Religion
Related: About this forumHow can a scientist believe in God?
Are religion and science always at odds? Here are three scientists that don't think soSource: ABC News, by Anna Salleh
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Some argue that being religious is incompatible with being a scientist but do they realize the father of the Big Bang theory was actually a Catholic priest, the pioneer of modern genetics was an Augustinian monk, or the decoder of the human genome converted from atheism to Christianity in his 20s?
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Dr. Jennifer Wiseman: A Christian astrophysicist.
"When I talk to people I find that most people really realise that there are deeper questions of life that science can't fully address, and they don't really see why there should be any conflict."
Dr. Andrew Harman: A Buddhist immunologist
"The Buddha was very clear that you follow a system of practice and only when you've experienced those things for yourself is your faith then justified because it's a faith that is based on experience."
Fahad Ali: A Muslim geneticist
"I think it's a testament to God more than anything that we can bring about all life on earth from a single origin."
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Read it all at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-05-24/three-scientists-talk-about-how-their-faith-fits-with-their-work/9543772
Over 50 per cent of US scientists surveyed in 2009 said they believed in a deity or higher power.
HopeAgain
(4,407 posts)was first theorized by Georges Lemaitre, a Belgian priest.
Mariana
(14,849 posts)Who argues that being religious is incompatible with being a scientist?
ollie10
(2,091 posts)It is an argument I have heard several times
Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)in this forum, where somebody thinks that opinions about belief systems are about the people who hold those beliefs.
But perhaps you can provide a link to a comment here that states that being a scientist is incompatible with being religious.
ollie10
(2,091 posts)Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)And I did not misrepresent your claim, but if you think I did please restate it.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)There are no links to straw people.
ollie10
(2,091 posts)Just re-read your previous statement.
Nah, nevermind. Forget it. You obviously don't know whst you said
Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)ollie10
(2,091 posts)Wow.
Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)What I said is. So go right ahead and tell me.
ollie10
(2,091 posts)With your superior skills
Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)Quite a trap you set for yourself there.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)Perhaps you meant some other post.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)It is not a long thread.
Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)Science is incompatible with religion
Those words do not mean a scientist cannot be religious.
ollie10
(2,091 posts)Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)The claim was made by you that people here have repeatedly stated the scientists cannot be religious, as per the topic of the op. When asked for substantiation you came up with nothing, and somebody else posted the above nonsense, which is about the incompatibility of science and religion, but does not make any claim about scientists not being religious.
But perhaps you can provide a link to a comment here that states that being a scientist is incompatible with being religious.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Truly, I do.
Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)People hold incompatible beliefs. This is not even slightly controversial, it is common knowledge.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)So the statement "Science and religion are incompatible" is not essentially the same as a statement that "a scientist cannot be religious".
Glad we agree on that.
NRaleighLiberal
(59,940 posts)I try to be in a perpetual state of learning. Our world humbles me - looking into a dark sky at night, the amazing variety of birds, the wonder of a great relationship - I don't need to have firm answers - life is a journey of learning, adjusting, evolving.
LakeArenal
(28,728 posts)aka-chmeee
(1,129 posts)Mariana
(14,849 posts)Little children are told over and over and over again, by adults who love them and protect them and whom they trust, that this deity is real, and that it wants them to do these things, and that something very bad will happen to them if they don't believe all this. Kids are told this before they even understand what the words mean. They may receive strong disapproval and even punishment for asking awkward questions or expressing incredulity. Of course some of them are never going to question it seriously when they grow up.
aka-chmeee
(1,129 posts)especially when the Sunday school teachers would ridicule the beliefs of other the other cults and thought how odd it was that they could make those outrageous statements about what other religions believed but still expect me to accept without question the nonsense they were teaching.
This was in the early 60's and I kept going through high school; it was just what was expected...was even in the choir (but to be fair, in that time and place, it was the only way a guy could get out of the house on a school night! Choir practice took a lot less time than I was away)
As soon as I left home, I left the church as well. Been very happy with that choice ever since.
Nitram
(22,671 posts)Non-religious people can find religion later in life. It's not always due to brain-washing. It can also be due to life experiences. Check out the life story of the French mathematician Pascal.
