Well, I got a little sleep and even if my body is not much better for it, my mind clicked back on and Im studying the Question of Science vs. Religion - currently being raised across Wyoming because of the legislature and Matt Mead sticking their heads in the sand over accepting Science money in Wyoming while accepting money from a major enemy of the Public Good instead - big Pharma is coming to Wyoming and Leland Christensens hint to me several months ago is quite well remembered at this terminus. He asked me if Id buy a Marijuana Pill instead of smoking it. The question makes a lot of sense now huh? I like to have an open discussion of what science and religion have to do with picking our next Legislators. Now, I didnt draw this line in the sand. Several incidences in the course of the Cindy Hill Debacle have prompted this debate. Cindy Hill has a religious agenda as do most all of the Tea Party Republicans in this state. Hill and several others want Creationism to be taught along with science in Wyoming classrooms. Meads statement about not accepting grant monies has spurred me to make an effort to have an open dialogue about what this thinking means for the future of Wyoming. I for one think that science and religion have insights and information to offer one another and that a worldview that includes a scientific methodology to explore the unscientific realms of spirituality are not dissonant. They can and should compliment and support one another, in my view. But Im interested in your view -and in exploding the myths that keep people from accepting that science and scientific methodology will only support truth - where ever that path leads us and that only faith in the path will see us through. Science and Religion Visitors to the David H. Koch Hall of Human Origins bring with them many assumptions about science, about religion, and about their relationship. These assumptions may impact, positively or negatively, their willingness and ability to engage the scientific presentation of human origins. The questions below are offered as a guide to begin thinking about science and religion in the context of the possible interactions of religious worldviews with a scientific account of human evolution and origins. 1. What is science? Science is a way to understand nature by developing explanations for the structures, processes and history of nature that can be tested by observations in laboratories or in the field. Sometimes such observations are direct, like measuring the chemical composition of a rock. Other times these observations are indirect, like determining the presence of an exoplanet through the wobble of its host star. An explanation of some aspect of nature that has been well supported by such observations is a theory. Well-substantiated theories are the foundations of human understanding of nature. The pursuit of such understanding is science. 2. What is religion? Religion, or more appropriately religions, are cultural phenomena comprised of social institutions, traditions of practice, literatures, sacred texts and stories, and sacred places that identify and convey an understanding of ultimate meaning. Religions are very diverse. While it is common for religions to identify the ultimate with a deity (like the western monotheisms – Judaism, Christianity, Islam) or deities, not all do. There are non-theistic religions, like Buddhism. humanorigins.si.edu/about/bsic/science-religion-evolution-creationism-primer
Posted on: Mon, 10 Mar 2014 05:02:05 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015