Faith And Science-An Unnecessary Battle

The battle fronts have been the same for hundreds of years, each side wrongly claiming the beliefs of the other to be heresy and seeking any means other than reason to defeat them. Juries, federal court, ballot boxes, kings, mass propaganda, even punishment have been used to try to wipe out the dissenting opinions, yet they continue. For the purpose of this article, we'll define true faith and true science, apply those definitions to the current battle lines of evolution and environment, and discuss the possibility of a reasonable consensus...all in one article. First, we must dispose of fake faith and fake science to remove the noise and confusion of extremism from the issues. In doing so, I run the risk of offending religious people and scientists, alike.

Real Faith-vs-Fake Faith:

For the purpose of this article, real faith is pursuit of the truth through belief in a God, superior to humans, who created us and the universe, who is the repository of all truth and knowledge and who gave us the rights and responsibility to care for the Earth. Real faith is expressed when we seek the truth from our Creator, love and help each other, and conserve and protect our environment. Jesus Christ defined real faith when He said that the whole law of God is summed up in two rules...Love God...Love your neighbor as yourself. Fake faith is when we use the mantle of faith, with our titles, robes and political influence to promote extremist views and to condemn and punish others who don't agree with those views. Great recent examples of fake faith are the Inquisition, Islamic extremism and Christian leaders like those claiming earthquakes, terrorist attacks and hurricanes are all God's punishment for our "sin." When real faith is combined with extremism, it becomes fake faith. Real faith treats with love and patience, those who disagree. Fake faith tries to shut them up before the truth becomes obvious.

Real Science-vs-Fake Science:

For the purpose of this article, real science is the pursuit of knowledge through a system of empirical investigation and testing. Real science is expressed when we seek to prove every theory by exhaustively attempting and failing to disprove it. Fake science is a lot like fake faith. That's when we use the mantle of science, with its letters, lab coats and political influence to promote extremist views and to condemn and punish others who don't agree with those views. Some great recent examples of fake science are the court battles to prevent the teaching of any theory but evolution in schools and the massive worldwide effort generally described as global warming. As an example of what I've been told is typical among the academic class, Dr Robert Lee published an 11 page article containing about 4 pages of his scientific specialty, 1 page of footnotes, and 6 pages of heavily biased political opinion. At one point he says "No reasonable person these days can deny the truth of global warming or that it is the result of human activities." As good as I assume he is in his specialty, his statement is fake science because it seeks to shut up those who disagree by calling them unreasonable. This is how fake science is similar to fake faith, it seeks to quiet dissent before the truth becomes obvious. Real science welcomes opposing theory because it provides a new opportunity to advance knowledge.

Evolution In Light Of Faith And Science:

Evolution is one of those theories who's detractors got shouted down over a couple hundred years of history until it is now accepted as fact. Yet, real science will tell you we have absolutely no empirical data that proves evolution or disproves it's chief competing theory, called "Intelligent Design." First, we have no reliable dating method beyond 10,000 years because there were no records kept. For those who say the fact that we can see stars millions of light-years away is proof of our age, I would ask when we measured the distance? Let's say the stars are that far, though, who has proven the Universe wasn't created in motion with all the light waves in place? You know...a pump has to be primed with water before it can pump anything. Maybe that's the way light works. Where is the empirical evidence of intermediate species? I know now we're altering species through genetic manipulation, but, have we created an atom out of nothing? Have we taken a mixture of amino acids and created a new single-celled organism that lives and reproduces? How can we say with any seriousness that we know how it happened, then? I'm not trying to disprove the theory of evolution, just to say that it has not been proven by the rules of real science.

Those of us who believe that we and the Universe were created by God are acting in faith. The surprise is, those who believe in evolution are acting in faith, as well. One places their faith in the intelligence, power and inerrancy of God. The other places the same faith in humans. Given your knowledge of human events, past and present, where do you feel we should place our faith...in humans or in God?

See conclusion at Faith and Science 2

Faith And Science-An Unnecessary Battle

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Love & Hugs,
Glen