The Relationship of Religion &

ScienceBy:

Tyler CaseltineChloe ButelMax Moore

Historical AspectsHumans have long been interested in topics relating to science and religion. The majority of societies have deeply integrated the two topics into each other throughout the duration of history. As a result of closed-mindedness and bigotry, there has long been disputes, both within societies and between different societies, between who is right about what religion is correct, whose science is more accurate, and to what degree do science and religion mix.

Church's Historical Role In GovernmentChurch and government have never been largely separate, until relatively recently with the emergence of America as a country founded on the idea of “freedom of religion” (though it was predominantly Puritan). Historically, churches were in charge of and acted as the government body in the majority of societies. With the church acting as a form of government, more often than not religious-political figures, beliefs, and doctrine dictated scientific theories and ways of thinking. There are many examples of this throughout history, but perhaps one of the best would be the great debate of geocentrism and heliocentrism (Pilgrims and Puritans: Background, 2009). http://www.cartoonistgroup.com/properties/

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Geocentrism vs. Heliocentrism Geocentrism is the idea that Earth is the center of the universe and everything revolves around it. For centuries, this was believed to be the truth, until 1543, when Nicolaus Copernicus proposed his idea of a sun-centered solar system, known as Heliocentrism. Copernicus was the first to actively propose heliocentrism, which he did at the very end of his life. It is likely that he waited up until the end of his life to release his theory because any idea that contradicted geocentrism was heavily resisted by the Catholic church, which largely based its scientific beliefs on Aristotelian philosophy (Aristotle believed if the earth did actually spin, then objects would fly off the earth). This is just one of the many examples of the strict role religion has historically played in science. It does not take much observation to see that religious institutions feel threatened by new scientific discovery because it may contradict their doctrine. This leads to one of the largest fundamental debates with science and religion; creationism vs evolution (From Geocentrism to Heliocentrism, 2014).

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Geocentrism vs. Heliocentrism

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Creationism v. Evolution

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The Scopes TrialThe 1925 State of Tennessee v. John Scopes trial AKA “The Scopes Monkey Trial” was the first

defining battle between science and religion in the United States.

John Scopes, 24 at the time, taught evolution as part of his curriculum at a high school in Dayton, Tennessee.

Scopes agreed to be a test subject against the newly passed law prohibiting the teaching of scientific theories that contradict the religious belief of a “biblical creation of man” (PBS), widespread at the time.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) defense lawyer Clarence Darrow helped defend Scopes’s arrest in court

William Jennings Bryan, a pacifist Christian and former presidential candidate, defended the prosecution to suppress the “inevitable social movements” which stem from evolution and the lack of a literal interpretation of the bible (PBS)

The verdict read that Scopes was guilty and was fined, but this “trial of the century” publicized the scientific evidence behind evolution. Although Bryan technically won the case, many believed that he had lost the argument.

Evolution did not reappear in school textbooks until the 1960s, and still remains a topic of debate amongst the religious and scientific communities

Creationism & ReligionCreationism is the idea that the Universe and all life was created by the act of divine creation and intelligent design in a span of seven days. The ideas of creationism are laid out in the Bible in the Book of Genesis. Genesis 1:1 states the idea clearly, “In the beginning, God created the Universe.”

The creationist or fundamentalist view on the world’s origin stems from a literal interpretation of the or biblical genesis accounts.

The Creationist ideals reject scientific evidenceof evolution and creation of the universe in millions of years such as fossils, carbon dating, tree ring analysis, and evolution itself.

Evolution & Science: why?Scientific communities around the world stand by Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and his research on the link between life on Earth and evolution by natural selection. The basic scientific idea of evolution is gradual change over time through descent with genetic modification and inheritance. Natural selection is the idea that “stronger” genes, genes that aid a species in surviving and reproducing, will be passed on to the next generation. On the other hand, weaker genes will not allow a species to reproduce and will be removed from the gene pool. As Richard Dawkins puts it, “Design is as bad an explanation as chance because it raises bigger questions than it answers. Evolution by natural selection is the only workable theory ever proposed that is capable of explaining life, andit does so brilliantly.”

