Is science the anti-Christ?

Question

Nice tirade, Duck. I agree with you but it only really applies to the US, Islam and other religiously fanatic countries.

Answer 1

No... to the contrary... religion is anti knowledge and reason... but it's kind of a one-sided conflict. Essentially, it's a turf war... and on one side (science), you've got some guy who is strolling through his yard, looking up at the sky, oblivious... and he accidentally kicks over an ant hill (religion) that he's not even aware of. On the other side (religion), you've got the ants scurrying about, trying to put their ant-hill back together again... and trying to figure out a way to destroy the big dumbass (science) who messed up their place... and the poor guy STILL doesn't realize that he screwed up their ant hill... and probably wouldn't care, even if he DID know.

From the perspective of science, the origin of the universe ranks as an interesting physics problem. Science essentially is oblivious to god... to religion... to the idea of 'creation'... and rightfully so. Science is essentially a set of meta-procedures that provides us with a disciplined way to look 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. When Napoleon asked Laplace why he did not mention god in his book about astronomy, he replied: "Sire, I have no need of that hypothesis."

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'... also known as the 'Divine Fallacy'... goes something like this: "I can't understand (or imagine) how that might have come to be; therefore, God did it." Then there's the 'God of the Gaps' 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 knowledge and reason... and the preoccupied scientists, for the most part, don't even know 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, 'knowledge' is the mortal enemy... and because science is a primary source of knowledge, it has become the primary target. Science takes away the earth being the center of the universe, and the focus and purpose of all creation... the god of the gaps gets 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 is caused by germs, not demons. Ouch. Planets aren't wandering stars... they are bodies that orbit the sun. Whap. Stars aren't little lights that God placed upon the firmament (the solid barrier between heaven and earth... i.e., the sky) to give us a way to prognosticate... they are actually suns, like our own, only very, very far away. God of the Gaps gets kicked right in the nuts... although not before Giordanno Bruno gets burned at the stake for daring to suggest this. 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... or like a cockroach, revealed by the kitchen light. 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, anyway... and feeds 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 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 pseudo-science, 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.
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Answer 2

Science is a product of human that tries to explain how things work in nature, while the scientist and/or believer can be Anti-Christ/(s). In reality is just so common that those who are fanatics will reject, hate, and counter the counterpart/(s).

Answer 3

I am convinced that stupid people in large groups will destroy our species, probably under the guise of some religious or political theory.


Science is the tool that helped humans prevent polio and cure the black death. Without science we'd be fossils.

Answer 4

When Paul briefly discusses the Antichrist, he quickly says, that ALREADY (ie in the 1st century) many antichrists have come. So "the" antichrist is simply the last in a series, leading up to the big cheese. And they all reflect the qualities of Satan, death-dealing, lying, cheating, destructiveness, deceitfulness, disrespect for God and man.

Answer 5

Some Christians seem to give that message (especially about evolution), but if Christianity is the truth, why would it deny the truth of the natural world?

Answer 6

I think that Science seems to play a large role in our lives by surveys and statistics.

Not all science is bad though.

Answer 7

no, the anti-christ will act as a savior

according to the new testament he will be of middle easter decent and be a devout beleiver/follower of god

Answer 8

Dennis,
Science is backed up by our FATHER in the BIBLE. The many people who want to bring TRASH into science and say that it is science are the ones who are not right. I believe in GOD and in HIS SON who died so that we might live. Have a wonderful week.
Thanks,
Eds


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Answer 9

Yes. The more and more we learn about the world (aka science) the less and less people believe in religion.

Answer 10

No but hopefully it will eventually put an end to this silly christ nonsense.