liberty. In that spirit, this paper considers the strengths and weaknesses of the two great interpreters of reality in our culture, science and religion.
An honest dialogue has often been made toxic by too many people among such groups as secular humanists and fundamentalist Christians who cherry pick history, straw man the other side, and indulge in sad, mean-spirited ad-hominem attacks. For instance, secular humanists I have known greatly enjoy making fun of and trivializing religion. Along with the hopelessly irrational literal interpretations of the bible, the horrors perpetrated by religion in the name of love are pictured in detail and living color. The politics of the far right is seen as an attempt to return to the good old days, when rack and stake will once again put the fear of Almighty God in the hearts of Satan and his minions, and anyone else who doesn’t grovel low enough. And the examination of religion is usually left there, with a fervent commitment to the fight for rationality and freedom wherever ignorance and superstition are found. Such fine words indeed stir the soul.
And I have known fundamentalists who do much the same. They point out science has no morality, and the tools of destruction created by godless, atheistic scientists have caused more suffering and death than all of the religious wars put together. The picture of amoral scientists spreading terror and pain, and threatening all life on this beautiful planet is not pretty. And imagine the terrified last moments of all those millions and millions of innocent, little babies dying in horrible agony, killed by doctors trained in the scientific tradition who care more for money than the sanctity of life. More than ample justification for an even greater commitment to the Holy Crusade to spread God’s Love and Mercy to all mankind.
The ideologues on both sides trivialize and demonize, easily knock down the straw men they create and have a fine time stomping the stuffing into the mud. There is some truth in how each views the other, but the selectivity and exaggerations are a little less than honest. Hopefully the following will be a bit more even-handed.
