Science vs. God

Thursday in class, we discussed the battle of faith and reason. This discussion led me to recall an excerpt from a book I read a few years ago. In the book, Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, the carmelengo of the Roman Catholic church addresses the ongoing struggle between faith and technology or science. Although I do not agree with every thing that is referenced, I believe it is incredibly relevant to the discussion. Plus, it is also one of the most moving monologues I have ever read.

"Medicine, electronic communications, space travel,genetic manipulation...these are all the miracles about which we now tell our children. These are the miracles we herald as proof that science will bring us the answers. The ancient stories of imaculate conceptions, burning bushes, and parting seas are no longer relevant. God has become obsolete. Science has won the battle. We concede.'

'But science's victory has cost every one of us. And it has cost us deeply.'

'Science may have alleviated the miseries of disease and drudgery and provided an array of gadgetry for our entertainment and convenience, but it has left us in a world without wonder. Our sunsets have been reduced to wavelenghts and frequencies. The complexitites of the universe have been shredded into mathematical equations. Even our self worth as human beings has been destroyed. Science proclaims that Planet Earth and its inhabitants are a meaningless speck in the grand scheme. A cosmic accident. Even the technology that promises to unite us, divides us. Each of us is now electronically connected to the globe, and yet we feel utterly alone. We are bombarded with violence, division, fracture and betrayal.Skepticism has become a virtue. Cynicism and demand for proof has become enlightened thought. Is it any wonder that humans now feel more depressed and defeated than they have at any point in human history? Does science hold anything sacred? Science looks for answers by probing our unborn fetuses. Science even presumes to rearrange our own DNA. It shatters God's world into smaller and smaller pieces in quest of meaning... and all it finds is more questions.'

'The ancient war between science and religion is over. You have won. But you have not won fairly. You have not won by providing answers.You have won by so radically reorienting our society, that the truths we once saw as signposts now seem inapplicable. Religion cannot keep up. Scientific growth is exponential. It feeds on itself like a virus. Every new breaktrough opens doors for new breakthroughs. Mankind took thousands of years to progress from the wheel to the car. Yet only decades to progress from the car into space. Now we measure scientific progress in weeks. We are spinning out of control. The rift between us grows deeper and deeper, and as religion is left behind, people find themselves in a spiritual void. We cry out for meaning. And believe me, we do cry out. We see UFO's, engage in channeling, spirit contact, out-of-body experiences, mindquests-- all these eccentric ideas have a scientific veneer, but they are unashamedly irrational. They are the desperate cry of the modern soul, lonely and tormented, crippled by it's own enlightenment and it's inability to accept meaning in anything removed from technology.'

'Science, you say, will save us. Science, I say, has destroyed us. Since the days of Galileo, the church has tried to slow the relentless march of science, sometimes with misguided means, but always with benevolent intention. Even so, the temptations are far too great for man to resist. I warn you, look around yourselves. The promises of science have not been kept. Promises of efficiency and simplicity have bred nothing but pollution and chaos. We are a fractured and frantic species...moving down a path of destruction.'

'Who is this God science? Who is the God who offers his people power but no moral framework to tell you how to use tha power? What knid of God gives a child fire, but does not warn the child of it's dangers? The language of science comes with no signposts about good and bad. Science textbooks tell us how to create a nuclear reaction, and yet they contain no chapter asking us if it is a good or a bad idea.'"