Science and Religion: Truth and Doubt | Henry Gee

… Science and Religion: Truth and Doubt | Henry Gee. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

The God-bothering superstitions which currently hold American science to ransom are, indeed, damaging, not just to science, but to the health and well-being of people around the world, not just in America.

Maybe that's the way it's made to appear abroad, but I don't see much of that from where I am, namely, here in the states. I wrote for years for The Inquirer's religion section (when it had one) and don't recall meeting any of the young earth people or anyone who thought the Bible was dictated by God. There are such people, but even believers see them as fringe types. More dangerous are the people who preach against vaccination and DDT, and they don't tend to base their objections on Bible texts. True, there is ID  theory, which sometimes raises some interesting questions, though it seems to be a category error from the start (confusing science with theology, or maybe it's the other way around). As for science being all about doubt and faith being about 'truth', well, I subscribe to Newman's definition of faith as being capable of bearing doubt. Religion is an attempt at getting at the mystery of life not, like science, by determining how things work, but seeing if things mean something personal.