Introduction to SPRT, continued ...
OK, so let's address some of the things that I know people will say to the idea that religion and science are (or should be) pursuing the same end.
Many people of faith find science threatening, because it suggests a lack of faith. In other words, you ought to be able to believe without proof. (After all, isn't that what Christ said to Thomas? "You believe, Thomas, because you have seen; blessed are those who believe who have not seen.")
True enough. But in my view, faith is that which you hold on to while you are seeking proof. And when I say "you," I mean the human race. As I intend to discuss herein, many of the things that we have been admonished to do - and not to do - as a matter of faith or religious belief, turn out to be firmly grounded in science. Over the hundreds or thousands of years that passed before those things could be proven, faith in the rightness of those admonitions kept people healthy and society strong.
By contrast, there are those in the scientific community that look upon everything that cannot be proven (now, yet) as mere superstition.
It is this, more so than anything else, that brands Christians and other believers as "ignorant," "backward," "stupid," etc.
But there is a critical difference between faith and superstition.
"Faith" is a belief in things that (in theory) CAN be proven, but which have not YET been proven.
"Superstition" is belief in things that can be (and/or have been) DISPROVEN.
Big difference.
Thus, there is no inconsistency between being a person of faith and a person of science. Indeed, even in purely secular matters, there are scientists who pursue their theories despite their colleagues' insistence that their research is pointless, or futile. In the absence of proof, what keeps these vigourously curious men and women going, if not a form of faith?
What I hope to do here, is to arm persons of faith with the scientific and rational support for some of the views they espouse. In the arguments about issues we face in the present day, the more support one has, the better. To a lesser extent, I hope that the scientific skeptic who finds himself or herself visiting this site might be able to admit of the possible existence of spiritual realities, the proof for which we simply don't have at present.
We shall see.
More tomorrow!
/Prairy P.
Many people of faith find science threatening, because it suggests a lack of faith. In other words, you ought to be able to believe without proof. (After all, isn't that what Christ said to Thomas? "You believe, Thomas, because you have seen; blessed are those who believe who have not seen.")
True enough. But in my view, faith is that which you hold on to while you are seeking proof. And when I say "you," I mean the human race. As I intend to discuss herein, many of the things that we have been admonished to do - and not to do - as a matter of faith or religious belief, turn out to be firmly grounded in science. Over the hundreds or thousands of years that passed before those things could be proven, faith in the rightness of those admonitions kept people healthy and society strong.
By contrast, there are those in the scientific community that look upon everything that cannot be proven (now, yet) as mere superstition.
It is this, more so than anything else, that brands Christians and other believers as "ignorant," "backward," "stupid," etc.
But there is a critical difference between faith and superstition.
"Faith" is a belief in things that (in theory) CAN be proven, but which have not YET been proven.
"Superstition" is belief in things that can be (and/or have been) DISPROVEN.
Big difference.
Thus, there is no inconsistency between being a person of faith and a person of science. Indeed, even in purely secular matters, there are scientists who pursue their theories despite their colleagues' insistence that their research is pointless, or futile. In the absence of proof, what keeps these vigourously curious men and women going, if not a form of faith?
What I hope to do here, is to arm persons of faith with the scientific and rational support for some of the views they espouse. In the arguments about issues we face in the present day, the more support one has, the better. To a lesser extent, I hope that the scientific skeptic who finds himself or herself visiting this site might be able to admit of the possible existence of spiritual realities, the proof for which we simply don't have at present.
We shall see.
More tomorrow!
/Prairy P.
posted by Portia Sterling | 10:28 PM
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