One of the best examples that explain why science and religion are two incompatible doctrines, is doubt. In science and scientific progress, doubt has an essential role, it is a value, a necessity, a basic foundation, that without it science cannot advance. When a scientist conducts an experiment and gets results, the first thing he / she must do is to question these results, to repeat the experiment, to try and refute their own conclusions. Maybe a factor that was not considered before created a bias? Maybe the initial data was biased? Perhaps there is another explanation for the results? These and many more questions are constantly being asked by the scientist, as well as by his peers that judge the scientific work. In fact, in order to publish a scientific paper, the manuscript must go through a process of peer review, in which the reviewers, who are experts in the field of the study, try to doubt everything in the manuscript; from the initial hypothesis and data collection, to the methods, the results and the conclusions. This is their job - to doubt. And even when they all agree that the results are valid and accept the conclusion, it must be always kept in mind that yet, there could be an alternative explanation.
Therefore, a scientist does not “believe” in something, he “accepts” it, always keeping in mind that there might be an alternative explanation. Sometimes the evidence is so overwhelming that the chances that there is another explanation are very close to zero, but it is always there, doubt.
In religion, it is exactly the opposite. Doubt is not encouraged, and whenever doubt comes to one’s mind, it should be suppressed. Actually, the opposite of belief is doubt. If you doubt, you don’t believe. If you doubt God, you don’t believe in God. Therefore, this very basic human behavior of doubting is highly discouraged by religious leaders, religious parents, religious schools etc.
I urge you – doubt. Study, explore, don’t just take what you have been told for granted. There are millions of Christians convinced that their religion and their god are true, and everything else is not, they don’t doubt it for a minute. There are millions of Muslims who think exactly the same, without doubting it even a bit. The religious Jews are convinced that they are the chosen people and that their religion, and nothing else, is true, without a doubt. From those who believe in black magic in Africa to the Hindu, everyone puts aside their doubt when it comes to their religion. Again, because doubt is the opposite of belief, doubt is the greatest enemy of religion.
source: http://www.facebook.com/ScienceXReligion
Therefore, a scientist does not “believe” in something, he “accepts” it, always keeping in mind that there might be an alternative explanation. Sometimes the evidence is so overwhelming that the chances that there is another explanation are very close to zero, but it is always there, doubt.
In religion, it is exactly the opposite. Doubt is not encouraged, and whenever doubt comes to one’s mind, it should be suppressed. Actually, the opposite of belief is doubt. If you doubt, you don’t believe. If you doubt God, you don’t believe in God. Therefore, this very basic human behavior of doubting is highly discouraged by religious leaders, religious parents, religious schools etc.
I urge you – doubt. Study, explore, don’t just take what you have been told for granted. There are millions of Christians convinced that their religion and their god are true, and everything else is not, they don’t doubt it for a minute. There are millions of Muslims who think exactly the same, without doubting it even a bit. The religious Jews are convinced that they are the chosen people and that their religion, and nothing else, is true, without a doubt. From those who believe in black magic in Africa to the Hindu, everyone puts aside their doubt when it comes to their religion. Again, because doubt is the opposite of belief, doubt is the greatest enemy of religion.
source: http://www.facebook.com/ScienceXReligion
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