We are in the midst of a puzzling war that has been raging for centuries. Both sides claim to be absolutely right while discrediting the other, and the battle rages on multiple fronts despite the similarity between the two.
No, I'm not talking about the war on terror or Israel and Palestine. I'm talking about the needless conflict between science and religion.
The debate between the two sides revolves around differing views of the emergence of the universe and humanity. Modern science centers on the ideas of evolution and the Big Bang. Religion typically tells us that humanity and the universe were the creations of a heavenly entity.
The troubling thing is that the bickering between these two views is the result of a misunderstanding of their roles in our lives.
Science has given us answers without an intrinsic morality. It has given us a more systematic view of the world and indeed ourselves, but in doing so has reduced us to automata.
Science gives us "solutions" like, "Gentlemen prefer blondes because blondes have fairer skin, which shows disease more readily and is useful for screening potential mates."
We have been told that we are slaves to our genes or environments, no more special than a butterfly or a pile of excrement. Hence, we have borne generations of nihilists and a cynical, apathetic populace, losing ourselves in trivial mental masturbation to distract us from the growing meaninglessness in our lives.
Religion has given us a framework upon which to build our lives while declaring answers that are completely untrue.
The Mesopotamians asserted the world was a flat disk. The Greeks declared that the earth was the center of the universe. Judeo-Christian religion developed a monotheistic God, while decreeing that women are worth less than men in books like Leviticus and Timothy, which stated that women should never be in a position of power over a man.
They also seem to abhor rational thought, as biting a fruit from "The Tree of Knowledge" led to man's downfall from grace.
Choice interpretations have empowered zealots to mercilessly slaughter and subjugate others in crusades and witch trials, while imprisoning men of learning like Galileo.
Yet, even the most Luddite zealot relies on scientific observation and experimentation based on accumulated knowledge to make decisions such as what to eat, how to make materials necessary for daily life and so on.
On the other hand, science has given us some answers, but still relies on faith to explain everything. Astrophysicists can tell us all about the Big Bang but not why it happened or where the initial matter the entire mass of the universe came from.
They cannot tell us how to live, and the very fundamental concepts of science and mathematics rely on axioms.
According to a Rice University study conducted in 2005, about two-thirds of scientists have some kind of spiritual beliefs.
Indeed, the brightest scientists have seen the order and beauty of the machinery of the universe and realized that it all means something more.
Some seek to say that science and religion are incompatible, but this is not true. Each has its place in the grand scheme of things.
Religion gives us a reason; science makes us use our reason.
They have different uses. Science can't teach us morality, and religion can't teach us politics. The key is to understand they are both tools to help us understand the natural world, analogous to our senses.
If you only use one while ignoring the other, you are essentially denying yourself of the use of one of your fundamental physical senses, like to blinding or deafening yourself.
Willfully disabling yourself is both biologically unsound and disrespectful to the provider of the gift. As for the meaning of life - we'll get to that.
Reach the reporter at: nicholas.vaidyanathan@asu.edu.
