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What do you more truly believe and follow - science or religion? And more importantly, why?

Religion. My relative was cured from an incurable tumor with no explanation for how he was cured.

Nice topic. I predict some fireworks here :P

Everybody follows and acknowledges science whether they openly admit it or not. I don't think anybody needs to elaborate on the gifts of science.

Religion is open to debate. The only advantage that religion seems to have is the comfort it provides people who are in need of it. It is not the truth it deals with, but stories which may make one feel righteous or guilty enough. I think religion provides a platform for much evil in this world and is a deterrent to scientific advancement and progress.

I prefer harsh truths to comforting lies and I abhor religion and its make believe morality.

I think we need to accept science, yes. In the old days, if you've read about this occurrence, a bunch of people believed that the planets revolved around the earth just because of a single statement in the Bible…which had nothing to do with that, really. So God wants us to follow His Word but also search for His Truth in His Creation. Otherwise, we'll be blind in certain aspects to God.

That's the thing....what 'God' wants keeps changing over the years. A few centuries ago, Christians actively prosecuted scientists. They believed God made Earth the center of the universe. Now they can't say that anymore and have found a way to reconcile with science. So accordingly, what 'God' wants has changed.
Following God's word, once you've chosen one out of the thousands out there, is a tricky business.

I believe that God shows proof of His Existence through science too. I know very well He wants us to be able to find proof not only through the Bible but also through science. I just find it awkward that some Christians don't realize that, know what I mean?

Ummm, not exactly. God NEVER shows proof. People imagine it and it is always subjective. You may imagine what he wants from you, but someone else might think God wants him to be a suicide bomber. How do you know who's right when it's all 'personal' and subjective? If God showed proof, everyone would believe in his existence.

The very fact that Christianity has so many divisions precisely proves my point. No one has the authority on the interpretation on the so-called word of God. Good people interpret it their way and so do the baddies. No one is right except the ones holding the exact same view as yourself.

That's what I see in a lot of Christians too, honestly. What I don't get is when Christians say that we can interpret the Bible differently…if an author writes a book for a specific purpose, shouldn't everybody find the same meaning and not different ones?

I've seen some of God's proof. I don't want to imagine it. If I imagined it, then I can honestly say that I wouldn't be here talking to you today. I am kinda a living witness of Him. If it weren't for a miracle, I honestly wouldn't be here today.

As I said, the proof is always subjective. Today's miracle is tomorrow's science.

In a confined 'Plato's cave' where we are lost in the difference between meaning and definition; The 'faith' is logically intangible as it seeks no evidence; it's just a paradigm of consciousness. The happiness is hence most satisfying in the light of the faith'. In the philosophical-religious dichotomy the 'faith' isn't an usurped function of logical entities. As it's more emotional.

I'm neither religious nor atheist and agnostic. Don't want to classify my belief system as I believe in the breath I just took immediately became my past. If your faith makes you happy, I will certainly encourage you and accept it for the sake of your happiness; If I'll become a obstacle in your 'faith' without any proof to support my claims, would I be I be any different from those who seek superiority of their religion by prevailing wars?

As for science, its language is philosophy'; it's no "either or Or" as you automatically forced to believe the existence of Science as you are a witness of its existence. It's in the vicinity of your understanding, so it exists in your dimension. So there's no comparison.

eggjactly Kris!!! :-D

have to agree on that....

Kris wrote: "As I said, the proof is always subjective. Today's miracle is tomorrow's science."

But some things in science are unanswerable, no matter how long scientists have tried to prove otherwise.

I'm a Jew, and i can say that i believe in both science and religion. For example, some of the things in the bible that god told us to do, have a good reason, not just because it want. For example: wash your hands before you eat (something with bread). Because that, Jews didn't die during the Black Plague.
But what about the seven days of creating the world? Everything science! For example: in the fourth day, it says: god created the two big shinys; the big shiny to rule the day, the little shiny to rule the night. And now in science: the distance between the sun and earth is 400x the distance between the moon and earth. AND the diameter of the sun is 400x the diameter of the moon. That means, they're completely cover it's over during eclipse. And because of that, they're LOOK the same size from earth.

