Are Science and Religion Compatible over the question of how the universe began?
Are Science and Religion Compatible over the
Question of how the Universe Began?
Science and religion have disagreed for centuries over the question of how the universe began. Science and religion can theoretically coincide – literally that they can exist together – if the people allow them to by support of their theories; however the two views contradict each other to an extent that they cannot both be viable.
Much of science and religion are based on human interpretation: whatever science proves needs to be accepted by the public, and whatever religions preach needs too to be believed and accepted by the people. The Abrahamic idea of God (for the sake of this argument, a part of religion) and scientific theory can seem to disprove each other (God too is a theory): the Big Bang theory clearly disproves the Creation Story, and intelligent design in nature can be understood to disprove the theory that there is no God. However, both of these examples, similar to many others, are theories, based on human perception and interpretation. Science and religion contradicting each other can make them incompatible over the question of how the universe began, but people need to accept both to enable the two views to exist together. It is possible that the views of science and religion are compatible over the question in that they can work ‘side-by-side’; although it has here been disproved that they can agree over the question of how the universe began. However, generally arguments between religion and science, and between religions, within human society, are not peaceful conflicts, and this does not change with the question of how the universe began. Hostility within religious, philosophical and scientific arguments has been eminent since religious, philosophical and scientific theories came into contact. Rivalry between Jews and Muslims has occurred in the Middle East for centuries, and many religions attack aspects of science such as birth control worldwide. The argument that human nature prevents or stems compatibility between science and religion over the question of how the universe began is a rather inept one, being biased in that it studies in the main the criticisms of human society, but it holds a factual basis that the same society which created the relevant scientific and religious theories cause them not to coexist peacefully.
