Sunday, October 4, 2009

Using science and religion for good and evil...

People could use science for good or evil, just as people could use religion for good or evil.


I disagree with that assessment. Science helps give one a good idea of how to do things. If you want to create crops that are resistant to parasites or drought you use science to that end. It's a way of doing things more effectively. It has no real bearing on what things you want to do. It only answers the question of what you should do if you want to do this. Religion largely does the same thing but rather than providing a clear and functional picture of what you need to do get some result it paints a vastly flawed version of reality. So if one lives a purely scientific life and wants to help and decides to contribute to the green revolution, then they will feed people and help the world. Whereas if somebody is religious and has the same desire to help the people of the world, they might simply pray that the people be fed.

So yes, one could use science for good or evil, but I don't think it's the case that you can use religion for good or evil because, frankly, religion doesn't work.

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