Science vs. Religion, a Musing

It's an age-old cliche: science vs religion. Faith vs reason. As though the two are opposites; as though neither can live while the other survives (to quote Harry Potter tongue-in-cheek). As though they are locked at each other's throats in an eternal battle to the death. One will vanquish the other eventually, and for now the victor seems to be science. I mean, it's obvious, right? Religion is fast becoming irrelevant in the developing world for several different reasons.

First of all, no more fear of the unknown. People know why things happen now, without having to use God as an excuse. God is now considered to be a 'safety net'; a vain attempt to ward off the threat of looming death into something more friendly. Self-delusion, wasted hope, whatever you want to call it: in their opinion, that's religion. They want to see themselves as people who can depend on themselves, not on some foreign unseen deity in the sky.

Then there is the problem that people have with the whole 'organized religion' thing. Churchmen, sheikhs, rabbis; they are all seen as clinging to traditions of the past (whether the traditions are good or bad). Our century is all about shaking up institutions and religion is being treated no differently.

Finally, most people aren't choosing their religion anyway. They take the convenient way out - following their parents' beliefs, mostly without any real conviction. Religious holidays have become empty rituals to be followed half-heartedly, for example; church every Sunday, or the mosque every Friday - even Islam's five daily prayers - has become a drag. Because who's going to go for something they haven't been motivated for, haven't chosen, in the first place?

Why I'm Not Threatened By Science

So why am I, a religious person, not threatened by the looming scepter of science-come-to-steal-God? Or rather, why am I STILL a religious person?

I think it's because I'm Muslim. Let me explain.

In Islam you are ORDERED to seek knowledge, from the cradle to the grave. The bases of many sciences and arts - algebra; optics; the guitar -are of Muslim origin. Go here to find out more about Muslims' inventions: http://www.1001inventions.com

So knowledge is no threat to me. How so? Let's take the example of evolution first, and how it has unbalanced Christianity. (Meaning no offense to any particular religion, incidentally; this is just detailing the wider topic of just why religion has been rejected today.)

Now, the Church rejects the theory of evolution for many different reasons, mostly because it doesn't mesh with the way the Bible describes creation happened. First light, then the plants, then the animals (I'm not listing literally, I don't know the sequence by heart).

Evolution - modern scientific discovery - comes along and tips the Biblical account onto its head.

What does the Church do?

a) Embrace: this runs counter to its own teachings

b) Bluster: this means nothing except to those doing the blustering

c) Ignore.

Needless to say, c) is the preferred route.

But what would Islam do? Or what do I, as a Muslim, do?

First of all, never mind whether or not the theory of evolution is true. Arguing about it will send you down the proverbial rabbit hole (I've tried it) so unless you're a molecular biologist or the like and that stuff directly interests you, I prefer to take another stance.

I think that we have no right to outline and put down in concrete exactly how God created the world. He could have created it any way He wanted to, in His infinite wisdom and knowledge. I don't have a problem believing in the theory of evolution because I think that in the end, evolution itself proves the existence of God by violating one of the laws of physics:

The Beginning.

Something cannot come out of nothing.

Therefore, the nothing must have come out of something. The action of the Big Bang must have been caused by... something.

What is this something, how is this something, who is this something?

I believe it is God.

In the end, if God does exist, and He created this universe, and He created us, then learning about this universe and the nature of our own souls can hold no threat for us or our faith or our eternal souls, as long as we keep the essential thing in mind:

That everything has always come into being with a purpose.

:)

_________________

A good piece dealing with the same topic:

http://www.emel.com/article.php?id=79&a_id=2209&c=63&return=big%20bang

To Concerned Muslims

- Note: This'll hopefully be short, as three introductions are rather too much to ask people to stand. As a 'tantalizing tidbit', I'm going to start with Islam and Violence as a topic. Any suggestions you have as to what I should tackle first within that framework?-

Okay. I have one last thing to say before beginning in earnest. This is mainly to people who are already Muslims.

So, Random Muslim. When you hear or see or encounter something that makes you question your faith, what do you do? Someone brandishes an iffy-sounding verse or tradition of the Prophet in your face, or you hear about it on the radio or on TV. (Assuming that it's legit enough to merit looking into it: people say such crazy stuff about Islam you can be justified in not paying attention :)

Now, what you do with this verse is you pick it up, read it, double-check it in your own copy to make sure it's there and discover in fact that it is. What are you supposed to think? It's there, looking you in the eye. Muhammad had nine wives. It's there, looking you in the eye.

Intersection. THIS IS WHY YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWLEDGE. So that things can't sneak up on you like this and leave you helpless, in the wake of anti-Muslims with serious ammo! (Believe me, they exist.)

Let's say, though, that you don't know much about these issues. How are you supposed to react?

First of all, don't panic. If this path is what God wants us to follow, it will never and can never contradict our human mind. There's no such thing as 'blind faith', especially not closing your eyes to something that disturbs you immensely. So what you do is start searching; search to keep your faith.

Second, keep in mind that your position might not be the correct one, that's there's a wiser opinion: as is the case with a lot of things in life, so don't start with "I trust my own mind!" Times and minds change: just compare the minds of 7th-century Arabia with today's. The tricky thing with Islam - with any religion, really - is that to prove itself as God's word, it needs to prove that it can be compatible with all times and places, right? If people now and forever can be expected to follow it, obviously it's got to be such a thing that can be acceptable to people now and forever.

So that's also what I'm going to try to achieve with this blog. Muslims need to know that they have nothing to fear from their religion. I want to stamp that down in permanent.