RELIGION and SCIENCE

Modern science had its origins in the late Middle Ages, especially
during the period called the Renaissance. Many of its discoveries
brought it into conflict with the traditional beliefs held by the
medieval church. The assertion by Galileo and others that the Earth
was not the center of the universe outraged many church leaders, and
Galileo was brought to trial for teaching unacceptable doctrines.

Conflicts between religion and science did not cease with the
Renaissance. Today there are many religious people who condemn all
teaching about the theory of evolution. They assert that the Biblical
account of creation is literally true; therefore, evolution is
unacceptable to them.

Opposition between religion and science arose from the mistaken notion
that religion could present its doctrines as undisputed knowledge that
would hold true for all time. The medieval church had incorporated
into its system of belief certain ancient scientific assertions about
the Earth and the heavens. As these assertions were slowly proved
false, the church reacted because it had used ancient science to
support its doctrine. In other words, it had attempted to use assumed
facts of science to support belief. It feared, consequently, that if
the facts were swept away, the belief would crumble. As it happened,
religious resistance to science alienated many educated people.

The church did not realize that real belief cannot be supported by
evidence from science. Nor can belief be undone by scientific
evidence. The sciences deal with what they can see, inspect, and
experiment with. They can make no valid statements about the existence
or nonexistence of a god, for instance, because such statements must
be made without any available evidence. On the other hand, religion
cannot pretend to invalidate the findings of scientists for fear that
belief will be challenged. If the objects of faith are true and the
objects of scientific discovery true as well, then the objects are
equally true and cannot contradict each other.

The uneasiness between science and religion has not been limited to Christianity. Marxist communism of the 20th century has become a kind
of religion. It has an all-embracing worldview, and it has a faith in
the historical process for which no evidence exists. During Joseph
Stalin's rule in the Soviet Union, scientific theories that seemed to contradict his version of Marxism were suppressed. Stalin's favorite
scientist was Trofim Lysenko, a biologist and agronomist who supported theories on heredity completely at variance with the genetic
principles developed by Gregor Mendel. Through Lysenko's influence
and under Stalin's insistence, all other approaches to biology
were outlawed. Some scientists who had previously taught Mendelian
genetics were forced to change their opinion and teach Lysenko's
version of biology.


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