Monday, October 10, 2011

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind,” said Albert Einstein, arguably one of the greatest scientists that ever existed. He meant that science and religion are both essential in our world today, and that they have to coexist together in the society. It is true that science led to an increase in rational thought that contradicted religious teachings, leading some people to abandon one for the other, or practice more diluted version of faith. However, many people in the world today have actually embraced religion in the face of rapid scientific developments. Furthermore, not all areas of science and types of religion contradict each other, and since the world has seen as much economic, political and social transformations as much as scientific ones, it is not exactly true that the advancement of science led to the decline of religion.

In the recent centuries, the great advancement of science has lead to the discovery of a plethora of scientific understandings and even laws that transformed our understanding of the universe. These theories and laws have arguably lead religion to a slow but steady decline as the faith of the people in the divine waned over time. In the late 1660s, Newton changed the world with the discovery of the universal law of gravitation that objects on Earth experience a pull from Earth which is of similar concept to the pull between celestial objects out in the far realms of space. Previously, people have thought of the motion of planets and stars in space to be by the control of the supernatural, but all these have been debunked by this law. Following which, the theory of evolution by Charles Darwin in the 19th century was a further blow towards religion as it contested that living things adapted and evolved over the years to form a variety of species on Earth, instead of a divine being breathing life into the Earth all at once, as the Chinese Goddess Nu Wa or the Christian God did. With the advent of rational thought and newer understanding of the world, people began to question the assumptions and the understanding of deities, leading to a gradual decline in religion.

On the other hand, not all breakthroughs in science had a negative impact on religion. On the contrary, some discoveries have actually strengthened the proposition of an existence of an omnipotent and divine being. While science seeks to fill up the gaps in the understanding of the world through logical deduction and hypothesis testing, it has actually lead to more uncertainties in the understanding of the world as some theories can actually be used to prove the existence of a god. The startling discovery of the mass-energy equivalence principle by Albert Einstein, along with the current understanding of the conservation of mass and energy, has lead to a logical deduction that the universe started out with a certain amount of energy, presumably from a creator that made the universe with order and sophistication, which Einstein has staunchly believed in. Hence, laws and theories are imperfect by themselves, some appear to support and advance religion, while others contradict with it depending on how a person decides to argue his or her stand, and hence it is inaccurate to say science has definitely led to the religion's demise, it has only led to more rational thinkers and greater discussions between the two.

Moving away from the discovery of scientific laws and development of theories, the advancement of science has had a profound and direct impact on our lives, along with technological improvements that have led to the flourishing of technological advanced products like the smartphone and the personal computer that bring much convenience to our lives. Furthermore, the rise of Capitalism and the development of modern and sophisticated economies, where the advancement of science has played a heavy role in, have brought about a wave of prosperity to the educated people who have the ability to work in these jobs. In Singapore, research and development, biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries have brought about high-paying jobs for thousands of Singaporeans. This widespread usage of science and technology in its advancement has led to unprecedented lives of comfort and luxury, which could have led to the increasing secularism of the society, and a lower adherence of religion. In Singapore, the 2010 census reported a 2% increase in people who professed to have no religion. This may be because as people become more satisfied with their lives, they have less need or may even alienate their own religions as they have less requests or prayers to make to the deities. Instead, the people would prefer to seek policy reforms from the government to improve their lives. Furthermore, the emergence of science in the 21st century has led to a prevalent attitude that science is a cure-all for the problems of humanity, be it in solving global food shortages or climate change. This has led to a weaker faith in religion as people have waning confidence in the somewhat mercurial offerings from the gods as their prayers do not always seem to be answered. Hence, the advancement of science may have indeed led to a downfall in religion.

However, it would be false to claim that the advancement of science was the sole reason for increased rejection or skepticism in religion, since the political, economic and social environment of the world has evolved tremendously over the past 50 years. Furthermore, religion still has a stronghold in many countries like Indonesia, Iran and Saudi Arabia, where the majority of the populations are Muslims and some the country’s laws involves stringent adherence to Islamic teachings. Furthermore, there have been an increasing proportion of people converting to Muslims in Europe and the United States, in spite of the rapid scientific and technological developments there. In Asia, more people are turning to Christianity, partly due to the proliferation of religious exchange caused by the technological development of the Internet. Currently, 5% of the 1.3 billion people in China are Christians. It is interesting to note that while these countries have embraced scientific and technological advancements, the faith in a god or deities for many individuals still holds strong.

Furthermore, not all religions are at odds with science, because it depends on the requirements or commandments of the religion that believers that need to adhere to and how much the religion states about controversial issues. For instance, the Bible mentions that it is a sin to murder others, and that a life is the work of God that can only be terminated by God himself. Therefore, Christians have vehemently opposed scientific advancements that led to the possibilities of abortion and euthanasia which terminates life prematurely, or that of stem cell research which kills embryos by the justification of saving others. On the other hand, Buddhists believe in reincarnation and karma, where people would be reborn into better or worse lives after they die according to their deeds. Hence, there is little objective in preventing others from exercising their freedom of choice, as the dead will have new opportunities of life, while the “murderers” will be dealt with accordingly in their next lives. Often, it is only when advancements in science that cross the ethical boundaries that people hold strong that believers begin to feel outraged. Nobody would protest for the development of Internet websites or iPhone applications that allows them to find and read religious scriptures more conveniently, which in this case shows that scientific advancements can strengthen religious beliefs.

In conclusion, while it can be argued that scientific advancements have led to increasing secularism or even atheism in developed societies, I feel that there are many other factors that have led to the decline in religion. However, in some instances religion and science can actually coexist and thrive together, and they are not always in conflict with each other. Furthermore, as the world population becomes increasing educated, more rational thinkers will emerge which would encourage constructive discussions between science and religion, leading to a greater appreciation of both areas and allowing people to make their own personal judgments on the faith they choose to profess in. Hence, the advancement of science has not necessarily led to a decline in religion.