The "Science vs. Religion" Thread

SunsetBoulevard

SunsetBoulevard

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I think this is interesting to discuss. You can actually be religious and believe in science at the same time. Unfortunately, I'm not that kind of person, I am not religious, I'm a 100% science girl. And there's the third group, the ones that think there's no science but religion. I would like to hear your opinion because you MUST belong to one of those groups I mentioned above.

C'mon, don't hesitate to post :) And please keep it friendly, we wouldn't like to start any fight in here.
 
Great topic!

I am one of those people who believe that the two can be reconciled. For example, can the Big Bang theory not be reconciled with the story of creation in some way? Maybe [fill in your deity here] created the earth but it took a little longer than [fill in time period here]? I think so.

For the record, I'm not terribly religious, but used to be, but if I have to choose between science and religion, I'll come down in favor of science every time.
 
Well I am religious and I believe all of that stuff but I always considered the science stuff. Unfortunately I just started taking an Anthropology class which makes it very difficult to keep the religious stuff in mind. It is very science oriented
 
interesting question.

I would say Im 95% science girl. I do believe that there are some things that are impossible to grasp with the mind.

Im not religious at all, I dont believe in deities (except for Eros :) ) but I believe there are things that cant be explained. maybe they cant be explained yet but that only time will tell

did it make any sense?
 
carolina, that makes lots of sense. If someone were to tell Christopher Columbus that people would be flying around the world, he probably would have looked at that person like he or she belonged in an asylum. Yet Leonardo da Vinci had early concept drawings of what could be considered a helicopter, and now look at aviation today. Man has been to the moon because of science.
 
I'm definatly a science kind of girl. I don't believe in creationism and things. Or that God is the cause of someone's genetic pre-disposition.

Genetics make me comfortable as does evolution :D
 
Me too, I believe in science and Darwin's evolution theory.

Yesterday in philosophy class, there was a topic about god(s) and how man created them in order to have something to explain the things they didn't understand (e.a. thunder, lightning, seasons, etc.). Also, to grab the concepts of good and evil, they tried to put faces on them (e.a. God and the devil) and blamed them for all the suffering in the world.

I think that nowadays, religion is being abused far too often. Wars are held in the name of God, Allah etc., while the whole idea of war itself erupted from the minds of man, and only man.
 
I'm religious, but as for how the world started, I believe in science.

It sucks though, because I go to a Catholic school, so in science, we learn about The Big Bang Theory and other theories and learn about all the evidence supporting those theories, and then in religion we learn about how God created the world in 7 days. And if people ask how we know that, our teacher tells us we have to just have faith in God.

So I'm like what the hell, I have faith in God but I'm sorry, there's evidence about how the world was formed and I really don't think it just appeared because God made it.

Like someone said, somethings just go unexplained. Maybe how the world began will always be unexplained, or new evidence about that will prove it was The Big Bang theory or some scientifical one. We will never know for sure if God made the world, however, so... for me I believe in science.
 
you can look throughout history and see how god/gods has changed over time depending on peoples needs at the time. but people have every right to believe in a religion, just as i have my right not to.

the problems come when people choose to reject scientific information based on their religious scriptures or writings. the science stand for itself, and there is nothing scientific about religion so you cant use centuries old stories to discredit or disprove scientific information being uncovered today.

problems can also arise when people say 'god explains what science cant'. but the thing is, science cant explain it yet. and it has happened in the past, when something is credited to some supernatural being but over time a natural explanation is found. this is usually explained by a brick wall. where the bricks are what is known, and missing bricks are what is not and is attributed to god. as new discoveries are uncovered, the missing bricks are filled in until there are no holes. or no god.
 
Everybody has their own right to believe in either religion or not to believe in religion. I, personally, am not religious at all and do not feel like I am missing out on anything either. I have gained a lot in life. A lot of knowledge. I have had my experiences with religion because I did go to a religious school and it just did not work for me.

