Religion, Fact Or Fiction Essay, Research Paper

The human mind is easily convinced on what the eyes tell the mind. If you see something in front of yourself, you might have an easier time believing, than if one was to tell a story. Religion is a story that has been told for thousands of years, and not till technology has ripened have scientists disproved many beliefs. It is now that mankind lets religion restrain the mind from portraying the truth about life.

Some people claim that science does not have all of the answers when it comes to the business of life. They are right. Science is less a body of “facts” than it is is a method of establishing claims about the universe. Claims, which can be tested and measured, reviewed and evaluated. Science cannot tell you if a certain ethical decision is correct, or make judgments about abstractions such as beauty or values. Even so, it can tell us much about the planet we populate, how we evolved, and how much of the universe is out there to date. We can know for certain many things, or at least be reasonably sure of their truth. We know that the earth moves in orbit about the sun, not the opposite as was believed for many generations.

As scientific knowledge has expanded, it has confronted numerous religions and beliefs. Religionists have been uncomfortable with these new revelations. People who try to seek absolute truth in the pages of the “Holy Book” such as the Bible, are left as blind. How is a person supposed to reconcile their interpretations with the scientific facts growing day by day in contradictory of their beliefs? It is not easy.

While most religionist today read and hear about scientific evidence, they cling to the thought of truth spoke through the Bible. Angels, for instance, have never been detected or examined in a scientific inquiry; but a shocking percentage of Americans, “65% of the U.S. population”(n.y.times4/12/88), believes that these supernatural people exist, running errands for God, or helping people in time of need. This whole belief system is a throwback to earlier times in human history, when the world was enchanted, populated with mystical and religious entities of all sorts (Greek Gods for example). Its existence today is a shadow land of beliefs, which co-exist with our more enlightened views about the universe. For most people, their view of the world rests with one foot in consciousness and the other ignorance.

One of the more curious artifacts of supernatural belief is so-called Scientific Creationism. A quest to balance the mind’s interpretations of the Judeo-Christian Bible with the findings of modern science. Decades after the famous “Monkey trial” which debated the pros and cons of evolutionary discovery, we are still repeating this argument in the nation’s public schools.

The evolution on-creation debate which now rages in the United States, and elsewhere is tied to other issues. This includes prayer in schools, and indeed the role of religious instruction in the classroom and other civic institutions. It is also a highly charged, emotional debate. Creationists see evolution as part of a larger agenda aimed at religious belief itself. In a peculiar way, they may well be correct. But as with any debate, we should weigh the evidence and examine these raw facts as dispassionately as we can. Does the creationist view of the universe make sense? Is it a scientific claim, or a religious creed? And do the “facts” of modern science require the existence of a God? These questions may be answered now.

Birds, which, according to both creation myths in Genesis, “were created on the same day as fish,”(Genesis) do not enter the fossil record until the Jurassic Period “190-136 million years ago”(Encarta). Representing an ultimate variation on the dinosaur theme, birds trace their descent from reptiles. This is quite different from those ancestral to the mammals. Contrary to the claims of some creationists, evolutionists do not claim that reptiles evolved into birds and birds evolved into mammals! The evolutionists prove the differ.

If either of the biblical myths were true, all types of vertebrates, living types of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish, would be found along with bacteria and trilobites at the very beginning of the fossil record. And all would be extractable from all rock layers of later ages. But of course, nothing could be farther from reality. The infamous “gaps in the fossil record,” adduced by creationists as evidence against evolution, are actually a devastating blow to the idea that all forms of life were miraculously zapped onto the earth at the same time! This would be contrary to the first chapter of Genesis, which claims that the first mammals appeared on the earth a mere twenty-four hours after the first fish. But the first mammals did not appear on earth until more than 300 million years of fish evolution had transpired!

Science is the art of formulating and testing explanatory hypotheses to account for the features and phenomena of the world. The hypotheses examined must in principle must be capable of being tested. And if the test goes to prove a given subject, one would conclude the understanding of its nature and put the newfound knowledge into practice. The eyes will not see if they are shut!

(over)

In the words of Harvard biologist-paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould, “Creation science is an oxymoron.” An oxymoron (lit., “a wise fool”) is a contradiction in terms. Just as it is impossible for a fool to be wise, so too is it impossible for creationism to be science. Anyone concerned about the meanings of words must concur with Professor Gould in his judgment.

(This paper in no means represents my beliefs, but only my skill as a writer.)

SORRY GOD!