rigorousintuition.ca

Posted: **Tue Jan 03, 2006 2:23 pm**

Science must destroy religion Our fear of provoking religious hatred has rendered us incapable of criticising ideas that are now patently absurd and increasingly maladaptive. It has also obliged us to lie to ourselves about the compatibility between religious faith and scientific rationality. In the spirit of religious tolerance, most scientists keep silent when they should be blasting the hideous fantasies of a prior age with all the facts at their disposal. Sam Harris, University of California, Los Angeles BUT>>>>> Science encourages religion in the long run (and vice versa) Ever since Edward Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, scientists and secularly-minded scholars have been predicting the ultimate demise of religion. But, if anything, religious fervour is increasing across the world. An underlying reason is that science treats humans and intentions only as incidental elements in the universe, whereas for religion they are central. Science is not well-suited to deal with people's existential anxieties, including death, deception, loneliness or longing for love or justice. It cannot tell us what we ought to do, only what we can do. Religion thrives because it addresses people's deepest emotional yearnings. Scott Atran, Anthropologist, University of Michigan <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/01/03/wedge03.xml&sSheet=/portal/2006/01/03/ixportal.html">www.telegraph.co.uk/news/...ortal.html</a>