Age of the Earth and Its Measures freethinker # 12

Gill Saheb, like most people on here, I always enjoy your articles. They are good read and informative. However, I disagree with your following comments

`` I also believe that science and religion can coexist peacefully as they are doing in the west. ``

I have following questions and comments

1. How did you arrive at that conclusion? In most of western europe, religion has been discarded to carry any meaningful weight in shaping society or governance. In the US, the Christian right has turned more dogmatic in fading hopes of resurrecting the lost glory. I seriously doubt organized religion can survive within rational and scientifically oriented societies. Benign spirituality might.

2. The key point of conflict between the two is quite simple. Religion professes absolute truth without any empirical evidence. The emphasis is on belief, which cannot be used as an argument in any rational discussion. It is as if saying, I believe the space is filled with invisible, undetectable potatoes. Science questions everything, and is not shy of negating its own theories if more credible conflicting evidence is presented. There’s no ego in science. I think this reflects a significant disparity of mindsets.

3. Using religion to justify science or vice-versa is also futile. If someone were to claim parallels between scientific theories and religious revelations, they hazard negation of the revelation as the old theories might be discarded in favor of new ones.

Regards