questions on faith and science
Different classrooms are for different purposes. To answer the question, "Of what significance is the twelfth root of two?," go to Audio and Acoustics 1301. If you ask that question in American Lit Since Twain, you'll either get a blank stare or an answer that doesn't answer.
So. Are we all the product of chance, or of a great Spirit that is the Creator and sustainer of all things? Great question. Ask it in a metaphysics class, or Intro to Philosophy, and you open a fascinating and possibly enlightening debate. Ask it in biology, and you've asked the wrong question.
So. Did the world come about through this process or that process? Great question. Ask it in Astronomy or Life Sciences, and you'll get an answer that reflects our current thinking (which will be viewed as simplistic, or plain wrong, in 500 years). Ask it in your Religion class, and you're asking for bread to come out of a faucet.
Is it really that difficult to get? People who think that science and faith must be opposed and science wins, and people who think that science and faith must be opposed and faith wins, have a lot in common. They need each other desperately. And, unfortunately for all of us, they're dominating the conversation. Science and faith are no more necessarily opposed than vision and hearing.
"Did God create it in precisely the way that I say he did, or is it all a big pile of meaningless chance?" That's a question that needs to be, as they say, ungrouped.
Right now, the battle seems to be between those who want the question "Did God do it? (yes)" in science classrooms and those who want the question "Did God do it? (no)" in science classrooms. Neither question has any more place in a science classroom than "Do you love me?"
One more question: Why is it that every time the folks with the telescopes and microscopes find out that this creation is even more amazing than we thought it was, the very ones who should rejoice the most would rather burn the house down than say "Wow?"
So. Are we all the product of chance, or of a great Spirit that is the Creator and sustainer of all things? Great question. Ask it in a metaphysics class, or Intro to Philosophy, and you open a fascinating and possibly enlightening debate. Ask it in biology, and you've asked the wrong question.
So. Did the world come about through this process or that process? Great question. Ask it in Astronomy or Life Sciences, and you'll get an answer that reflects our current thinking (which will be viewed as simplistic, or plain wrong, in 500 years). Ask it in your Religion class, and you're asking for bread to come out of a faucet.
Is it really that difficult to get? People who think that science and faith must be opposed and science wins, and people who think that science and faith must be opposed and faith wins, have a lot in common. They need each other desperately. And, unfortunately for all of us, they're dominating the conversation. Science and faith are no more necessarily opposed than vision and hearing.
"Did God create it in precisely the way that I say he did, or is it all a big pile of meaningless chance?" That's a question that needs to be, as they say, ungrouped.
Right now, the battle seems to be between those who want the question "Did God do it? (yes)" in science classrooms and those who want the question "Did God do it? (no)" in science classrooms. Neither question has any more place in a science classroom than "Do you love me?"
One more question: Why is it that every time the folks with the telescopes and microscopes find out that this creation is even more amazing than we thought it was, the very ones who should rejoice the most would rather burn the house down than say "Wow?"
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