Religion? Science? Why not both?

G'day,
I was waddling down the street the other day back toward my work ute, when I ran into a nice lady, who was full of compliments about my Handyman business and writing career. She may have been interested because my ute looks like this:

Ahhh, pretty... Ehm, anyway, after complimenting me, which was nice, she then proceeded to invite me to the church that she was going to, located in an office building several metres down the road. I was on my way home at the time, so politely declined. However, I think she must have got the wrong idea, because she started trying to promote the Church and word of God right there on the street. She pointed out that my book was science fiction, and proceeded to tell me that science had it all wrong, the evolution from monkeys theory was poppycock and that my relationship with Jesus was all that mattered. Like, whoa ma'am, slow down.

Before continuing here, please allow me to outlay my own personal beliefs in a brief, hopefully non-offending way. Out the outset, I consider myself a science-minded person, but with an open awareness of things not yet explained by that science. I consider myself a spiritual person, NOT religious. And yes, there is a distinction. Being "spiritual", as I understand it means that you have a personal awareness and belief in a higher consciousness above oneself. Being in a religion means that there is a man-made and controlled institution relaying the rules of that belief, and giving guidance and community connection that aids a person in that faith. Nothing wrong with religion, per-say, it's just not for me. I have no interest in being "guided" by anyone, which is simply a quirk of my own personality. I don't drink, smoke or take drugs, the only woman I sleep with is my wife and I treat my fellow man/woman with respect, honour and equality. I don't need guidance to do any of that; it comes natural. :-) I place absolutely NO judgement on any religion, nor the people that follow them. In fact, when one ignores the continuous list of religious wars over the last 3000 years and considers that one primary role of religion throughout human history has been to keep developing societies on the straight and narrow as we grew, learned and expanded, it really has the capacity to do some good.

Now that's cleared up, back to the point. So when this nice lady was giving me the religious sales pitch, I politely held back all that I had to say, and simply left without giving away anything but an awkward smile. But afterward, it got me thinking. People like her are often so eager to berate the image of science because of its supposedly anti-God stance. Very true; science often does seem to disprove the majority of bible. However this is mostly just by accident, through the results that they acquire from their experiments and observations. While there are specific scientists we could mention that go out of their way to carp on religion (cough... splutter.... Dawkins... achoo!), I really don't think that science as a whole is out to prove there is no God. The role of science is simply to discover the world around us through practical application of proposed theories. No sinister plots there. I'm sorry if I sound mean when I say it, but the ignorance of this particular lady when it comes to such things like science showed up badly. And that's fine. I mean, I'm ignorant when it comes to flying a plane, so put me in a cockpit and I'm a-gonna crash! But the thing is, because I know I'm ignorant when it comes to flying that plane, you would not catch me in that cockpit. I stick to, and make judgements on, only the things I know about. Telling me outright, with no conversational back up that "science is pure nonsense, never amounted to anything substantial. God is the only REAL thing in this world, and your relationship with Him is the only thing that matters", is not accurate, informed or even slightly convincing. God, or your particular religion's version of Him, has never been proved, or disproved, by anyone. Not by me, her, you, that lady's pastor, the pope or ANY OTHER HUMAN BEING on this planet. No one can really argue with that. So, correct me if I'm wrong, but that makes not one person here an expert on the matter. In fact, the only fella that is an expert on whether God exists, is God Himself. Anyone got His phone number? I've got free minutes; I'll give Him call and ask.

The only reason that anyone is in a religion is that they believe God exists. That word - believe - means that you have faith that something is, even in the absence of proof. By that very definition, that particular lady had no authority to say those things, no more than I have any authority to tell her that God doesn't exist, (which if you've been paying attention you'll know I don't feel that way. I'm easy either way) The about section of my personal facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/damienlmalcolm/about ) in the "Basic Information" section, pretty much sums up what I feel this whole thing. I've quoted the first part of it below:

"We are all interconnected and a part of this universe."