Modern Conflict -- Religion and Climate Change

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Religion and Climate Change Within the past two decades, scientists and environmentalists have vigorously promoted the importance of climate change and the steps that need to be done in order to curve it. Churches are largely split down the middle when it comes to believing the legitimacy and importance of climate change. Many Christian denominations firmly believe that climate change is merely liberal propaganda, their god is in control, and that it does not matter anyway because they believe the end of times is near. People like Republican candidate and active Christian political figure Ted Cruz insist that “climate change is not science, it’s religion”, meaning that climate change is just an idea that people are pouring opinions into without any factual support (Page, 2015). The problem here is that mainstream science treats evidence that global climate change is real as scientific fact, not an idea that can be disputed as a belief. This kind of conflict creates the stalemate that does not allow progress in solving issues related to climate change (Bernard and Szasz, 2015).

Religion and Climate ChangeThough there are religious institutions that choose not to believe that climate change is a legitimate issue, there are also those who believe in the urgency of supporting the global movement to curb climate change. The moderate Protestants and Catholics, as well as the majority of the other major religions like Buddhism and Islam, have shown much support for “green” efforts. Many representatives of these religions have released statements showing support and urging followers to promote the cause to fight climate change, such as “A Buddhist Declaration on Climate Change” signed by many representatives of Buddhism that calls followers to “bring the resources of Buddhism on behalf of all living beings” and use the four noble truths as the framework to solve the issue(Time to Act is Now, 2015). Statements like these that urge unity towards working for a common goal show that it is possible for groups of people to overcome their differences and core beliefs to make the world a better place.

Religion and Climate ChangeWhile there is obvious conflict between some churches and scientists on whether or not climate change is real problem (or even real), it cannot be disputed that the evidence that supports climate change remains fact. There needs to be a common ground that dogmatic religious institutions reach that supports the reduction of factors contributing climate change in order to preserve the resources and ecosystems our earth supports. As representatives of Islam declare in “Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change”, “what will future generations say of us, who leave them a degraded planet as our legacy?”(Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change, 2015).

This is just one of the many examples of religion and science in modern day. It is obvious that people’s ideals are split into polar opposites and generalizations, and in order for people to make progress within science and keep religion, they must reach a common ground with their beliefs by putting their religion aside to act toward a common goal.

Sources "Pilgrims and Puritans: Background." Virginia.edu. 1 Sept. 2009. Web. 1 Dec. 2015. <http://xroads.virginia.edu/~cap/puritan/purhist.html>.

"From Geocentrism to Heliocentrism." Futurism. 15 Sept. 2014. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://futurism.com/from-geocentrism-to-heliocentrism/>.

Zaleha, Bernard, and Andrew Szasz. "Why Conservative Christians Don't Believe in Climate Change." Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist. 2015. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://bos.sagepub.com/content/71/5/19.full.pdf html>.

Page, Samantha. "Ted Cruz: ‘Climate Change Is Not Science. It's Religion.’." Climate Progress. 30 Oct. 2015. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/10/30/3717795/ted-cruz-doesnt-know-the-difference-between-science-and-religion/>.

"The Time to Act Is Now." Interfaith Power and Light. 14 May 2015. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://fore.yale.edu/files/Buddhist_Climate_Change_Statement_5-14-15.pdf>. (slide 11)

"Islamic Declaration on Global Climate Change." International Islamic Climate Change Symposium. 2015. Web. 9 Dec. 2015. <http://islamicclimatedeclaration.org/islamic-declaration-on-global-climate-change/>. (slide 12)

SourcesUnderstanding Evolution. 2015. University of California Museum of Paleontology. 22 August 2008 <http://evolution.berkeley.edu/>.

Dawkins, Richard. "Big Ideas: Evolution." New Scientist. N.p., 14 Sept. 2005. Web. 11 Dec. 2015.

"Bibleview." Bibleview. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2015. <http://bibleview.org/en/bible/genesis/7days/>.

Work DistributionBackground/Introduction/Historical example - Tyler Caseltine

Evolution - Max Moore

Religion and climate change - Tyler Caseltine