What incentive does science have to deny or destroy the idea of god?

Question

The idea of a loving god out there to help us is a very comforting and positive message. However the evidence for such a being simply does not exist. Science is an empirical field. Since the evidence is not there scientists have no reason to believe that a god exists.

Many people believe that science is out to get god. They feel that science is the enemy because it doesn't acknowlege the existence of god. What reason would they have to do this? If a god were found the results could only be positive. Think of all the avenues of research it would open up... All of the ready funding, the billions of dollars tied up in the church and religious groups just waiting to be spent to discover the true nature of god.

If science really had an agenda apart from trying to discover the truths of the universe, don't you think that the smart move would be to side with theology?

Do you still think science is out to "get god?"

Curious:
Don't believe your romanticized version of science... There is no "fame and fortune" to be found in the field of scientific inquiry in reality.

Koko:
The only "doubts" in evolution as a process are created by those who have a misunderstanding of the principles involved. There are few to none who have examined the evidence and can still doubt that evolution is occurning.

Answer 1

Well, science essentially is oblivious to god... and rightfully so. Science is looking for natural explanations for natural things. The presumption of science is that everything that can exist and anything that can occur in the universe is, by definition, natural... even if we cannot presently understand it or explain it. Again, this is as it should be.

Religion doesn't see it that way, though:

* At the bleeding edge of science, at the point where it REALLY starts to get interesting, SCIENCE says: "We don't know... OK, boys... let's roll up our sleeves, dig in and find out."

* At the bleeding edge of science, at the point where it REALLY starts to get interesting, RELIGION (imagine South Park - Officer Barbrady) says: "That's too complicated. God did it. Move along. Nothing to see here. Everybody go home now."

Religion exists in a strange netherworld between two logical fallacies (flaws in thinking)... the 'Argument From Incredulity' ("I can't understand how that might have come to be; therefore, God did it.") and the 'God of the Gaps' fallacy, also known as the 'Divine Fallacy'. The God of the Gaps lives at the bleeding edge of science... and religionists view the advances of science as an encroachment into their territory. They are at war, fighting a rear-guard action against the advance of scientists... and the preoccupied scientists, for the most part, don't even KNOW that they're in a fight.

Science doesn't attack god. That is true from the perspective of science... as I said, science is oblivious to god... he/she/it is simply out of scope. From the standpoint of the religiose, though, science is the mortal enemy. First they took away the earth being the center of the universe, and the focus and purpose of all creation... the god of the gaps got his butt whipped. Next thing you know, lightening is just an electrical discharge... not a manifestation of the wrath of god. The god of the gaps got his butt kicked again. Disease caused by germs, not demons. Ouch. Planets aren't wandering stars... they are bodies that orbit the sun. Whap. Stars aren't little lights placed on the firmament (the solid barrier between heaven and earth... i.e., the sky)... they are actually suns, like our own, unimaginably far away. God of the Gaps gets kicked right in the balls. And on, and on, and on. The God of the Gaps has NEVER won a fight with science... NOT ONCE. Every time there is a scrimmage between science and the God of the Gaps, another gap gets filled up with knowledge, and the God of the Gaps slinks away, with his tail between his legs. Earth isn't 6,000 years old... it's 4.5 BILLION years old. G of G gets kicked in the nuts again. And on and on... and on.

Well, they're tired of getting kicked in the nuts... so, they've changed tactics. Rather than fighting the battle on the basis of knowledge and evidence, they fight it on the basis of lies and misdirection. Science won't engage them... heck... it won't even acknowledge them. So, rather than engaging science, they just appeal to their constituency, which is scientifically ignorant for the most part, and feed them a bunch of plausible sounding pseudo-scientific lies. Take 'Intelligent Design'. The strategy is not to argue this on a scientific basis... it is to "Teach the controversy"... except in the scientific community, THERE IS NO CONTROVERSY. But their dumbass constituency doesn't go to the scientific community for their scientific information... no... they go to the people they TRUST... their SPIRITUAL LEADERS... and they get fed pseudoscience, misrepresentations and lies.

Willful ignorance, lies and delusions are winning. Science is losing. The God of the Gaps, FINALLY, is holding the line against knowledge, reason and critical thought.

So, while it is true that science doesn't attack god, that doesn't really matter... because as long as they PERCEIVE science (in general) to be an attack on god, we're going to be in an ongoing fight. At some point, in the near future, we need to wake up and realize that, or we're going to end up back in the Dark Ages.

Answer 2

Science has an "agenda" to find the truth. So far,nothing points to "goddidit"as the truth. It is not biased "against"god. simply no evidence for it. I've often wondered why people think science is about disproving god. Science only seeks true answers,sorry god doesn't quite meet the criteria. But personally,I would love a discovery to come about that proved a worldwide flood,that creationism is true,heaven exists,leprechauns,unicorns. Evidence is neutral,none of it points to god. Not because I don't WANT it too. It just doesn't point to anything other than a naturalistic universe. Would be awesome if science got knocked down to it's very foundations by a discovery. So far,hasn't happened,that's all. No agenda "against god"

Answer 3

"Do you still think science is out to 'get god?'"
No, but I do think some (not all) scientists have a philosophical bias against believing in God or anything non-physical. As long as they can convince themselves that there is no God, then there is no need to try to conform one's self to His standards. I don't think most of them do so deliberately or with malice aforethought, but the vehemence with which some of them do it makes one wonder if they can consider the question objectively.

"However the evidence for such a being simply does not exist.... Since the evidence is not there scientists have no reason to believe that a god exists."
Can there not be other types of evidence other than scientific, such as philosophical? Not necessarily proof, but perhaps evidence?

"They feel that science is the enemy because it doesn't acknowlege the existence of god.... If a god were found the results could only be positive."
Nonsense. Science can only test that which is physical, and God is spirit, so it is beyonds science's means to acknowledge the existence of God. It would be like trying to find light in a sensory deprivation tank.

Answer 4

Thanks for sharing your viewpoint. It's a refreshing change of view.

However, I have to go back to my same argument here. Humans are demanding that God fits into their nice neat box of empirical science and the rules in order for people to believe. In contrast, Christianity is at the opposite end of the spectrum and the first step to finding God is faith, or the lack of evidence.

Do I have scientific proof? No, but do I know that God exists? Yes, because he demonstrates that he is real every day to me.

Answer 5

I don't think science is out to "get God", true science can only work with what can be seen or measured or evaluated through experimentation. None of that can apply to a metaphysical being or idea.

Answer 6

Religious people might project their attitude on scientists, but god is not part of science, and so is functionally irrelevant. There is no attempt to disprove either god or santa claus.

Answer 7

science looks for the truth and the truth is that god is a man made concept to control people and that proves the is no god

Answer 8

Science denies the value what is morally good it prefers truth.

God is not scientifiaclly verifiable but so what - Its a lack of faith that destroying religion not an abundance of truth.

Good is however the loser here. The Good is more important than me more important than you, more important than Gods and religions and it's more improtant than the truth!

Answer 9

I believe science does not. Science just proves things that are there. (or not)

I do believe that people that believe in Darwin and ect. BELIEVE that their belief is the Only True Science.

That's where we run into problems.

There is as many doubts in Darwin's THEORY as there is in the Christians THEORY.

What's funny is that Christians call it Faith in their belief
Darwinist calls their True Science. (Which is really not but they have Faith in what has not been found yet)

Answer 10

Science's goal is to procure government grants. Face the truth.