by Andrew Peters

Created on: June 19, 2007

Since the age of the Enlightenment, the general population has strongly integrated the values of science and the aid of technology into everyday life. Living now in a world run by computers and dependant on medical research and treatment, it would seem that science has never before held a more prominent role in society. Coupled with the fact that almost ninety percent of Americans believe in a God of some form, it would not be much of a stretch to speculate that somewhere along the road the concepts of science and belief had merged or harmonized in some way. When reading any newspaper or magazine however, it is clear that this has not happened. In fact, the opposite has occurred in most cases; society draws strict lines between science and belief and clashes on topics which could potentially involve both. Media spectacles surrounding evolution like the Scopes Trial and the trials involving the Kansas Board of Education especially bring this battle to the public eye, as well as debates over stem cell research and other pursuits of science which would contrast with religious beliefs. This would indicate that science and belief do, after all, have fundamentally different foundations.

This topic is very important when analyzing the modern world, yet has the potential for dangerous conclusions. When taking into account the religious tension which has always existed to some extent across the globe, it is clear that different faiths and beliefs often clash which can lead to disastrous outcomes. Because this is such an overbearing topic however, it is possible to interpret religion and belief for something they are not. Belief is a concept which someone embraces as truth, while religion is essentially the putting to practice or simply a network of beliefs concerning the metaphysical or divine. The implication of this is that all religions are based on beliefs, but not all beliefs are religious in nature. This separation of the ideas of belief and religion is crucial when discussing science and belief as it serves to release it of the stigma brought on by any religious viewpoints or opinions.

Having taken belief out of a religious context, it is much easier to work with. On a grand scale, it can be said that everyone functions with or due to beliefs. If belief is simply an idea which one holds as true, then literally everything that anyone experiences that is held as true could be considered a belief; the universe which everyone observes and lives in is a belief in itself

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