Where did I come from, Where am I going?

To begin to form the important relationship between science and religion, each must be defined. The definition of science is easily and predominantly agreed upon, that is, it is gaining knowledge of the laws which govern our universe, and it relies heavily on logic. Religion on the other hand presents something much more difficult to define, the dispute lies within organized religion rather than personal faith or belief in a supernatural being. For it is not so much someone who has faith or belief in a God than it is organized religion that disagrees with science. This is easily understandable because someone who is free from ties with a large religious organization is much more able to freely and open mindedly decide upon their beliefs. Where as if an entire organization based around a belief system is introduced to something that conflicts what they have taught, and believed for generations, will find it much harder to adapt to this new way of thinking. This is visible in the way fundamentalist Christian organizations completely disregard scientific evidence creating an obvious disagreement with science. Once again though, the evolution of thought will strike fundamentalist organizations and more will turn to personal faith or more accepting religions. This is obvious already, as the U.S.A which has one of the highest Christian populations witnessed a decrease in Church numbers of almost 10 percent from 1990-2001. () When organized religion is taken out of the equation, the question of where did we come from and where are we going can take a more constructive approach between science and religion.

Neither science nor religion have succeeded in providing an answer to the all important question. Science tries to answer the how questions, right back to how the earth was created, and religion tries to answer the question of why. Therefore doesn’t it seem obvious if the two are to work together then the best answer at this stage could be found? Albert Einstein a theoretical physicist once wrote, “Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind”. This quote sums up the fact that science and religion are both incomplete answers on their own.

Philosophers have also played an important part in trying to understand the meaning of life yet, although they have come up with some interesting theories, this path has produced about as many answers as science or religion. Philosophers are more commonly able to give a more balanced argument as they will not necessarily be biased toward one argument. David Hume was a   and  he produced an argument against the designer theory, which many believe he killed for good. His argument consisted of several points such, “If a well-ordered natural world requires a special designer, then God's mind (being so well-ordered) also requires a special designer. And then this designer would likewise need a designer, and so on ad infinitum. We could respond by resting content with an inexplicably self-ordered divine mind; but then why not rest content with an inexplicably self-ordered natural world?” David Hume. Although this argument appears logical it simply responds to an opinion with another opinion.

Where did I come from where am I going? It seems the more we ask ourselves the further we are from an answer. Religion isn’t set in stone like it was many years ago, we can’t even clearly define what religion is anymore. Science has provided us with some answers, but has provided us with even more questions. Many philosophers have offered alternative theories but until we learn more about science and religion it will simply stay a theory. The truth is there is no answer to the big question yet. Humanity needs to become more open minded and optimistic and hopefully in time the answer will become more clear.

Bibliography

A.Einstein, Ideas and Opinions, pp.41 – 49, New York, 1939

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Internet source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creationism,