Science vs. religion free essay sample

Word count 1351 Dawkins Analysis Science vs. Religion The following commentary investigates Is Science a Religion a piece written by Clinton Richard Dawkins, better known as Richard Dawkins, a British evolutionary biologist. Dawkins does not hesitate to share his views having authored several best sellers such as The Selfish Gene, The God Delusion, and The Oxford Book of Modern Science Writing, as well as several others (ibid). In 1996 The American Humanist Association whose slogans include Good Without a God, and advocating progressive values and equality for humanists, atheists, and free thinkers named Richard Dawkins Humanist of the Year (AHA). In response to Richard Dawkins piece, Is Science a Religion Dawkins wasted no time in his attack on faith insinuating the Aids virus and Mad Cow disease are less threatening to humanity than faith. Dawkins persist claiming, faith is one of the worlds greatest evils(l), Dawkins rapture continued on as he compared faith to the infectious Smallpox virus exclaiming faith would be harder to eliminate. We will write a custom essay sample on Science vs. religion or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page To further exploit Dawkins opinion he refers to faith as exceedingly dangerous and deems faith to be a brain virus. What is faith? To quote Mark Twain Faith is believing what you know aint so. The belief in the unknown, a person, place, or idea of which is not tangible and lacks any kind of factual evidence. Yet as Dawkins states faith is the principle vice of any religion(l). Could it be possible that organized religion is a way to control its faith driven believers? After all is it not true that God has done evil to people that have not followed his orders? For instance lets take a look at a couple examples. The Third of the 10 Commandments: You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. In Ezekiel, Zedekiah makes a solemn oath made in the Lords name. When Zedekiah breaks that oath God said for breaking a solemn oath in the name of the Lord I God will capture Zedekiah, and put him on trial for treason and have all his best men killed. Did those men deserve to die? Is it right to punish and those men for another mans mistake? I think not. The seventh of 10 commandments: You must not commit adultery. In Samuel 2 David commits adultery with Bathsheba and gets Bathsheba pregnant, as a result of their punishment David and Bathshebas son dies. (Lee Andrew Henderson Yahoo Voices). This is not fair punishment, an innocent child put to death for anothers mistake. Not the kind of world I would want to occupy. Your life is at stake every time you interact with someone. How can anyone find it fitting to have faith in all this cruelty? It all Just appears to be too much evil to contend with. On the other side of that coin one might tend to agree with Dawkins when he says, Given the dangers of faith(l). I immediately thought of working mothers and the dilemma they are faced with when going back to work after having a child. Every mother on this planet, ho has had to leave her infant or toddler with a babysitter in order to go back to work, has had little but faith to carry her through her shift. For at that moment faith is all she can count on in hopes that she has made a wise decision in choosing a babysitter that will care for as well as, protect her child from harm. At a stressful time such as this even if one is not religious you can bet these new mothers are praying to God asking him to watch over her innocent child. There may not be anything scientific about this situation concerning faith, however, sometimes in life faith is all you have. One may not be able to grab it and hold on to it, although certain situations require you believe with all your heart that faith will carry you through, and more times than not it will. When someone came forward at one of Dawkins lectures and said, your science is just a religion like ours. Fundamentally, science Just comes down to faith, doesnt it? Dawkins replied Well science is not a religion and it doesnt Just come down to faith(l). Carrying his reply forward Dawkins assured his audience of the fact, science is based upon verifiable evidence. Religious faith not only lacks evidence, ts independence from evidence is its pride and Joy, shouted from the rooftops(l). Doubting Thomas, on the other hand, required evidence(l). As for the other apostles they were held in high standard, as without doubt, their faith was enough for them. Dawkins explains the reason for the comment referring to science being a religion. He feels he is hit with such comments because as he put it because I believe in evolution. I even believe in it with a passionate conviction(l), announces Dawkins. Dawkins claims science to be one of the most moral and honest disciplines in the orld today. With that being said it would appear that one must have faith in the reporting of evidence. James Randi a Canadian American stage magician and scientific skeptic best known for his challenging the supernatural, psychics, spoon benders, believe these kinds of people are paranormal trickster, and continue insinuating that scientist are fooled by these tricksters because of there deliberate dishonesty, in which scientists do not anticipate. In other words, ne is trying say that all scientists are 100% honest and on the up and up. That is hard to swallow. What is science? Science is most definitely based on a process known as the scientific method. The scientific method requires that the theory be testable. If the theory cannot be tested it cannot be a scientific theory. First is researching a phenomena by observation, formulate a hypothesis, test the hypothesis through experiments, establish theory based on repeated validation of evidence. With this evidence of validation, being available for the world to see via the internet and a library full of books there lays information in detailed explanation as to where the uman race came from, the world and its scientist have finally reached the point in which there remains no logical argument as all signs and research results scream Darwins natural selection theory to be valid. We no longer have to wonder how we came to be, despite color, race, or religion we humans that walk this earth are here as a result of evolution. This also applies to any living organism that can be found on this space we call earth. There may be a lot of opinions regarding Richard Dawkins some good some bad. His opinions regarding religion however maybe true or may not. One thing for sure is that if there is a Heaven and Hell we cannot come back and report on it. Nevertheless, that does not discount it as a possibility. I will believe it when I see it; this is my view on Heaven and Hell. Unfortunately, as a society we have that divided we stand outlook on science verses religion, its as if the believers of faith and the believers of evolution are football rivals, and neither side wants to lose the big game. From the view of the faith team, it is understandable that they want so much for the bible and all its promises to be valid. I mean who wouldnt ant to live a luxury existence with streets paved of gold. Or be welcomed with open arms at the pearly gates by their family members, of whom they have not seen in who knows how long. Viewing from the eyes of evolutionist, must be frustrating at the very least, especially all the work and long hours to provide factual evidence to the people only to be shunned. The school system teaching Creationism and not the Theory of Evolution is a straight slap in the face. Curiosity gets the best of me in the wonder of how many generations will it take before evolution is accepted as the answer of how did I get here.