Science Meets ReligionMusings about modern science and religion | |
|
Introduction Even in the 21st century, many in modern society question evolution. A May 2012 Gallup poll found that fully 46% of Americans believed that “God created human beings pretty much in their present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.” Needless to say, such sentiments are very different from the Continue reading Towards a theology of evolution Introduction Once again, Texas has joined a list of U.S. states that are fighting a rear-guard war against the progress of modern science. On September 9, 2013, the National Center for Science Education and the Texas Freedom Network issued a joint news release expressing alarm at comments made by members of a Texas state committee Continue reading Please mess with Texas: Texas textbook fiasco threatens US science On 21 Aug 2013, at the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky (a suburb of Cincinnati, Ohio), an employee was struck by lightning, as he was clearing guests away from the museum’s zip line, in the wake of an approaching thunderstorm. Fortunately, the employee was not seriously injured and was quickly released from a nearby hospital. Continue reading Troubles beset Kentucky’s Creation Museum Creationists on dinosaurs and dragons On 5 Aug 2013, creationist Ken Ham addressed the issue of why dinosaurs are not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, given that, according to the creationist worldview, the earth and all its living inhabitants were created in a few days about 6000 years ago (so that dinosaurs were created with Continue reading Did dinosaurs live with humans? Were dragons real? Introduction While having lunch with colleagues Edward Teller and Herbert York, who were chatting about a recent cartoon in the New Yorker depicting aliens abducting trash cans in flying saucers, physicist Enrico Fermi suddenly blurted out, “Where is everybody?” [Webb2002, pg. 17-18]. His question is now known as Fermi’s paradox. Behind Fermi’s question was this Continue reading Where are the extraterrestrial civilizations? Introduction One of the more intriguing questions posed by modern physics is what are the ultimate constituents of the universe. Most of the lay public, and many professional scientists for that matter, believe that the universe consists of fundamental particles (electrons, protons, neutrons, etc.), together with force fields (gravity, electromagnetism, etc.) that govern how they Continue reading What are the ultimate constituents of the universe? Introduction It is widely believed that modern society is in sharp decline. Among the ills cited are skyrocketing rates of crime, divorce, teenage sex, teenage births and drug abuse and a general decline in personal morality and religiosity. Religious fundamentalists frequently pin the blame on modern science in general, and on evolution in particular. For Continue reading Is science or religion to blame for moral decline? One of the most common arguments against evolution raised by creationist and intelligent design writers is that whereas minor changes may occur within an established “kind,” nothing fundamentally new can come through “random” or “undirected” evolution. In any event, so they argue, no significant changes have ever been observed in biological species, so that evolution Continue reading How fast can evolution operate? For decades physicists have dreamed of a theory of everything that would precisely give all known physical particles and their interactions. Physicists have also hoped that this theory would be so simple and compelling as to be the self-evident “natural” way the universe must be constructed. Physicists have definitely made progress on the first objective. Continue reading Is the universe one or many? Introduction Recently several books written by prominent authors have been published that attack religious belief as a pernicious delusion. The four most prominent authors are Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris and Christopher Hitchens, who collectively are often called the “new atheists” [Dawkins2006; Dennett2006; Harris2006; Hitchens2007]. In his book, prominent biologist Richard Dawkins asks us Continue reading Are there benefits to religious belief and participation? |
|
|
Copyright © 2014 Science Meets Religion - All Rights Reserved Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa |
||
