The War between Science and Religion
“Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware, the nonexistence of Zeus of Thor – but they have few followers now.” Sir Arthur C. Clarke
In the beginning there was nothing: just darkness. Then out of nothing appeared everything. Then there were questions. Why are we? How are we? Why does the world and nature act as it does? What happens when we die? Religion answered these questions with make-believe stories of gods and goddesses and other ‘supernatural forces’ beyond human understanding. Science is able to explain these ‘supernatural forces’ with proof and evidence. Science and religion have always been at war. Science is based on observation and what we can explain using formulae and theorem. Religious arguments on the other hand, are questionable in nature and require faith. Battles have been won by both sides, but in the modern 21st century religions are slowly losing soldiers to fight for their beliefs. The Citizenship Survey, conducted in England and Wales has consistently shown - over the past 5 years – that the number of people who declare themselves as Christians has fallen by almost 10 percent. Whereas the percentage of those who say they have no religion increased from 15 percent to 21 percent. This shows that religion is increasingly …show more content…
Many non-religious people argue that morality does not need any foundation in religious belief. What is considered virtuous or sinful in many religions is purely what any human being – with good judgement – would consider being right or wrong. Morality in religion takes the guise of a reward system: do something good and you will be rewarded, do something bad and you will be punished. Even Socrates could find flaws in the religious occupied territory of morality. “Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt
“Science can destroy religion by ignoring it as well as disproving its tenets. No one ever demonstrated, so far as I am aware, the nonexistence of Zeus of Thor – but they have few followers now.” Sir Arthur C. Clarke
In the beginning there was nothing: just darkness. Then out of nothing appeared everything. Then there were questions. Why are we? How are we? Why does the world and nature act as it does? What happens when we die? Religion answered these questions with make-believe stories of gods and goddesses and other ‘supernatural forces’ beyond human understanding. Science is able to explain these ‘supernatural forces’ with proof and evidence. Science and religion have always been at war. Science is based on observation and what we can explain using formulae and theorem. Religious arguments on the other hand, are questionable in nature and require faith. Battles have been won by both sides, but in the modern 21st century religions are slowly losing soldiers to fight for their beliefs. The Citizenship Survey, conducted in England and Wales has consistently shown - over the past 5 years – that the number of people who declare themselves as Christians has fallen by almost 10 percent. Whereas the percentage of those who say they have no religion increased from 15 percent to 21 percent. This shows that religion is increasingly …show more content…
Many non-religious people argue that morality does not need any foundation in religious belief. What is considered virtuous or sinful in many religions is purely what any human being – with good judgement – would consider being right or wrong. Morality in religion takes the guise of a reward system: do something good and you will be rewarded, do something bad and you will be punished. Even Socrates could find flaws in the religious occupied territory of morality. “Power doesn’t corrupt people, people corrupt