Science and Religion (Part 1)
Could life have evolved by accident? Are we alone in the
universe? These are the questions which have pounded the
consciousness of individuals. Plus this no less persistent
question: What is the purpose of life? Dinosaurs have come and
gone. Modern man—Homo sapiens—has landed on the
moon. Satellites map our solar system. New planets are being
discovered on a regular basis. New theories proposed. Old ones
discredited. Genetics, a new field of study—though not so
new—ready to re-invent this singular species: mankind. Men
of science and of faith are no further apart as a test tube from
a pulpit.
If life had evolved by chance, if there be no primal force, a
conjugator, a God, Is there a necessity for atheism? Matthew
Arnold, a nineteenth century Victorian poet, once defined
religion as "morality touched with sentiments." In the twentieth
century, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics put forward and
practiced the idea of a godless state—atheism has always
been on a par with socialism.
A United States scientist in the same century once showed
Congress pictures, which he proves revealed evidence of advanced
glass structures, which had previously existed on the moon. This
raises the unanswered question: Who then built the assumed
structures? A lost race?
Science and religion do not see eye to eye. Though my sympathy
lies with science, I do not feel indifferent towards religion.
There is an ancient urge in man to believe. Belief varies in
degrees. While some cling whole heartedly to their beliefs,
others to their unbelief. Why do we believe? I would say,
because we do not want to live in doubt. Descartes, the
philosopher in his famous postulate declares "I exist therefore
I am"—a testament of undoubt in his own existence. Science
disparages the idea of an external entity controlling the
affairs of man. Certain religions discourage the idea of men
becoming gods. Crossroads?
Cardinal John Henry Newman in his age wrote "Apologia Pro Vita
Sau" an autobiography hailed as the loveliest of all spiritual
autobiographies ever written in the English language of a man
seeking religious affinity. Newman was just one of many seeking
the elements of truth. The ancient Greek philosophers have
always pondered over that word, truth. A test of faith, a
quality which refuses to be measured. That which transcends
logic and analysis.
A show of faith has always been one venerable aspect of
religion, and to great extents part of science. It takes more
faith to accept that which is "humanly incomprehensible." Like
the Big Bang theory, and the so many yet unproven postulations
of the traditional sciences.
The human mind has always been one given to logic and reason; it
quests into the dark and attempts to relate these phenomena of
existence into that which can be grasped by the senses. And out
of beliefs or something close to "racial memory" comes myths and
legends, which have governed the lives of men from time
immemorial.
>From Aristotle to modern thinkers like Locke, the fundamentals
of human life was got from observation and deep introspection.
Hence grew the science of observation and thought—the
pseudo science, philosophy, a discipline in which thought turns
upon itself like a gyre.
Out of this broad spectrum journeys forth, the religious and the
scientific philosopher in a bid to see reason in an existence of
chaos. A cosmos of order stands as an archetype from which
assumptions can be drawn or discarded when current fashions
change, for that which is more socially "up-beat." But there is
this search for stability, found in the Microsystems of life.
Religion has offered the lamp; science the spark. And with these
we must now inquire.
Val .K. is a poet, and a nature lover. A collection of his poems
"Without a Name" will soon be published by AuthorHouse, U.S.A.
For personal contact, send mails to:
leviathandepthsreturns@yahoo.com