Hear, hear. Religion and science are FAR from incompatible. As Galileo said - I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use. Yeah, I may have issues with a few scientific theories, for multiple reasons... but plenty of atheists have issues with them as well from a purely factual standpoint, and no one can blame their lack of faith for that. As you said, scientists are constantly learning more about the world, and needing to revise long-held beliefs - it's not as if challenging some point reflects a rejection of the whole. And yet... when it comes to certain things, the sheer emotional reaction, and even refusal to consider valid contradictory information, from some people claiming to be working on pure logic and facts is... well, kind of more reflective of people shouting, "Die, heretic! How dare you commit such sacrilege!" XP I do think that part of the problem comes when some people treat science as their religion, and therefore have difficulty when someone challenges any aspect of what, for them, are deeply-held beliefs, not facts and theories always subject to further testing and modification when new discoveries are made.
And oh yes, on the "People who don't agree with me are evil and need to be crushed into silence!" tendencies. They do seem to be getting worse and worse lately. I thought "tolerance" was supposed to be such a big thing these days... but it seems what it's actually turned into is "I will tolerate you and love you if you believe in and support exactly the same things I do - but if you're one of those stupid, nasty people I deem intolerant because you disagree with me about something, then of COURSE you've lost your right to an opinion, no matter what the reasons behind it!" :/
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Date: 2012-11-22 12:10 am (UTC)From:And oh yes, on the "People who don't agree with me are evil and need to be crushed into silence!" tendencies. They do seem to be getting worse and worse lately. I thought "tolerance" was supposed to be such a big thing these days... but it seems what it's actually turned into is "I will tolerate you and love you if you believe in and support exactly the same things I do - but if you're one of those stupid, nasty people I deem intolerant because you disagree with me about something, then of COURSE you've lost your right to an opinion, no matter what the reasons behind it!" :/