• Question: do you think science has a place in religion or not?

    Asked by to Thon, Catherine, James, Natalie, Shaylon on 13 Jun 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Catherine Offord

      Catherine Offord answered on 13 Jun 2014:

      That’s a very interesting question and I don’t think that there is a ‘right’ or a ‘wrong’ answer to it. Religion and science deal with different parts of the human experience, and so I think that they certainly don’t need to be in conflict with each other. Science works by asking questions about the world and then doing experiments to answer those questions. Religion is based partly on faith, so many ideas in religion cannot be ‘tested’ in the way that scientific ideas can. For that reason, I don’t think it is very helpful to try to answer religious questions scientifically – or the other way around, for that matter!

    • Photo: James Bell

      James Bell answered on 13 Jun 2014:

      That’s a really tough question and a lot of people feel really strongly about it. Some religious beliefs definitely do conflict with scientific ideas (like how the universe began for example) but my personal experience is that they are quite separate.

      I’m a scientist, but I’m also a christian. For me, being a good christian is more about how you behave and how you treat other people than answering questions about where the universe came from and how it works. There’s lots we can learn about life from science and from religion.

    • Photo: Shaylon Stolk

      Shaylon Stolk answered on 14 Jun 2014:

      I don’t know there’s a ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ answer on this. But as a person of faith I do think that faith and scientific investigation share some common themes. To be a good scientist you need a sense of wonder and a deep understanding that the world is so much bigger than what we already know. However, because many important parts of religion rely on faith– either you believe or you don’t– it’s not something you can really investigate with science.

    • Photo: Natalie Pilakouta

      Natalie Pilakouta answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      My humble and honest opinion is that no, science does not have a place in religion. I think those are two separate things and should be treated as such.

      This opinion is based on my personal experiences as a scientist who is also religious. Unfortunately, in the scientific community (and especially if you are in the field of ecology/evolutionary biology), scientists look down on others who are religious. Basically, they think you are less of a scientist if they find out you are religious (because you believe in something that can’t be ‘tested’ or ‘proven’).

      In some cases, this discrimination can create an environment where scientists who are religious either hide it or lie about it if asked directly. I have certainly done so in the past. However, I really don’t think that being religious compromises my scientific abilities in any way. Again, this is just my experience, and other people have probably had different experiences!

    • Photo: Anthony Caravaggi

      Anthony Caravaggi answered on 17 Jun 2014:

      I find it interesting that you’ve asked whether science has a place in religion, rather than the other way around, which is the usual question.

      Does science have a place in religion? Absolutely. Science has, and continues to correct many things which religions thought were absolutely true. Take for example the idea that the sun rotates around the Earth, or that the all life on Earth was created as-is. These claims have been directly contradicted and corrected by scientific evidence. The adoption of evidence-based facts in place of religious statements like the examples above shows that science can have a very integral part to play in religion and how the religions and their followers describe the world.

      The same is true of science too, of course. Scientists have, and will continue to be wrong about a great many things. But religion does not correct science; the way we do science, what we call the ‘scientific method’ means that science corrects itself, as well as correcting religion.

      I should note that I am not at all religious myself, but I have no problem with scientists who are.

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