Does that not say it all? Isn't that the basic sum of the everything we have - and continue to - learn from science, as well as the teachings of every single religion? I know that is the main thing Jesus taught in his time on this world, as well as Budda and every other religious icon I could name. It's kind of simple, when you think about it, while at the same time being rather incredibly incomprehensible. Science tells us that the very atoms that make up our bodies, and everything around us, came from the heart of a star that died billions of years ago. We're all made of stardust. Romantic, no? Every religion has it's own story regarding our creation, but in a way they all boil down to a similar starting point. Heck, we'll never really know; nobody can ever go there to see for themselves. (Dr Who, where are you? We need to borrow the TARDIS for a mo, please.)

Though, if you will allow me just a little judgement, I think people that still believe the bible calculations - that this world and its people having only been around for 6000 years or so - are sadly still choosing blind faith over asking questions and learning new things. Faith is good; Blind faith is not. Does anyone honestly believe that massive natural structures like the Grand Canyon could really have been just conjured up in a few thousand years? Or fossils, have we got carbon and radio dating all wrong? Did dinosaurs walk the Earth only a few hundred years ago and we just missed it? Or maybe, it's all a hoax. I've actually had this exact discussion with a devout religious person before, and when he was unable to marry the facts, he simply fell back on old faithful: God works in mysterious ways. Sound familiar? That's because it's the Human way of ending an argument when no logical explanation is achievable. It's like when you tell your child off, they answer back and say "why", and you've got no real reason so you just come back with "because I said so". It's simply a cop out because we don't know. Compared to any higher power, be it God, a name-less ethereal presence or ancient planet-seeding aliens, we are too simple-minded to comprehend it. But one thing has been proven without a doubt: this world and the things on it are real, as is it's apparent age. That's true whether you or I believe it. The Earth has a history that stretches far back before the human race ever existed, or if you will, plonked here by God, and will continue on long after we are gone and have taken all our religious beliefs with it. Sorry everyone, but we are simply not that special.

So, getting back a bit, if we're really all made from the same stuff, and linked somehow because of it, why do we need to dwell on our differences? Why does science and religion have to be mutually exclusive? Crickey, why do religions have to be mutually exclusive from each other?! That lady that started my rant here was inviting me to a small pup-church. One that's been started up by a pastor and a few volunteers that doesn't have its own place of worship, so they hire out an office building on Sundays. Nothing really wrong with that, except that it's only one of at least four or five of those exact same things that have popped up in my small town over recent years. Why on Earth would Christianity need so many off-shoots from within itself on one tiny area? Are they not all praising the same Lord, pretty much the same way? If religion is supposed to be such a communal thing, why would they have such a desire to be separate? Maybe that is just the nature of the Human race nowadays, as we all continue to drift apart. Who knows? But, I do ask the question. Because if no one asks the question, we'll never get the answers. You're born asking questions; why should it ever stop?

I finish this long monologue by saying openly that I am sorry if I offended in any way with what I've said. If I have, that was never my intention. I simply try to look at and analyse life through a wide angle lens, which I feel would be a good thing for everyone to do. It generates respect for others and their beliefs, allowing you more patience and tolerance; two things this world as a whole is lacking, big time. They say in an interview, it's the first thirty seconds that sets the interviewer's opinion of you. Well, I don't know about you, but who I am as a person covers a whole lot more than you're going to see in thirty seconds. Look at me though a wide-angle lens and you see a whole different picture. It's the same for that person that you have five seconds of eye-contact with at the traffic lights tomorrow on your way to work, for that family member lying in bed asleep beside you, and your boss who's been more cranky than usual this week. Everyone has more to themselves than you see in your first thirty seconds. We all have our ups and downs, and our moments, but through all of that I will always strive to use that wide-lens and ask more questions. It's the least I can do. Can you?

Hey and by the way, it doesn't have to be a monologue; we can have a dialogue. I welcome comments, and feel free to ask questions or put forward you own opinion. Just please don't be offensive.

Thanks for reading,
Till next time,
-Damien