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Religion

2007-01-01 10:14:00

In this world of science, of what real value is religion?

With science trying to replace religion, and more and more people trying to remove God from our lives, what value does religion provide today for the world as a whole?

There is no conflict between authentic science and authentic religion! This is because God the Creator is the source of truth and knowledge, and He is the author of true religion. True science helps us to better understand God in his marvelous works throughout the universe. True religion helps us understand and appreciate those works. Science and Religion are as sisters who respect each other's distinct properties and limitations. The apparent conflicts between religion and science are only that: apparent. When conflicts happen: either science has overstepped it's competence by attempting to pronounce on religion, OR religion is being misunderstood and abused beyond it's competence. A classic example of such conflict is the Galileo controversy. In the 16th and 17th centuries the great astronomer-scientist Galileo Galilei, by observation and reasoning argued that the planets revolve around the sun. This led him to support Copernicus' theory about the solar system. But Galileo came into conflict with the Catholic Church's Inquisition, which condemned him. (The pope of that time was a personal friend and admirer of Galileo, and so did not participate in the official condemnation.) The members of the Inquisition had read in the Old Testament book of Joshua (10:12-14) that on the day of a great military victory the jubilant leader of the Israelites, Joshua, spoke a song in which he told the sun to stand still and the moon to stop. The Bible relates that "the sun stood still and the moon did not move until the nation had conquered its enemies" (verse 13).Attributing to the biblical text a fundamentalist inerrancy even in scientific matters, those well-meaning-but-ignorant inquisitors considered the theory of Copernicus and Galileo to be contrary to the Bible. They were wrong in judging a true scientific discovery by the words of a poem or song found in the Bible, which is primarily a religious text. Joshua was simply describing the happiness of the occasion. As we know from personal experience, happy days seem to pass too quickly, and we wish they might be prolonged: "O would that this day might continue forever! O sun, stand still!" We continue to use the words "sunrise" and "sunset," although we know the sun neither rises nor sets, but rather it appears to do so by reason of the movement of the earth around the sun. (The late Pope John Paul II officially rejected that bad decision of the Inquisition, and rehabilitated Galileo.) But scientists also make mistakes by attempting to pronounce on matters of faith and religion. The brilliant physicist, Stephen Hawking has made a number of foolish statements regarding God and religion, thinking in his pride that science has the explanation for everything in the universe. By contrast, the greatest scientist of the last century, Albert Einstein humbly acknowledged God's role in the universe and the limitations of natural science, of which he became the master.Religion has helped science in situations where science is ignorant or unable to understand. Thus, it was by reading in the first books of the Bible, about tar pits and sulphur in various places of the Middle East, that early geologists learned to explore for oil. They did so with enormous success. Medical science and psychologists and psychiatrists cannot explain diabolical possession, and so must yield to religious authorities to cast-out devils. Three times, in the book of Psalms, we read: "The fool has said in his heart 'there is no God.'" Those persons, who attempt to remove God from our lives, are really fools. Consider the late unlamented Madilyn Murray O'Hare, a professed atheist, who attempted to remove any mention of God from our public schools and civic institutions. Eventually she was murdered for her money, while her impact on society is quickly fading. As St. Paul mentions in his 1st epistle to Timothy (6:6): "Religion brings great benefits to a person." But also it benefits society, as President George Washington observed in 1793, when he recommended to Congress that the churches and synagogues be exempted from paying taxes because they confer innumerable benefits on the common weal. Without the teachings and restraints of religion, society would be in constant danger of anarchy, and morality would collapse. Religion teaches respect for one's neighbor and the neighbor's property. Religion encourages people to help one another, even strangers, and to undertake those necessary works which the state is unable to provide. Religion helps to reconcile enemies, to rectify injuries, to restore order when such has collapsed, as well as to give comfort and consolation, at the important events of life and sickness and death. Religion affords joy to most people who participate in its rituals and celebrations. Without religion, civil society would soon degenerate into an "animal farm" ruled by beasts and thugs. Remember the Nazis under Hitler, Albania under Hohxa (when it was the first officially-declared atheist state), Russia and its satellites under Stalin, Cambodia under Pot Pol, etc. The devils attempted to remove all religion from the peoples ruled by those dictators, who succeeded only to destroy millions of their people and many beautiful traditions and cultures. In the end they destroyed themselves, leaving only ruins behind their cursed souls. Religion returned to those poor countries, and encouraged the survivors to forgive and to rebuild and recover whatever possible.