by Dee Holder

Created on: April 04, 2010

Does it really matter?   Religion is based on belief and science on observable fact.  There will be times where there is no conflict between science and religion and there will be times when the two will come into head to head conflict.   The issue becomes important when the time comes to decide what children should be taught in school.   Do we teach them scientific fact, or do we teach them based on religion?

I think this issue would go away if religion and science stopped trying to do what is better left to the other.  Religion feeds the soul, science the mind.  There are times when the two merge together as one, where if you are religious and you study science you discover something amazing and you sit back and think "What an amazing world my god has created", there are times when as scientist who is not religious you find that a theorem you are working on has echoes of the themes found in religion and you sit back and go "WOW". 

But all too often these days people from both sides try to force the other to see the world only from their point of view.  The religious claim that the world was made as described in ancient texts and that scientific fact should not be considered, and the scientists claim that because it cannot be proven that God exists all reference to a deity creating the universe is nonsense and should be at best ignored, at worst proven false.  Leaving people with the impossible task of choosing which side is right.

Most people fall somewhere in the middle, using science and scientific facts to run their daily lives from making their food, to driving their cars and deciding on what medical care to give their families.  They wish for their children to get a well rounded education on par with that of children around the world and are willing to let them be taught scientific fact in school rather than religious dogma.  They understand that while their religious beliefs are important, not everyone in the school believes the same thing and that in such a setting their beliefs should not be imposed on those that don't share their religious views.

However, when it comes to religion, every Sunday many take their family to church and take care of the soul and heart in a way science is ill equipped to do.  Here they learn how to treat others, how to be a better person and how to deal with the uncertainties of life and death they use learn to use religion to deal with these issues

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