Regarding Religion vs. Science: Final Random Thoughts

*If astrology isn't given equal time with astronomy in the classroom and alchemy isn't given equal time with chemistry in the classroom then creationism / intelligent design shouldn't be given equal time with evolutionary biology in the classroom.

*Science teachers don't knock on church doors demanding that Darwin's Theory of Evolution be taught in Sunday school classes but the fundamentalist right-wing clergy / evangelists knock on the doors of science classrooms (will actually through state education boards) and demand that creationism / intelligent design be taught in schools.

*Do not assume the answer before you ask the question.

*If something is unknown then it's unknown and you can't assign any truth value to it.

*Sometimes the ability to question (science) is far more important than having all the answers (religion). (via Grant Steves)

*If the natural cannot explain something (at this point in time), therefore theists claim the supernatural must be the explanation.

*A couple of months ago I attended the funeral of an old friend. Yet, last week I saw him pass by on the opposite side of the street. Dozens of other people saw him too. Alas, I don't have their names and I never saw my apparently resurrected friend ever again. You believe me, right?

*If you believe that the Universe exists with you in mind, then you have a rather overly inflated opinion of yourself.

*What's your religious authority for saying that you know something that I don't know and I don't think you really know either?

*Why should I respect someone religious, or someone's religion, when they make extraordinary claims but who can never seem to back up those claims with actual evidence? It appears to be a case of just believe me because I say so.

*Theists will argue that the way the Universe is, is exactly what you'd expect if God had created the Universe. Of course that firstly presupposes that theists have an insight into how God's mind works. That aide, now secondly, if the theists had predicted before-the-fact - based on their understanding of God's mind - what the Universe would be like if God existed and created the Universe then that might be more convincing. Arguing God would - Universe is - that's okay. Arguing Universe is - God would - that's not okay.

*[Paraphrasing Matt Dillahunty.] Doesn’t it both me … am I happy going to my grave not knowing the answers to the [Big] Questions [like consciousness]? No, I’m not. None of us are. We are all uncomfortable with this idea of not knowing and that’s why we have science. That’s why we go out and try to find what the actual damn answer is. It’s not that I’m comfortable not knowing. It’s that I’m more uncomfortable pretending that I know.

*[Paraphrasing Matt Dillahunty.] I’d like to believe as many true things as possible and as few false things as possible.

*If a church steeple has a lightning rod attached doesn’t that show a total lack of theological confidence?

*Science doesn’t tend to be overly concerned with religious thoughts, but religions are often concerned with scientific thinking.

*“Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever it has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?” - Carl Sagan

*“It is far better to grasp the universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.” - Carl Sagan

*“The idea that God is an oversized white male with a flowing beard who sits in the sky and tallies the fall of every sparrow is ludicrous. But if by 'God' one means the set of physical laws that govern the universe, then clearly there is such a God. This God is emotionally unsatisfying... it does not make much sense to pray to the law of gravity.” - Carl Sagan

*“The suppression of uncomfortable ideas may be common in religion and politics, but it is not the path to knowledge; it has no place in the endeavor of science.” - Carl Sagan

*“For a long time the human instinct to understand was thwarted by facile religious explanations.” - Carl Sagan

*“It took the Church until 1832 to remove Galileo's work from its list of books which Catholics were forbidden to read at the risk of dire punishment of their immortal souls.” - Carl Sagan

*“A religion, old or new, that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by conventional faiths. Sooner or later such a religion will emerge.” - Carl Sagan

*Science doesn't know everything but religion doesn't know anything.

*Science advances via experiment and observation, replacing faith with data.

*Theologies can explain. The sciences can explain. The sciences can explain better.

*There is a conflict between faith and skepticism.

*"I worship nothing and question everything." [Atheist billboard]

*"God free, happy, and inspired by wonder." [Atheist billboard]