Few religious folks consider the reason that faith is required and that faith is a serious matter. Few religious folks understand the importance attached to NOT eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge. Religious leaders do not want a skeptical, inquisitive flock because they are too difficult to manage. Is religion and their required method of knowing the anti-science?
2007-07-23 18:32:13 · 9 answers · asked by valcus43 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Bingo! Faith is the ultimate evil: it is the deliberate rejection of the essence of one's humanity -- the ability to apply logic to evidence and reach reasoned conclusions.
2007-07-23 18:35:50 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. First of all, there was no "tree of knowledge." That is a myth used to demonize Christianity as anti-intellectual. It was actually the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, and as such represented moral conscience, not scientific knowledge. Was it faith or reason that prompted you to miss that one?
Second, faith (pistis) does not mean 'blind faith,' or belief apart from reason or evidence. The word 'faith' simply means "belief," and can refer to belief backed by reason and evidence, or belief based on simple, blind acceptance.
Third, who are these 'religious leaders' of which you speak? Most Protestant congregations are almost congregational, and rarely (if ever) emphasize dogmatic orthodoxy. The lack of enforced dogma is one of the crises of the modern Church - there are books published on it every week. If dogmatic orthodoxy was so important to these 'religious leaders' of yours, then why are there over 35,000 different (independent) denominations of Christianity? If anything, the Christian religion encourages subjectivity and even outright dissent. Why do you see so much in-fighting between Christians, even those of the same denomination? It certainly has nothing to do with religious leaders enforcing dogma!
Fourth, Christianity is not anti-science. Less than 5% of the Christian population receives all the press. The majority of Christians actually believe in (gasp) evolution, and almost all Christian seminaries feature courses in redaction criticism and textual criticism. Redaction criticism is the theory that the Bible was written by human beings to meet the needs of specific communities, and textual criticism maintains that the original manuscripts were modified by generations of scribes in order to shape the course of modern theology. All of the attacks against inerrency by the academic communities are funded by Christians and taught even in conservative Christian seminaries. I am a divinity student in one of the most conservative Catholic universities in the country, and guess what? The first day of class they refuted the idea that the Bible is inerrant, that it was somehow dictated by God, and that it contains factual historical accuracy. Roman Catholic schools teach evolution, and theistic evolution is official Roman Catholic dogma.
2007-07-24 01:50:41 · answer #2 · answered by NONAME 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
"Is religion and their required method of knowing the anti-science?"
I think you are right on this point, so long as we all realize that faith alone is not actually a notion of christendom. There is some faith which is highly proper, such as faith in a mate or in your personal decision making.
2007-07-24 01:37:24 · answer #3 · answered by Edhelosa 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Faith does not neccesarily clash with science. MOST people in America believe in both a higher power AND the teaching of modern science. It is only the loud, vocal, religious fanatics who would have you think otherwise.
2007-07-24 01:38:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
You shoulden't generalize all religion with Christianity.
In Islam we are supposed to qusetion things and look for the truth, There is no science the contradicts with the Qur'an. Actually its quite the oppisite- scince helps us prove that the Qur'an is from Allah. We are also told not to have blind faith as we should be able to explain the things we belive.
Peace
2007-07-24 01:37:43 · answer #5 · answered by Abdullah 1 · 1⤊ 1⤋
They turn a blind eye that would shake the foundations of what they believe. Such stories like Noahs Ark, Moses parting the Red sea ect. are along the lines of most kid tales. It's astounding that people actually "believe" it happened.
2007-07-24 01:36:24 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some of my religious friends say that science is God's tool, and science can show you how vast and amazing God is.
2007-07-24 01:35:52 · answer #7 · answered by Charlie 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Theology is a science. Not too many atheists accept it as such.
2007-07-24 01:39:30 · answer #8 · answered by Shinigami 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Logic, My anti-Christ.
2007-07-24 01:37:56 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