For me, it's Science all the way. Science asks you to think and go by logic while Religion asks you to believe and go by faith. In my humble opinion, I feel we should make use of the knowledge we have.. Most of the religious books were written by people a few thousand years ago. They didn't have the luxury of the knowledge of Evolution and had to explain a lot of difficult questions. Now, we know that the earth revolves round the Sun and that it wasn't created in six days(just saying we can't lead our lives blindly following outdated concepts ).

It comes down to the fact that there is not a single shred of evidence about God. And the concept of God definitely asks more questions than it answers. I think humans can be moral without religion. We definitely don't need the idea of an infernal hell to prevent us from committing sins.

Well, what if God supplied us with the science you love so much, Harsha? I'm an Agnostic, so I'm not judging you. I think out loud. I don't know what to believe: God or Science?

Or perhaps both combined.

@Aaron, In a sense, I'm an agnostic too.. I can't for certain say there is no God.. I'm a 9 in a scale of 1-10 where 10 is an atheist and 1, a theist. I just don't feel comfortable believing in something which has no proof and can't be logically arrived at..

In the words of Richard Dawkins, wouldn't it be absurd when people start asking if one believed in Leprechauns or Fairies?

P.S: I'm really sorry if the above analogy is rude but they have a similar amount of validated proof...

P.P.S: @mod, sorry for diverting the question into 'Is there a God'. It was probably inevitable ..

That;s all right @Harsha

I don't think religion and science have to be mutually exclusive. I am a deeply spiritual person but what bothers me most is when people act as though there is only One True Way and that everyone else is wrong.
Maybe there is one true way...for you. But your one true way may not be my one true way. The world would be a much nicer place if people respected each other even when they disagree.

I also don't care for evangelism and proselytizing. I used to be a serious student of Buddhism and one of my teachers said that, if you are truly following a good path you'll make an effort to be a compassionate human being and set a good example. Period. If you set a good example, people will probably be interested in your beliefs. No need to force your beliefs on others.
There are some things that can't be easily explained by science. Fair enough. I've experienced a few of those myself. But most of the time, I think the most logical explanation is the best.

Science and religion work hand in hand. Think about it, perpetual movement would never have been thought of or discovered of God didn't allow us to explore or intellect

I'm a Christian, but I believe in Science too. The two shouldn't' be separated, that's a narrow view of the reality of the situation.

I believe in religion. I believe Jesus died on that cross for our sins. And I accept His resurrection. ANd I believe in the words of the Bible. But I also believe God gave knowledge to some of the good in science.

Being an atheist, I don't believe in God, I don't believe in any kind of supernatural or spiritual thing.

But can that stop people from being friends?

No, of course not. Why should it? I don't believe in God doesn't mean that I don't believe in love, friendship, and compassion. These values aren't synonymous with religion. For an instance I am a highly positive and social human, and I love making new friends and all.

Tina wrote: "I believe in religion. I believe Jesus died on that cross for our sins. And I accept His resurrection. ANd I believe in the words of the Bible. But I also believe God gave knowledge to some of the ..."

I agree with your viewpoint Tina

And of course we can all be friends regardless of religious beliefs

Thank you Aniket. We need compassion in this world. And it makes me so sad and hopeless that not many people believe in compassion. Even the ones I know. And I admire your words of hope.

Aniket, do you just believe in the now and live in the moment? And Erin I agree we can all be friends. I just don't want to offend anyone's beliefs or lifestyles.

I believe in God and yearn for more knowledge. Whether it be My Lords' word or science.

So the hate comes because we disagree so strongly we kill? I admire the Jewish religion, so beautiful and sacred. So close to God and Israel. I also love the beauty of the Catholic religion even though they have made some big mistakes over the time of history. And Muslim is so sacred to their people. So much a part of their lives and to this day they still do the same practices. And here I sit seeing all this beauty covered with blood. And as tears from heaven, tears from my heart.

Tina wrote: "So the hate comes because we disagree so strongly we kill? I admire the Jewish religion, so beautiful and sacred. So close to God and Israel. I also love the beauty of the Catholic religion even th..."

I completely agree Tina!

Hate comes because we fail to see the beauty of this world as it is. Hate comes because there are people in this world for whom religion comes above humanity, above everything else, and they feel the need to force others to conform to their beliefs, to prove others that only their religion is true. And that results in genocides, and riots, and partition of countries, and a lot of other bad things. People need to understand that nothing is above nature, and nothing is above love and compassion. Nothing is above the bond all of us share, humanity.

