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The Silly War
| Article
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14011 |
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Section : |
NATURAL SCIENCE
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| Issue
Date : |
2 / 1988 |
2,824 Words |
| Author
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Michael L. Rosenzweig
Michael L. Rosenzweig is professor of ecology and evolutionary
biology at the University of Arizona and editor in chief of
Evolutionary Ecology (Chapman and Hall, London). In addition
to his scientific work, he has written scholarly articles of
biblical commentary. |
Our minds possess by nature an insatiable desire to know the truth.
--Cicero
Modern civilization continues to harbor two prominent camps at war with each other: science and religion. Yet who has thought carefully about each one's contributions to civilization and wants either science or religion to be vanquished and disappear?
Society's sympathy for both religion and science is not the yearning to keep both alive as a memorial to the past, like some proud display of patched-together Babylonian potsherds or a gallery of Dutch masters. It is, instead, a primal recognition that somehow the vitality of both remains crucial to our future. It is a practical declaration that neither must be allowed to withdraw from the arena of history, because the gifts of both are wanted.
Civilization itself is a rich fabric of contrasts. It is hardly famous for worrying about its inconsistencies or internal contradictions. That is as it should be. A world tied in knots over philosophical issues would likely be a dangerous place.
But we do expect a modicum of consistency from each other as individuals. Does that mean that whenever we encounter persons who take both religion and science seriously, we should be concerned for their mental health or intellectual rigor? If they are scientists, do they forget while they worship that they earn their livings splitting atoms, transplanting hearts, dissecting psyches, and generally peering impiously into all the nooks and crannies of God's material world? If they are theologians, do they worry as they curl up pleasurably with the latest bestseller on the extinction of the dinosaurs or the origin of the universe that they are betraying their calling and those who look to them for spiritual guidance?
I am a professional evolutionist and a faithful Jew, yet I have no misgivings. I am convinced that it is not science and religion which are in conflict, but an arrogant sort of scientist and a cowardly sort of theologian. Humble science and confident religion ought to have no trouble living together peacefully. But before you are likely to agree with me, you must consider how human beings decide what is true.
The Four Facets of Truth
Charles S. Peirce (pronounced "purse")
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