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)that (almost) every adult Christian is a mindless brainwashed automaton.
Of course, it's pointless to dispute a belief. We know what we know.
edhopper
(33,205 posts)yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)edhopper
(33,205 posts)" (almost) every adult Christian is a mindless brainwashed automaton. "
Is a Strawman.
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)Nice try, but I'm done.
Nitram
(22,671 posts)"It's usually the result of intense indoctrination in early childhood."
Your hasty judgement is indeed a good example of a strawman argument. Do you interpret Mariana's words differently?
edhopper
(33,205 posts)"Who argues that being religious is incompatible with being a scientist?"
indoctrination is vastly different than
" (almost) every adult Christian is a mindless brainwashed automaton. "
And given her paragraph long explanation of her view, I can't characterize what dawg said any other way but a strawman.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)I'll wait here, at least for a few minutes.
Nitram
(22,671 posts)Mariana (6,899 posts)
7. It's usually the result of intense indoctrination in early childhood.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)She could have been talking about anything. Please, at least try.
edhopper
(33,205 posts)Little children are told over and over and over again, by adults who love them and protect them and whom they trust, that this deity is real, and that it wants them to do these things, and that something very bad will happen to them if they don't believe all this. Kids are told this before they even understand what the words mean. They may receive strong disapproval and even punishment for asking awkward questions or expressing incredulity. Of course some of them are never going to question it seriously when they grow up.
But this is characterized as saying almost all believers are mindless automatons.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)It doesn't even begin to answer my question, nor to be an example of what the other person said. It's just another attempt at diversion from people who haven't a freaking clue.
Mariana
(14,849 posts)They can hardly pretend that those things don't happen, because they do, and everyone knows it. A lot of us have experienced it first-hand.
edhopper
(33,205 posts)(almost) all believers are mindless automatons.
Which is how they characterize your statement.
Mariana
(14,849 posts)Anything, I guess, to avoid actually discussing the content of a post.
Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)in his posts? That poster?
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)Please, please don't tell me you find them annoying!
Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)At least we agree on that.
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)Not the same wording, however... .
yallerdawg
(16,104 posts)If you're patient, you'll soon be able to 'copy and paste' your replies!
Mariana
(14,849 posts)"Usually" means "not always".
The fact is, childhood indoctrination is very effective and it works most of the time. Most people raised as Christians remain Christian, most people raised as Hindus remain Hindu, etc. etc. etc. Relatively few of them will convert to a completely different religion, or to give up religion altogether. A Christian might switch to a different denomination, but is unlikely to give up Christianity.
Nitram
(22,671 posts)Perhaps you missed the word in parentheses: "almost." "Usually" and "almost always" are synonyms. And I personally know quite a few people who have left Christianity for Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, and Judaism. It is not as unusual as you seem to assume.
edhopper
(33,205 posts)almost always implies most, I'd infer it to mean at least 95% of the time, maybe 99%. It just leaves room for some exceptions.
He didn't say some, he didn't say a few, he actually said all and then put in a parenthetical (almost).
And that isn't even the bigger sin, it is how he (and you) misstate what Mariana said.
Nitram
(22,671 posts)Mariana
(14,849 posts)Most people who are religious were raised that way. There are exceptions. I never said or implied otherwise.
MineralMan
(146,192 posts)Who said that wasn't true? Other scientists do not.
Many religionists reject science. Most do not.
There are no absolutes.
edhopper
(33,205 posts)"God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance"
So they must place their belief within that pocket.
Though outside their area of study, they can believe what they want without it interfering with there work.
But of course the question would be what they actually believe.
An absent creator is vastly different than the literal God of the Bible, including all the stories there in.
I don't see a question of how can they, I wonder why do they?.
Voltaire2
(12,625 posts)But this thread is not that.
Maine-i-acs
(1,496 posts)Who set off the big bang?
What made me smart enough to be a scientist and question the universe?
gibraltar72
(7,486 posts)NeoGreen
(4,030 posts)...should be paired with "Why should anyone?"
Lordquinton
(7,886 posts)>Buddhist
guillaumeb
(42,641 posts)It involves acknowledging, as many scientists do, that each field requires a different approach.
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