Re: Rant: Big Bang theory 'ridiculous'

Science works just fine without religion. Science has no place in
religion and religion has no place in science. They are activities of a
totally different character and they have nothing to do eith each other.
Science is about the material world and how it works. Religion is about
???. Nothing that makes too much sense. Science is based on fact as it
becomes know through the senses with and without the aid of instruments.
Religion is about hopes and beliefs that have no empirical basis
whatsoever.

Manny Feld


Wow. Where to begin?

First of all, if you disagree with the QUOTE I gave you, then your
disagreement is with Albert Einstein, and not with me. I simply happen
to agree with the greatest physicist of our time that science and
religion are not incompatible.

And secondly, your description of religion is completely fallacious.
Religion is much, much more than "nothing that makes too much sense."
By that vague description, I suppose you are referring to "faith."
FAITH is a belief in something in the absence of material evidence.
However, there is much more to religion than faith. Religion has
history (which is often accurately documented or verified by
archaeological evidence) and long-standing traditions. People who
follow a particular religion use these to help solidify their faith.

For example, as a Christian, I understand that there will never be any
material evidence indicating that Christ rose from the dead. However,
there is historical and archaeological evidence that backs up and
verifies other parts of the Bible, in addition to long-standing
tradition within the Church itself. These types of things make faith a
lot easier.

In short, I think your post short-changed religion.

Now, I have a question about this statement you made: "Science is based
on fact as it
becomes know through the senses with and without the aid of
instruments."

REALLY? You probably should re-think this. In the field of
microbiology, there are scientists who are actively trying to determine
the "origin of life." At this point, we are still far, far away from
discovering how inanimate chemicals gave rise to self-replicating
molecules, and more importantly, to cellular life. (The Miller-Urey
experiment is a start, but it gets nowhere near the point of explaining
how cellular life arose. In addition, we've never been able to create
life "de novo" in the laboratory, either.) But most scientists believe
that "somehow, it happened." That sounds an awful lot to me like
faith--a belief in something without material evidence. Wouldn't you
agree?

Also, in the field of particle physics, String Theory has taken center
stage. However, if you watch the NOVA Series titled "The Elegant
Universe," you'll discover that there is actually NO physical evidence
for this theory. At this point, String Theory is purely mathematical,
as there is not yet an experiment that has been designed that can test
String Theory. So, obviously, without material evidence, physicists
who are staking their careers on String Theory are exhibiting quite a
bit of faith, if you ask me.

In summary, "faith" is seen in both science and religion. If you're
going to try to shoot down religion because it's about "nothing that
makes too much sense," I'm afraid your argument is going to fall flat
on its face every time.

--Alex

************************
Alex B. Berezow, Grad Student
Dept. of Microbiology
University of Washington School of Medicine
Seattle, WA 98195

.

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