Honest discussion on science and religion for 100, Alex.

The gulf between the religious and non-religious is growing. Don't believe me? Listen to the name-calling and angry ranting that BOTH sides do when they get the chance.

"Religious people are nothing more than closed-, small-minded idiots who aren't smart enough to know their head from their..."

"Evolutionists are too stupid to see the glory of God in the world around them! They have their noses turned up so high they miss the obvious!"

And on and on and on the discussion goes. We rarely stop to listen to one another.

I recently was reading a blog about this topic, and this was my response to the discussion that was ongoing. (I will list it below.) The discussion does what discussions on science/religion normally do: They bog down in semantics, argue that they are right, and never actually say anything to prove or disprove their points. They simply argue about the idiocy of the other side.

How do we discuss topics of science, sociology, and religion openly and honestly without getting our feelings hurt or hurting the feelings of another? Can we do that? How can we have honest discussion with those we don't agree with?

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From what I have read today in this post, we have the same problem that Scot was alluding to: we aren't listening to one another. The discussion going back and forth has gotten bogged down in semantics, which is what usually happens.

Hrafn, the honest religious person would make the statement, "I don't have it all figured out, because God is so much greater and more mysterious than I can imagine." (Yes, that is religious from Judeo-Christian perspective, but it is my heritage and worldview so bear with me.) Honest religious people (can I just say Christians) have a fundamental belief in the God who is. Some argue for literal 6-day creationism; others leave room for creative evolution or see God's hand in the evolutionary process. The honest Christian is always seeking and searching for Truth, for the unexamined faith is not worth having.

The honest scientist would also make the statement, "I don't have it all figured out" also. Scientific certainty exists until someone comes along and dismantles it with the latest theory to explain how things work. Scientists are always looking for new ways to understand what they see; the honest scientist will tell you they are still growing and searching.

Can science and faith coexist? Absolutely yes. Is it always easy? Absolutely not. Are we sometimes at odds? Sure.

The most important thing we can do is first LISTEN to one another openly. Too often we listen to the other's point of view while simply building up our arguments in our mind, so we never actually actively hear what the other person is saying. We simply argue out our points: "Evolution is fact!" "NO! Evolution is theory!" Yet we never actually say much of anything worthwhile. We don't even defend our positions well, we just dig deeper trenches. (Don't worry, we do the same thing in politics, too.)

Sorry if I rambled, but I just wish we could have deeper discussions on the differences and similarities between science and religion, looking to where we can coexist and peacefully deciding where we might agree to disagree. Will it ever be 100% harmonious? No, but I think it could be a lot better.