Why science has nothing to say about religion and vice versa

[cheyanne]

There seems to be some idea floating around that religion and science are talking the same language . . .but they're not. They are self-contained belief systems based on totally different modes of thought.

Take the word "belief"

science: an idea based on repeatable physical or theoretical experiments using the scientific method

religion: an idea based on the revelations of or inspired by a supernatural being known as "god"

or the word "how"

science: an explanation of the process by which something happen

religion: an explanation of why something happens

Both religion and science may stray from such strict definitions of these words.

A scientist may say that because he doesn't need the concept of god to explain the universe, there is no such thing.

Or a religionist may say that because science doesn't include a god, it cannot be true.


Science has never proven a religion wrong . . . to any believer . . .

So what do we do about religions that deny science?

Not much. Fundamentalism arises in times of change. People who have lost their livelihoods, their homeland, their hope for the future will turn to the nearest theory that provides them with a defense to change: the ideal past. And the more change there is the more defensive the religions become.

But the past never returns. An idea never dies but the support for it will dwindle until the next paradigm shift.