Science, Art, Litt, Science based Art & Science Communication

Science and religion share very, very little common ground

Q: Do science and religion share any common ground, or are they fundamentally incompatible?

Krishna:

Common ground, NO! The scientist in me is not comfortable with the idea that they do have one.

Let me explain why.

Those who say they do have common ground, give these interpretations:

Both endeavours seek to understand the nature of reality, the origin of the universe, and the place of human beings within it.

But to understand these things, you have to choose the best method that can be indisputable. You cannot imagine things, weave creative stories, get into delusions that they are right. If you cannot show evidence how can they be facts? That is what religion does.

For instance religion says that the Earth was brought into existence in a few days based on imagination and creative stories. But science proved this is wrong with evidence (1).

They try to comprehend things but in completely opposite ways. One way is right and the other way is wrong. Where is the common ground then?

2. While science provides the power to act, religion often provides the moral framework for how that power should be used, such as in medical ethics, environmental stewardship, and human rights.

Hmmm! Doesn’t science deal with morals and ethics? Read these articles (2,3).

On the other hand some interpretations of religious texts, such as the "curse of Ham," were used to justify slavery and colour-based hierarchies.

Religious racism is most commonly termed religious discrimination, religious bigotry, or religious intolerance. It involves prejudicial treatment or hatred against individuals based on their faith, practices, or religious identity, often overlapping with xenophobia. Specific forms include antisemitism, Islamophobia, anti-Christian sentiment, and anti-Hindu sentiment.

Science never supported racism.

Ill-treatment of women within various religions is often rooted in patriarchal interpretations of texts and traditions, leading to systemic inequality, violence, and the legitimization of male dominance. Common issues include forced marriage, sexual abuse, exclusion from leadership roles, and the justification of violence through religious doctrine (4).

Religion cannot say it can show the way to science when it itself cannot deal with moral values properly.

Unlike what several people think, science deals with moral ( derived from reasoning related to...empirical evidence) issues too and can be a good guide to life's journey through the checkerboard of blacks and whites! (5)

3. People also say that Science often relies on the philosophical, and sometimes religious, assumption that the universe is orderly, rational, and intelligible—an idea that arose from the belief in a rational creator.

Science never deals with the supernatural. It never endorsed the idea that the universe was generated by a creator.

Order and chaos coexist in the universe. “Order” describes lawful constraints, regularities, and emergent structures; “chaos” describes unpredictability, sensitivity, and randomness at particular scales or times.

According to mainstream science, the universe is not considered "intelligent" in the conscious or cognitive sense. While the universe demonstrates immense complexity, order, and "fine-tuning" that allows for life, most scientists view these features as emergent properties of physical laws and natural selection, rather than evidence of a purposeful or self-aware entity.

4. Some scholars, such as Ian Barbour, argue that both fields rely on models, metaphors, and conceptual frameworks to interpret experience, and both can be understood as pursuing truth through rigorous, though different methods.

Different methods but mutually exclusive. Models and metaphors of religion are again imaginative and are not based on evidence based truth but perceptions of creative minds.

The models of science are fact and evidence based.

5. Many thinkers, including biologist Francisco Ayala, view science and religion as two different windows through which to look at the same world—one revealing the physical processes and the other the meaning and purpose.

Wrong. Meaning and purpose are science’s domains too. Through science we help living beings - via, medical, agriculture, climate science and several other fields. In what way religion is helping in this physical world?

Yes, some religions promote science.

Buddhism: Often viewed as compatible with science, particularly regarding causality and the investigation of the mind, with the Dalai Lama noting that if scientific analysis demonstrates a Buddhist claim to be false, the claim must be abandoned.

Baháʼí Faith: A fundamental principle of this faith is the active harmony of science and religion, considering them necessary to avoid superstition and materialism

Hinduism: Often viewed by practitioners as overlapping with science, with many seeing ancient insights confirmed by modern scientific discoveries, such as in the use of natural materials.

People are killing in the name of religion and 'hurt sentiments'. Is that right? Should we keep quiet about it?

People are refusing to take vaccines and medicines in the name of religion harming others around them. Should we keep quiet and allow people to die?

As long as religion doesn't interfere with science and progress, we will let it do its work. But once it crosses the red lines, no, we cannot keep quiet even if it hurts another person's sentiments.

I think they share very, very little common ground. That is why so much bitterness exists between them. We tolerate religions because some individuals still need them. That is okay.

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