Why is science so open-minded and religion so close-minded?

Question

Could it be because religeon requres 'faith', while science requires proof?

Answer 1

Well, the simple truth is that some people have to be told how to live their lives. That's what I think religion does.
It's a control thing. I have a hard time sitting in a church for an hour to have someone judge me and tell me that the only way for me to have eternal life is to give him my money, my time and pretty much my life... I'd rather live it my own way and take my chances on the hereafter.
If people really wanted to follow Christ, they would live like he did. Obviously they don't. Have you ever seen a barefoot preacher? Or one who gives up all his earthly possessions to help others? To travel around talking about love and understanding?
No, what you see is preachers driving cadillacs and mercedes and living in huge houses.... etc...etc... etc...
You want proof? I visited a church once with my 7 year old daughter. She went to sunday school and I went to the church. When we got home she showed me an envelope her sunday school teacher had given her. She said, Mom, they told me I need to tithe my allowance to them!!!! Needless to say, I never took her back to that church! I have also been in a church that has the children walk around the church and gather dollar bills that the parishoners are holding out to them. It disgusted me to see this kind of lesson taught to little children!

As for science, it is simply the study of the earth and the things in it and how they work. Yes, it is full of theories, but at least these theories can be proven. I find comfort in that.

Answer 2

At it's fundamental core, quite the oposite is true.

Most religious belief systems allow for both natual and super-natural causes for situations and objects. For example, few religious people would have any problem with the idea that it rains because heat from the sun causes water evaporate, where it condeses in the atmosphere and falls back to the earth. At the same time, they have no problem with the idea that some things are explainable by super-natural causes, such as God or Karma.

Science, on the other hand, is based solely on natural explainations. Science automaticaly rejects all possible supernatural explainations based on the proposition that only those propositions that can be proven are viable solutions. This proposition, however, cannot be proven. This proposition is simply accepted as is and cannot be placed under scrutiny by real scientific thinkers.

There is also the issue of diversity. While there are a number of theories in science, the actual diversity of ideas and thoughts in the scientific field are very limited. If a person does not subscribe to one off a couple of theories within each area of science, they are considered to be lunatics or pseudo-scientists.

Religion, on the other hand, has a great deal of diversity. Within the Christian religion alone there are over a million sects. Each sect has it's own theories about many different aspects of the universe and the nature of man. This, however, does not give juystice to the true diversity within this single religion. Each person within these sects are usualy not required to adhear to every tenant of that sect. Add the diversity of all the worlds religions, and the diversity of ideas becomes difficult to fathom.

If science was truely more open minded, then wouldn't it be more diverse?

Answer 3

That pretty much sums it up.

Science is about observable phenomena, and using our observations to make conclusions to predict the activity of the universe. Religion tries to do this, but generally is way less effective.

Science isn't as open minded as we'd like to think. Science fiction is called that, despite that fundamentally it's simply a series of theories about technologies that will be availible in the future. Those things that have not yet been determined viable are considered laughable, and progress is largely only taken seriously if it's only baby steps above what we currently have.

Even science doesn't require "proof." That's what theories are about: they don't require proof, just a hell of a lot of evidence and consistency. The "theory" of gravity is there because we don't have proof that every single time you drop the apple, it'll go towards the earth. We just know that every time we've tried it has, and we can measure that there is a force, and as long as that force is there, the apple will fall. But we create some assumptions by doing that, and those assumptions are what make the evidence only enough to support the theory, rather than prove it. That's what it means to be a theory: it's unproven. Of course, sceintific theory is supposed to be able to be proven WRONG so if you have a theory that can't possibly be proven wrong, it's not scientific. That's sort of what religion is: things that don't allow proof that they're wrong. Though even that being said, some religion does allow some level of proof that it's wrong, but... well I seem to have gone on a rant.

Religion usually doesn't "evolve." It's stationary. Science is constantly changing, because we're learning things. Religion tends to refuse to allow anything new to be learned... but once again, science only allows baby steps, so they're not as differnet as you might think.

Answer 4

Have you opened a biology book?

There isn't a single word in there that refers to or makes reference to God.........

In fact, new research is been found on the assumptions that are made in science and taken for as "facts" yet any science book, even the new editions don't even take into account this.

Next, finding a relationship with God through Jesus Christ is no religion. It's a fact. Hopefully, some day you will feel it. It's not something that intelligence can comprehend; only the heart.

Good luck with your "faith"

By the way, I know you are not going to like my response because it doesn't align with your understanding and proof.

Answer 5

Not all religions are close minded. Some religions believe equally in science and religion.

Even religion requires proof. THat is why the newer religions have always called other religions paganistic because the monothiest religions of islam and christianity are born out of one male person and because they are recent, have enough proof of the origins.

In hinduism, astrology plays an important part which is scientific calculations of anyone's birth. So both science and religion play equally important parts in hinduism.

Answer 6

I think it depends on the religion. Pracitioners of my religion usually are very open minded when it comes to things. I think that many practitioners of other religions, such as Catholicism, are told what they can and can't believe. And if its wrong they are going to burn.

That'd scare some people into closed mindedness.

Or if you have to hear how your religion is the only way every week- that works like an affirmation... hear it enough and it will integrate into your brain...

BOOM! Closed mindedness.

With science, we keep discovering new things. And we keep trying to learn more and experience new things. And some religions don't really encourage that all that much. :(

Answer 7

there are only so many htings one can learn religiously speaking, but in science the limits dont exist. u cant ever know anything so u have to be on the lookout for new things, plus people can provide things that change ur opinion easily with the help of experiments, but in religion its pretty hard to change an opinion. so yeah ur right, because religion requires faith and science requires "proof"

Answer 8

Who created 'Science' & 'Religion'???

Its simple, both were created by GOD alone. Then why do we have conflicts between them?

Remember, GOD almighty knows the past, present and the future, therefore Science and religion cant conflict each other Provided the religion is exactly what GOD asked us to follow.

Faith is just not "Blind following". Faith is affirmation of the heart which is confirmed by science and logic. The real problem is that people have followed material GODs and material religions that have made them astray and therefore we have conflict between religion and science.

Check Islam, it is 100% compatible with established scientific facts.

Know more:

Watch the presentations on www.harunyahya.com
Watch the video "Quran and the Bible in the light of science"
on this link http://www.irf.net/irf/videogallery/index.htm

Answer 9

Because religion is based on Faith. And it's hard to change someone's faith. Science is based on observations. This means that noone jumps to conclusion until proof or atleast very convincing evidence are given.

Answer 10

Nekro I love that documentery btw

I agree with that question, science is open minded, it's because science is always willing to learn something new and abandon those theories that were untrue.

Religion is if you don't follow the bibel or whatever then you're going to hell, no if ands or buts about it.

I remember I had a friend and I wasn't aloud to his birthday party because I wasn't a part of his religon, and he started to loath my family because of that. Ahh well, happy with science, it's proof, not faith. And also christianity is WAY sexist, it makes me mad.