Science and Religion

The other day Pope Benedict XVI, with very little fanfare, announced that science and religion could coexist peacefully. In a coup for atheists everywhere he claimed that there was enough science to conclude that there was a natural process of evolution from the Gibbon to Man. But will this acceptance of science increase recruiting numbers for the atheist belief structure?
Boarding a flight from Melbourne to Sydney recently my driver quipped that today was the most dangerous day to travel. Whilst there were no terror warnings or specific threats of weather it took me a few minutes for his comment to make sense. It was Friday the 13^th. Not a religious or superstitious man I took his comment as jest and took my flight. However I found that during the pre-flight safety demonstration I listened intently and that during every bump of turbulence my heart beat a little faster than it should have.
Why did I believe that the plane that had flown for hundreds of trips and the pilot that had flown for thousands of hours would simply have an accident on this of all days? It’s the same reason that humanity still believes in religion and superstition.
The medieval drawings of churches and townships in the 12^th and 13^th centuries show the image of God and the saints protecting the town from attack and making the villages safe-havens for true believers with heaven being simply a few short kilometers above our heads. With the invention of man-made airplanes in the early 20^th Century humankind made its first trip above the clouds and found nothing. In the 1950’s when Yuri Gagarin breached our atmosphere to become the first person in space it seemed that God had relocated yet we still attended our buildings of worship en mass.
A recent study found that over two-thirds of American scientists believe in God, the most popular book post-September 11 was the bible and several religions gained members in the 2006 Australian census. So why after discovering how the universe was created and debunking the religious theories of creationism does human kind still attend church, read the bible or even belong these organizations. Comfort.
L Ron Hubbard, a science-fiction writer, took one of his books and spun it into his own religion and if alive today he would see that his “religion” was often on the front-pages of the gossip magazines and had caused controversy in Germany. The Scientology belief system revolves around freedom from fear and doubts and purging yourself of negative energy. The doctrine of scientology include mentions of galactic overlords yet still people join this organization in hopes of being free from the drudgery and pain of everyday life. How is Scientology’s doctrine different from the New Testament where God’s only son comes down to earth to purge man-kind of its fears and doubts (under the auspice of sin). The gospels report miracles being performed which all rational people would dismiss as parlor tricks yet mainstream religion has grown in Australia despite the technological advances disproving the existence of a deity.
We seek solace to keep us safe even when there is no hope. As a people we’ve begun to collectively defy science in order to comfort ourselves from the reality of pain, misery and the many other problems of living in the real world.
One of the most popular places to discover a higher form of life is in prison. In the squalors of human misery where those shunned by society are removed from the mainstream of the population one of two things happen, they either get worse or they get God. Chaplains from all major religions routinely visit various prisons in search of disenfranchised souls to redeem into the welcoming bosom of the lord. Prison, humanities cesspool, is perfect for religious enlightenment due to the nature of our penal system. Inmates are locked away with societies worst offenders ranging from murderers to rapists to thieves and a popular theme of religion is that of forgiveness, atonement may fail on the mortal coil but God loves all his children. But in this digital age with instant communication and the world at your fingertips the most popular book of all time remains The Bible. The recounting of the creation of the world, the freedom of the Jews and the martyrdom of God’s only son has sold an immeasurable number of copies (with some theorists predicting more than 6 billion) and is believed to be one of the first books ever printed by Gutenberg in the 1400’s. The bible will continue to be printed until the world runs out of paper but by then it’s words would have been digitized (as they have already) and will continue to enlighten until the ends of the Earth
There is no true answer as to why we have, in this age of technology, reverted to the belief of God or superstition because every person has their own different experience. Some, like those in prison, do it for redemption whilst others seek enlightenment and answers to life’s frightening questions that we fester in the back of our minds, why are we here? What happens after death?. The impossible questions that science cannot yet answer and religion has been retorting for over two thousand years.
Humanity breached the clouds and saw the supposed face of God only to discover that nothing was looking back at us but still we believe in the loving embrace of our deity. Why has this happened? Only God knows.