[Neo]

Just for fun allow me to summarize the Religion v Science debate.


Originally, religion told us the Bible was the literal truth and that we were at the center of the universe. The first two humans, Adam and Eve, were materialized out of thin air.

Then came Galileo who theorized that the sun was at the center of the solar system, and the earth revolved around it. Oops! Bad choice. The church quickly put him to death.

After the evidence finally became too great the church caved and said "okay okay, earth isn't at the center. But God still created man and the stars are tiny lights hanging from the ceiling of heaven." Of course they eventually lost the star debate as well.

Then came evolution which the church also denounced. But eventually after overwhelming evidence they said "okay okay, evolution exists but it was guided by God." Okay....

Then came near death experiences. Finally! Evidence of the afterlife! Ah but then scientists were able to reproduce this effect in the lab, showing it to be biological in origin. "okay okay", said the church, "maybe it's not a mystical experience. Though what you've found is simply the the physical mechanism though which God works." Wholly unecessary, but whatever...

Then the church said "many people can FEEL God inside them, we know God exists because we can tell the spirit is in us." Oops, wrong again. Turns out those are hormones. New studies show that a person's tendency to be religious is linked to a certain area of the brain. The more developed is this area of the brain, the more likely the person is to have a sense of a higher power or a belief in a supreme being. It's a survival characteristic. "Okay okay" says the church, "maybe it's not the spirit in us. But it is the physical mechanism that God uses to let us know his presence."

Do you see a pattern here? Religion has been on a constant retreat from science and will continue to be in the future. The fact is that science doesn't need God to explain the existence of this universe or anything in it. There are even theories about why there is something (anything at all) rather than nothing. No they are not complete, but they give a glimpse into the kind of understanding that is possible through science (specifically physics). God is continually being pushed to the side and is becoming less and less necessary for explaining this world.

I maintain that if you put a universe with God (as the Christians personify him) next to a universe without God, you would not be able to tell the difference between the two.

Now before you label me as an atheist or an agnostic, know that I'm not saying God does not exist (I have my own beliefs in this area). I actually hope that a personal God does exist. Afterall who wouldn't want that? Nobody wants to die. We all want to live forever and be reunited with our loved ones. Unfortunately wishing for something doesn't make it so, and we must guard against our desire to believe in something just because it is comforting to us. I am desperately looking for a way to make it true.