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From: shebs@utah-cs.UUCP (Stanley Shebs)
Newsgroups: net.politics
Subject: Re: Religion vs. Science?
Message-ID: <1932@utah-cs.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 24-Sep-83 01:27:45 EDT
Article-I.D.: utah-cs.1932
Posted: Sat Sep 24 01:27:45 1983
Date-Received: Thu, 29-Sep-83 03:51:35 EDT
References: ccieng6.108
Lines: 35

(Gee Dad, I was just flaming...)

Defining religion and science and how people see each as solving problems
is a pretty tall order, and it's not helped any by the fact that I didn't
see the original poll.  Just guessing, though,  I'd say that "religion"
and "science" were painted in the broadest possible terms;  meaning that
religion includes mysticism, Eastern philosophy, and all those other
things in addition to traditional religion, while science includes anything
technological.

I'm not going to claim that science (in this general sense) will solve
*every* problem, but my complaint is that many people totally reject
the notion that it can solve *any* problems (I really would like to
know the breakdown of opinions in that poll - would make it easier
to determine the degree of anti-technological bias in the country).
Take Reagan ( please! :-) ).  He's been going about trumpeting that
his 4-point program for education is going to restore excellence in
schools.  One of those points is the re-introduction of prayer in
school.  I haven't seen the slightest shred of hard evidence that
praying helps solve technological problems.  On the other hand, daily
repetition of dogma can "calcify" the brain, making it harder to
accept new ideas and to solve problems in novel ways.  This is not
a problem for Reagan, he probably hasn't had a new idea in decades,
but is highly inimical to any kind of science or technology.

Has religion solved *any* problems itself?  Has it helped to learn
how to use fire, to grow crops, to build power plants or computers?
What of today's problems?  Will praying generate more natural resources?
Spacecraft? Justice? (Not likely, going by the history of religion!)
What has religion in any form accomplished, except for the psychological
equivalent of a frontal lobotomy?

				Better stop, smoke is coming out of my ears,
				stan the l.h. (of darkness)
				utah-cs!shebs