The Mortal Dangers of Religious Faith

[Feed the Monkey]

I have faith in science. Don't get me wrong. I'm not arguing against science in the slightest. I'm not an ignorant religious follower who ignores fact. It has furthered our understanding of how the universe works. It scientifically proves things. But I have faith that a plane will fly due to the law of aero dynamics. I haven't studied aero dynamics. I haven't spent hours in a wind tunnel doing complicated calculations to understand why this happens. Someone has told me that this will happen and I beleive them. I see planes fly, therefore i have faith that when I get onto one it won't crash. I also have faith in the law of gravity. I have been told that mass produces gravity, hence why we don't float off into space, and why we orbit round the sun. i have not spent hours in a laboratory proving that two atoms will atrract one atom because it has more mass. Someone has told me that this is the case and I have faith that it is correct. There is evidence in each of the cases that has been carried out by scientists and I have faith in their discoveries.

I have also been told that mankind has a buddha nature, that we acheive anything we put our hands to and that mankind is intrinsically a wise, compassionate and courageous group of beings, but that we have to strive hard to get to this level. The way we judge any faith is in it's proof. There are three forms of proof. A: Theoretical proof, whereby a theory is expounded and explained thoroughly. B: Documentary proof, wherby the theory is backed up by other sources. C: Actual proof, wherby we see the signs of theory and documentary proof in front of our eyes. If any faith lacks any of the three forms of proof then it is unbalanced. my faith in science has all three. My faith in my religion has all three. I've had prayers come true. I've challenged myself to become a happier better person. I don't think religion in our current age should try and answer scientific questions. It may have done this when people of the age needed myth to live by. It is now no longer the case and we have excellent scientists to answer those questions for us. But science doesn't teach us how to be happy in our daily lives, and how to interact with one another to acheive a better way of life for all people. Science also tends to lead towards a very materialisitc way of viewing things, which if this carries over into our real lives, means that we shall only live materialistically, which i think is a shallow way to think. science teaches us about the world around us, religion deals with the self.

And fox by faith i do mean confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. That is entirely what I mean by faith. I have evidnece in my life for me to continue to have faith in my religion. I have evidence in my life to continue to beleive in science.

You also say: "into the ability of science to provide answers for all our questions"

ALL of our questions? A scientist may be able to say why someone is dead, but never why they are alive. They can explain how a sperm meets an egg. But never why. And again, why do human beings suffer? If there is a scientific answer to this question I would love to hear it. And again, how can human beings become happy? Again, no scientific answer. One can say, "happiness is due to the amount of endorphins in the brain" but this is the effect not the cause of happiness surely?

Anyway, I feel privelaged because my faith walks hand in hand with science and we greet each new discovery that benefits mankind with open arms. however, I beleive that it is just another form of faith. To quote einstein:

"Science without religion is base.
religion without science is base."

I do not believe that science and religion should be two opposing forces. That applies to both sides.