I am more of a science girl though I do not believe science holds the answer to everything. Some questions will never be answered and even if we ever do, there will always be another question that remains to be answered.
 
allmaple said:
you can look throughout history and see how god/gods has changed over time depending on peoples needs at the time. but people have every right to believe in a religion, just as i have my right not to.

the problems come when people choose to reject scientific information based on their religious scriptures or writings. the science stand for itself, and there is nothing scientific about religion so you cant use centuries old stories to discredit or disprove scientific information being uncovered today.

problems can also arise when people say 'god explains what science cant'. but the thing is, science cant explain it yet. and it has happened in the past, when something is credited to some supernatural being but over time a natural explanation is found. this is usually explained by a brick wall. where the bricks are what is known, and missing bricks are what is not and is attributed to god. as new discoveries are uncovered, the missing bricks are filled in until there are no holes. or no god.
Click to expand...

it is annoying :lol: But i find most Catholics now are ok with science. Its ok to be religious and stuff, I don't have any problems with that, it just drives me crazy when they try so hard to prove science wrong using religion, like you said. It is the fundamentalist protestants that are the worst...american style christianity. The best place to find those people is on the 'american idol' message board, i am not kidding. I was arguing with this girl who thought the earth was 10,000 years old, and that dinosaurs were put on the earth by satan to trick humans. Oh dear. I think the best one was the question 'if humans came from monkeys, then why are there still monkeys around' :lol:

The problem is also, they think they know the science because they know the bible, and with these types of arguments they think they are outsmarting the scientific people, but I find they have absolutely no clue what they are talking about. I have never found anyone who doesn't 'believe' in evolution to actually know what evolution is. And I have seen their arguments for not believing in evolution, they are treating a scientific idea as a belief system, which is kind of stupid. You can choose to not believe it, but it is still happening. So the creationists are not doing themselves any favour (damn american spell check :p) by trying so hard to disprove the scientists. They are just making themselves look stupid by doing it.

My population genetics prof just showed us 2 videos on youtube that the 'smart' creationists made to try to make atheists look stupid :lol: There are so many problems, it is unbelievable...not to mention not everyone who accepts evolution is an atheist!

The banana proves God exists!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zwbhAXe5yk

And don't forget the peanut butter!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZFG5PKw504&mode=related&search=

:lol:

Frankly, i think i like the idea of the flying spaghetti monster the best.
 
allmaple said
problems can also arise when people say 'god explains what science cant'. but the thing is, science cant explain it yet. and it has happened in the past, when something is credited to some supernatural being but over time a natural explanation is found. this is usually explained by a brick wall. where the bricks are what is known, and missing bricks are what is not and is attributed to god. as new discoveries are uncovered, the missing bricks are filled in until there are no holes. or no god.
Click to expand...

There is also the idea by some that a supreme being formed our world and universe to how it is today, yet science is our means of understanding it, even if it hasn't been discovered yet. It can be completely plausible and proved indefinitely by natural law or logical explanation, but can still be believed that a higher power created it.

In my case, I believe in God, but I don't dispute science or write it off. To me, faith and science are two different things yet they can both co-exist in a fashion to one's way of thinking.
 
speed_cochrane said:
In my case, I believe in God, but I don't dispute science or write it off. To me, faith and science are two different things yet they can both co-exist in a fashion to one's way of thinking.
Click to expand...

As said before, I do not believe in God. But I do respect people who do, as long as they don't mingle their faith with any scientific (e.a. evolutionary) matter.
I think faith can be useful when people are hurt, need something to hold on to, or maybe just to have someone to confess your sins to. Anything outside that area of feelings and emotions should be disconnected from (any) religion. Things like justice, education and politics in general should never be associated with (a) G-/god.

So I too think they can co-exist, as long as they don't mix.
 
xfcanadian said:
My population genetics prof just showed us 2 videos on youtube that the 'smart' creationists made to try to make atheists look stupid :lol:
Click to expand...

what?? my pop genetics prof didnt show us those last year! :( when this young earth creationist came to guelph last year for a talk he used the banana argument and i almost died laughing. i wanted to tell him he had a domesticated banana and its creator is actually farmers from new guinea like 8000 years ago :lol: but then again, the guy doesnt believe 8000 years ago exists so...

i dont remember what the stat is, but i think close to 70% or so of americans dont believe in evolution. and i saw a quote a little while ago that said '4 out of 5 monkeys dont want to be related to you either' :lol: that is now my favourite quote

i think the pastafarian religion definitely makes the most sense. because unlike other religions, they give you the how and the why the flying spaghetti monster did what he did :D
 
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