Science
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Science and technology are morally neutral, and as such cannot held up as religions. When I say morally neutral, I mean that its neither intrinsically good or bad. Much good can come out of science and technology, but great evil can be perpetuated using technological means. For example, nuclear energy harnessed for peaceful purposes can do great good, but in weaponized versions, it can lead to great destruction.
Science is our best attempt at explaining the natural world around us. As a practical matter, it is impossible to understand how everything in the universe works. Indeed, the more we discover, the more we realize how little we know!!! Many who deny the existence of God place enormous faith (ironically enough) in an enormously imperfect and incomplete knowledge of science. Just some examples:
1. Science cannot truly understand gravity. I recall that Einstein died while trying to find a "Unified Field Theory" and how it related to the Theory of Relativity. From at least a metaphysical standpoint, we have yet to gain a firm grasp of these dynamics. Now since gravity is such an important subject within the field of physics, and since physics is important for understanding the creation of the universe, why wager one's soul on an incomplete or poorly understood subject?
2. Science has no answers for the big existential and philosophical questions. For example, why am I experiencing my life in my body at this very point in time and not someone else's life in another body and another time? What determined that I should be me or that you should be you? What's the point of origin?
3. Why would evolution conduce to the development through "natural selection" of creatures that requires an ever intelligent conscious mind in order to function? That these biological functions should have greater metaphysical goals should give pause to those who seek to separate God from science and the processes of nature.
Science cannot act as the arbiter of moral action. How can one conceive of morality if we are all developed from the same origins and in the same manner as animals? Without God as an absolute setter of moral standards, morality becomes subjective rather than objective. It can be defined along national, ethnic or even personal lines. A thief might argue that in his eyes his desire to steal others rightful possessions is natural and therefore lawful, or a nation might argue that it is good and right to murder a large number of its citizens through a massive eugenics program. An absence of God tends to lead to moral chaos, nihilism and spiritual vacuum--all of which is the opposite of an ordered universe with easily definable criteria--everything which science seeks to explain! That in the final analysis is the end of any postmodern philosophical system.
The biggest mistake people make is separating science from God. Science is our best attempt at understand how the universe works--how its all orchestrated. Certainly we should endeavor to discover the big questions, but we must also remember that our understanding of scientific processes is fragmented, speculative, and disjointed. These are man-made theories that many times are just stab in the dark attempts at understanding processes that might be too difficult to grasp. A clear headed observation of nature reveals that there is a larger Mind at work.
