Science Cannot Replace Religion

Science finds out how nature operates and then gives names to new issues and phenomena. Science specifies new natural laws through experimental work and using chains of evidence. Earlier proven issues and methods are always used as the primary evidence for new ones, because effects cannot exist without causes. If we have the courage to pursue this chain of evidence to the very end and meet the original cause then we will always end up with God, i.e. we will find the primary reason, which has no cause. Atheists try to wriggle out from this logical problem by inventing some name for this primary reason, such as the Big Bang.

All matter, energy, life and spirit was compressed into a space smaller than a pinhead 14 billion years ago, according to the current official scientific conception. Scientific facts may, however, change because we still know less than one percent of the existing natural laws and matters. Science changes and improves our understanding of the universe all the time, however, we will always find God at the final end of every scientific footpath, now and forever.

Beauty, wisdom, justice, love and faith cannot be measured with a gauge nor with any physical or chemical instrument. They do not react with matter or energy but they still are as real as granite, because the human spirit makes them visible. Consequently, we are pure spiritual beings, who have temporarily been locked into our bodies. We may notice this spirit when we meet our friend’s eyes and listen to his opinions; it is not the voice of the material.

Different Domains

Science does not speak out about the questions that are of fundamental importance for the human spirit, namely, right and wrong. Religion finds the answers to these questions. Real science bravely finds out which material issues are true and which are false. Using science, we may improve the welfare of our bodies. Real religion finds out the spiritual issues which are true and which make our soul happy. These positive effects may be used to identify true science and true religion from the false and the fake.

A false religion, philosophy or science guides humans and their neighbors to the desperation of suicide and to economical and ethical bankruptcy. Whereas the real religion and science helps humans to face and solve their daily problems. This day, the one we are living right now, is always the most important stage for us, because it is the only occasion where we can make changes and improvements. Real science and religion support each other. The misleading disagreement always arises from false scientific or religious assumptions and interpretations. However, in the long run renewable and dynamic science and religion will meet in agreement.

Our life and world has been designed exactly and accurately just like this, so that we can make a free choice between faith and atheism. We could not make this free choice if we could prove the existence of God or some higher force using some scientific procedure. Mercy, justice, love, the flowers in the meadow, the atom or the whole universe are all valid evidence of God for the Hindu or Catholic but the atheist may look at the world from a different perspective. The final proofs are “I am” and “You are” for the religious human, but the atheist has the full right to believe in accidents, luck and fate.

Atheism and skepticism need much more blind faith than faith in Jesus does, because science cannot prove that God does not exist. A Lutheran, Orthodox, Moslem or Jew can be absolutely sure of God, because they do not base their faith on scientific evidence but instead on the God’s Adjuster which lives in our minds. This tiny fraction of God makes our survival possible and wakes up our religiousness.

We Need Courage

We need courage to find the scientific or religious truth. The truth is difficult to find if we do not have the courage to study and explore all the information sources, taboos and even sources which have been branded as suspect. The truth does not depend at all on the information source, author or ism; the truth is based purely on verified scientific and spiritual facts. We should also listen to the voice of our own sense and conscience, which is the main reason we have them.

We may find a lot of truth, for example, from the Koran, Bible and also from the Urantia Book, which gives a logical explanation of why we are here, where we come from and where we are going. Our world and language are changing all the time; we do not need to persist with thousand-year-old assumptions and interpretations in science and religion. We have enough old rituals, holy icons and empty phrases. Instead, we deserve dynamic and living science, faith and religion, which really affect on our decisions, selections and activities in our daily life.

Philosophy and Ethics

Philosophy and ethics solve similar issues as religion; however, many conclusions may be different due to the different basic assumptions. Materialistic philosophy assumes that we live only some 80 years but religious philosophy conclusions are based on the idea of eternal life. This gives a totally different perspective to our daily life. This religious perspective gives a much more logical explanation for our day-to-day hardship and struggle than a purely philosophical point of view, for example:

- We could not understand courage if we could not meet fear and disappointments.
- Without pain and suffering we could not strive for pleasure and joy.
- We could not find altruism and humanism if we could not face social inequality and injustice.
- We could not internalize the love of truth if error and falsehood did not exist.
- We could not comprehend hope and trust if insecurity, accidents and diseases were not always present.
- We could not understand the justice if the greed and unequality did not exist.