And yeah, I live in the 'now', I mean I don't believe in afterlife and all. And you know what? That's why I'm always trying to make the most out of my one life, to accomplish things, because I believe that I'm not gonna get another chance after I die.

YOU GUYS ARE SO POETIC!

Well, people who really are poetic, tend to find everything poetic. So, YOU might be the one who's really poetic instead. :)

Truly!! It's beautiful to recognize beauty lol

Thank you Aniket.
Your answers were very clear and understanding. And admirable. May your life be lived to the fullest and your purpose be fulfilled.
As a Christian I very much enjoyed our conversation!

Thank you for your kind words, Tina. And I hope that you may find peace, and live a long, happy, and satisfying life. I enjoyed the conversation as well! :)

I believe that science is creation, curiosity, fascination whereas religion is belief, everyone needs to believe in something whether it be science or religion, just the people should not criticize others on their opinion....

Why are their so many wars over religions? History list so many...and we have them now still to this day.
Sometimes I don't want to be in this awful world at times.

It's funny because all religions center around one belief and that is that there is a superior being(s) and we all should love for the earth and each other. But religion causes so much war it's ridiculous.

Solution- Atheism.

For me: Prayer

Hello Aniket.

Hey, Tina. How are you doing?

Science vs. religion was an easy debate when I was an adolescent - the clear winner was science. As the years passed and life's challenges become unbearable, my primary goal became how to benefit from the practical aspect of religion (i.e. yoga/ meditation not rituals, etc.) Some books I read changed me and since then I have been a vigorous spiritual seeker all my life. Cutting through all that religious fluff, I, like many other seekers, isolated the single most important goal for a human being - control of the mind. (That is why Zen Buddhism is a big favorite for hard core seekers - it encourages seekers to get to the point of it all - enlightenment.)

I also loved reading books that explain spiritual phenomena - but this activity was not very satisfactory because a lot of the explanations had to be taken on faith. Sure, to prove the existence of the astral planes all you got to do was learn astral travel (plenty of books out there) BUT the problem was you still do not end up convincing others of the reality of your astral travels. People just see you lying down and sleeping and are unable to verify that you were astral travelling. Still, my interest was piqued and I kept reading besides practicing a lot of yoga & meditation. Both reading and practice helped me a lot in life though I will actually be able to quantify the effects of only yoga & meditation.

Anyway to those who are insterested in reading even if much that you read has to be taken on faith, I would like to share with you a collection of the best and newest articles in this subject : http://prepareforchange.net/resistanc...

The blog from which the above articles have been selected is now upto 20 million pageviews even though it was started just 3 years ago. You can click on any article in the above link to start with as there is no recommended sequence.

There are many attempts to fuse religion and science and the above link is one of the best attempts if not THE best attempt. Hopefully at least some of you will be able to clear up your confusion about religion even if what you read has to be taken on faith.

Aniket wrote: "Solution- Atheism."

Any religion is only as good as the people representing it. And how they deliver said religions beliefs. Honestly instead of atheism and the practice of witchcraft and other pagan beliefs that the bible talks about being bad and sinful, we should all just love one another instead of hating. Loving, and caring isn't specific to religion. It's specific to all mankind.

Aniket wrote: "Hey, Tina. How are you doing?"

Good, Busy work. Bought cpl new books. Cooler weather here with some rain. Nice. Hope you are well.

Thank you A. for a different take on this subject!

Tia wrote: "Aniket wrote: "Solution- Atheism."

Any religion is only as good as the people representing it. And how they deliver said religions beliefs. Honestly instead of atheism and the practice of witchcra..."

So, I am an atheist, does that mean that I don't love religious people? My parents are religious. I am an atheist because I studied different religions and couldn't make myself believe in any of them. Because I've always loved science, and all I've studied since childhood is Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Maths. I believe in Evolution.
It's sad that people associate atheism with such negativity.

Tina wrote: "Aniket wrote: "Hey, Tina. How are you doing?"

Good, Busy work. Bought cpl new books. Cooler weather here with some rain. Nice. Hope you are well."

It's been slightly cold here too, no rain though. I am well, I am just gonna have the busiest week of my life. Which books did you get yourself?