We Don't Know Everything
Science and Religion, (for the purposes of this essay, here referred to as their societal and historical entities), have much more in common than either camp has deigned to admit over the past few centuries. As any cursory glance of history will prove, both have been wrong at one time or another. This fact is not easily swallowed by the followers of those who believe Science holds all the answers to the exclusion of Religion, and it is equally unpalatable to the followers who believe Religion holds the only answers to the exclusion of Science.
These are the commonalities between Science and Religion:
1. They have both been wrong, resulting in dire consequences for humanity and the environment, for the well-being of those who are more vulnerable among us, and for humanity's general understanding of the world and our place in it.
2. They have both been right too,resulting in astoundingly beautiful and progressive changes in our world.
3. Both Science and Religion seek to answer questions about our world, existence, and how the universe operates.
4. Both have evolved over time, and continue to evolve, as we all build upon the knowledge that came before, learn from our mistakes, and seek a clearer understanding of the truth.
Much of the mistakes made stemmed from humanity's inability to separate our own selfish desires and lust for power from this search for Truth. Everything learned and studied can be bent to fuel our excuses for why we are allowed to treat the "other" differently than we would expect ourselves to be treated.
At one time, humans believed strongly that the world was flat, that the sun revolved around the Earth, and we have only relatively recently started to understand the internal workings of the human body. The Eugenics movement understood only a small fraction of genes and how they manifest in reality. The vast majority of it was based on faulty assumptions and ignorance, which people used to cause much harm and marginalization of others. Hitler was inspired by Eugenics to laud the superiority of the Aryan race and murdered millions of innocent people in pursuit of that ideal.
I am a Christian, so I will speak for that religion in particular, but at one time or another, wars were fought in the name of Christianity (ie: Crusades), some pockets of Christianity deemed scientific study as heretical, and for hundreds of years, many American Christians saw nothing wrong with owning slaves. A small portion of Muslim groups use their religion to murder people of other religions. I don't know of any religion that has not had this bad seed germinating within its ranks at some point, but, as I indicated above, science is not immune to that result either.
The number of superstitions and limited understandings that were mixed in among all religious, scientific, and intellectual beliefs throughout time are too many to count. With all of these vaguely referenced examples, there are many more mistakes that have been made, and misunderstandings that caused a lot of pain. There are also countless more examples of progress and goodness, changed hearts and minds, changed cultures and technologies that have been birthed out of these pursuits.
Over time, as we constantly strive and seek to discover more about the Truth of how our world works, what it means to be human, and what it means in the way we treat one another, there must always be this awareness that we don't know the whole story yet. Some things will always be true, like the fact that we are held down to the planet by what we currently know as gravity, that people's hearts can change, and the immutable sense which most people have, that we are either spiritually or physically, not alone in the universe. We only see and know in part, to borrow a turn of phrase from the Bible. This perspective, I hope, will keep the long view in mind; the one that acknowledges we are on a journey to know the Truth, and, that the responsibility entrusted to us as each discovery within the religion or science realm is made, must be held with reverence, humility, and a little bit of awe. Religion and Science are not opposites. They, like Art, Literature, Math, Philosophy, and many countless areas of study, are in the same, often bumbling pursuit of attaining, explaining, and experiencing the Truth of our existence and meaning. It is when we hold our knowledge in arrogance, believing that we know ALL of the answers right now and have never made mistakes, when we are unwilling to listen or apologize, and unwilling to learn what we can from the other vantages, that the results are deformed. All of humanity, at one point or another, has allowed our self-righteous anger and the arrogance of our limited knowledge to justify evil intent towards others. In doing so, we miss seeing the beauty of the ultimate Truth and Love that is unfolding before our eyes.
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