Do science and religion conflict?

MarkD

MarkD

Keeper of the Hounds & Garden
Location
San Francisco Bay Area
That is what this quiz is exploring but I think it is making some very Christian centric assumptions about religion, specifically assumptions common amongst US Protestant denominations since Darwin

https://www.sciencereligioncompass.org/

I found it hard to understand many of the questions. But my online Christian friends had no trouble and seem to have found it interesting.
 

I took the survey but didn’t deliberate long over it, and was rated slightly to the right of center towards scientism. I don’t think that science and religion are necessarily mutually exclusive, think that science can only take you so far, and that religion has some value…
 
IMO religion is too broad a term to be useful in answering the question.

Religion can mean doctrines and belief systems or it can mean personal faith and philosophy of life. It can also mean both simultaneously.

Science can be assumed to be a body or bodies of knowledge or it can be about how knowledge is sought through observation, experimentation and peer review. It has nothing to say on existential questions of morality and living a good life.

IMO it is possible to be a person of faith yet appreciate the scientific method, and vice versa.
 
I took it, but as with all simplistic surveys on complex questions I wasn't happy with all the choices. But in the end it probably wasn't too far wrong...

As to the question "Do science and religion conflict?" my answer is sometimes. When religion interferes with scientific progress its a conflict. Has happened and continues to, though I think less so today. Science and religion are two fundamentally different things. One is about observation, testing, and trying to figure out how the world works. The other is accepting belief based on history or other non-measurable things.

My result"

“ Science is true, but religion has some value ”​

For you, science is the only (or main) way to the truth and religion is only really a cultural phenomenon, so the two can get on just fine. But you’re likely to add an important caveat to this: the two can get on just as long as religion doesn’t try and make any truth claims and sticks to what it does best – building community and helping others. When it comes to the job of understanding reality, it has nothing important to contribute. If you’re here, your temperature is probably a bit cool.
 
hearlady said:
I think science and creationism will come together eventually and it will blow science' mind!
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My online Christian friends accept evolution entirely and stilll have a very strong faith. None think the Bible is inerrant or an appropriate source for science. I respect them very much for this but am greatly relieved that my agnosticism requires far less mental gymnastics.
 
Alligatorob said:
For you, science is the only (or main) way to the truth and religion is only really a cultural phenomenon, so the two can get on just fine. But you’re likely to add an important caveat to this: the two can get on just as long as religion doesn’t try and make any truth claims and sticks to what it does best – building community and helping others. When it comes to the job of understanding reality, it has nothing important to contribute. If you’re here, your temperature is probably a bit cool.
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For what is quantifiable and testable, science is the best way to go. For the truth in regard to how to live a human life, it is far from best and a poor fit - just as religion is a lousy fit if you’re planning for a trip to the moon and back.
 
Depending upon the religion in question, some instructions are literal, and depending upon the religion in question, some are metaphorical.
 
Warrigal said:
IMO it is possible to be a person of faith yet appreciate the scientific method, and vice versa.
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I agree with you. Why not?

It is only when religion is assumed to involve supernatural agency which has and can again bend reality at will that there appears to be a conflict. The best Christians will concede that their faith is not about factual claims but rather about living in relation to something greater which they understand through Christian iconography and narrative.
 
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This is what happens when you post something between first and second sleep and don’t check for a while. But I think I still need to top off with more z’s.
 
feywon said:
This is the case wih many quizzes, polls and survey-- they don't leave room exceptions, individual circumstances--'ifs/ands/buts'.
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Exactly! Nonetheless after walking away without finishing it twice I finally found a way to justify an answer to each question. My placement on their graph is here:

1670512210337.jpeg
And they describe my profile this way .. which is largely accurate:

If you find yourself here, you probably don’t think a lot about this, or indeed, care very much about this whole debate. As far as you are concerned, religion is a cultural thing and there are different ways of finding out about reality, not just science. Frankly, you can’t see what the fuss is all about. Why can’t people just live and let live? People here often have a tepid temperature on the science and religion thermometer, because they are not overly fussed about the whole debate.
 
Nemo2 said:
Depending upon the religion in question, some instructions are literal, and depending upon the religion in question, some are metaphorical.
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I find the answers vary between denominations and even between the members of the same church. It also seems to depend on the audience and the setting.
 
MarkD said:
Exactly! Nonetheless after walking away without finishing it twice I finally found a way to justify an answer to each question. My placement on their graph is here:

View attachment 254659
And they describe my profile this way .. which is largely accurate:

If you find yourself here, you probably don’t think a lot about this, or indeed, care very much about this whole debate. As far as you are concerned, religion is a cultural thing and there are different ways of finding out about reality, not just science. Frankly, you can’t see what the fuss is all about. Why can’t people just live and let live? People here often have a tepid temperature on the science and religion thermometer, because they are not overly fussed about the whole debate.
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It appears that I'm a little 'lower', and to the right, of you on the Pluralism scale, but basically of similar mindset.
 
With science, anyone in East Nowhere can perform experiments to prove conclusions. With religion, someone in East Nowhere cannot know of a religion, unless schooled in that religion. The point is, with science, knowledge is provable as fact. With religion, previous knowledge is taken as fact. With religion, there can be some "magical/spiritual" aspects, which defy the laws of science. With science, there is no defying the laws of science.
 

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