We can strive for these valuable qualities only in a world like this, where we can trust only in the mercy and love of our Creator. In a perfect and error-free universe we could not reach these targets. The few years that we spend on the earth is the first day of our eternal journey of exploration; therefore we should always do our best. We often imagine that all our achievements are based on our own skills, but this is not true. Nearly all our victories are based on the work done by our fellows and hundreds of earlier human generations; we live on the giant’s shoulder. Therefore we should pay it forward and do our share to improve the world.

Our universe, atoms, material and life have been created using such vast wisdom and skill that the creation of a perfect paradise would have been a much easier task. We should be aware that even a tiny virus or small seed contains more sophisticated engineering than any human created device. Creation means the soul, life, gravity, photons, elements, space and laws of the nature. The evolution means the consequences of these basic building materials of our world, the evidences may be found from the geological stratums and sediments.

We have a much more elevated goal than just obeying rules and observing laws, instead we should also listen to our sense and conscience to find out what is right and what is wrong. The exploitation of our poor and fragile brothers or sisters may be possible by law but not by true religious philosophy. Our world is changing all the time and therefore our God does not need robots but humans who can make their own wise decisions and have faith without material evidence. Religious groups should gradually realize that we are not enemies, we have the same God and destination and we may learn a lot from each other. We should notice that the main difference is the rituals and cults.

Philosophy without God is like a thermometer with an unlocked calibration point. Materialistic philosophy may offer a temporary relief and survival like a drifting buoy in the ocean but religious philosophy leads the way to eternal survival like a lighthouse on a granite base.

God Is the Source and Destination

God brings unity and a calibration point to philosophy and ethics. Philosophy cannot attain equality between all humans without the concept of one God or Creator. Only this concept and idea can make all of us brothers and sisters with equal human rights. This is the only way to reach the light and worldwide peace. This simple concept will also lead us to serve and worship our fellowmen instead of serving holy relics and empty rituals. God does not live in fetishes but in our minds as God’s Adjuster. Therefore, the businessperson may worship God by making fair deals, the engineer by creating green processes and the artist with cheerful and entertaining production.

To science God is a cause, to philosophy a hypothesis of unity and to religion a living person. For the human being God is the source like father and mother, but he is also the destination because our soul desires for fusion with this tiny fraction of God, which lives in our minds. The human being is a dualistic creature, composed of female and male parts with equal rights. These two poles are different but equally important and they make our life fascinating and exciting because they both give us a different perspective to our world. The dissimilarity and variations are not defects but the power, which increases the richness of our life and makes us stronger.

I want to change the world into a better place for Christian, Moslem and atheist. The only way towards this target is the idea of one God and Creator, which makes us equal. Otherwise, we tend to consider our own God, philosophy, race, religion, gender and country as superior to the others. This misapprehension will always justify the oppression of your neighbor. I would like to change the world to a place:

- Where we don’t need barbed wire fences between different religious groups.
- Where the verdict of the court doesn’t depend on the prosperity of the defendant.
- Where religious rituals can’t replace the esteem of our fellow man in daily life.
- Where women have equal rights with men.
- Where the illusion of sovereignty cannot be used as an excuse to start wars and conflicts.
- Where we don’t have to hide our personality behind walls and pseudonyms like rats in holes.
- Where justice is more important issue than traditions, cults and bureaucracy.

Two thousand years ago, cowards shouted “Free Barabbas” and “Crucify Jesus”. Many of us may imagine that this does not affect us, however, at the moment of “departure”, each of us will face this very same personal choice.

Antti Roine, May 15, 2005

PS. I would be glad to get your feedback and comments how to improve this column.