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Conflicts & occasional agreements in
"truth" between science and religion

Overview:

The following two quotations indicate the range of beliefs about the truth of science and religion:

	Anon: "There can never be a conflict between true science and true religion, because they both describe reality." Excerpt from a posting to a religious mailing list.
	Peter Atkins: "Science is almost totally incompatible with religion."

This section looks at the conflicts between the truth claims of science and religion. It also describes attempts to evaluate religion by using scientific methods -- and vice-versa.

First, a very insightful and popular interview of Neil DeGrasse Tyson by Bill Moyers:

The video concerns the relationship between science and religion. It is a little over 10 minutes long and was uploaded to You Tube on 2015-MAR-02. Almost two years later, it accumulated over 1.5 million views, about 20,000 likes, 1,160 dislikes and almost 20,000 comments!

The video is named: "Neil Tyson Tired of God." A better title might be: "Neil Tyson discusses the religion-science conflict."

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Topics covered in this section:

Introduction

Active conflicts between religion and science: A very brief overview with examples and causes A more detailed overview   Current conflicts between conservative Christianity and science   An essay donated by Daniel Friedman: "Is God necessary to explain the universe?" An essay donated by Larry Langston: "Does anything exist beyond the physical?" Five essays donated by Susan Humphreys: Does science refute God's existence? "Science's Achilles Heel: Is it really unable to explain why stuff matters?" Science, the universe, and its component parts The Three Primal Processes, and how they work in the Universe "Winter Wonders" In topics related to the earth and the rest of the universe:  Environmental concerns Evolution and creation science: All sides of the conflict 2014-FEB: Evolution v. creationism debate between Bill Nye & Ken Ham: Part 1 The personalities. Why does the evolution/ creationism conflict exist? Comparing what scientists and the general public believe about evolution and creation. Is a debate between Ham and Nye a good idea? Part 2 Video of the debate. Who won the debate? What arguments were used? Ken Ham's best arguments. Part 3 Ken Ham's best arguments (Cont'd), Would a different debate structure be better? Part 4 Questions believers in creationism ask, with answers that might come from evolutionists. Archaeology and the Bible: Is the Bible historically accurate? Cosmology: the layout and origin of the universe. Different views of the shape of the Earth live on today. Possible resolution to the conflict.   In ethics and morality: What is truth?: Does absolute truth exist? Theological implications of baby research at Yale With religious icons/relics/artifacts: The Shroud of Turin: Is it Jesus' burial shroud, a religious icon, or a fake?   In human sexuality: The nature of homosexuality: Two views -- chosen, abnormal, unnatural, changeable lifestyle or unchosen, normal, natural fixed orientation?   Transgender individuals: Multiple religious and scientific views on the cause and nature of being transgender.   Miracles

	Science evaluating religion: Speaking in tongues: what it is; the results of studies. Can we learn God's will through prayer? The results of a small pilot survey. We hope that someone will follow it up with a scientific study. Holy visions: caused by God or by a brain disorder? Can prayer cure people's diseases or disorders? Are there codes hidden in the Bible?
	Religion evaluating science: Methods of healing: A battle between faith healing and medical treatment.
	Information on science, religion, evolution, cosmology, and life on other planets: Links to websites dealing with science and religion Recent scientific findings related to origins of the species, cosmology, etc An ultimate question: Is there intelligent life beyond the Earth? "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence"(SETI) programs. Religious aspects of intelligent life on other planets. Part 1  Part 2  Part 3  Part 4 An unexpected gas, often associated with life, found on the planet Venus!

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Related section on this web site:

We have a "list of dozens of hot religious topics" that are being intensely debated in society. A conflict between science and religion forms the basis of many of them. Topics range from abortion and capital punishment to the nature of truth, and women in the clergy to the LGBT community composed of persons with a heterosexual, homosexual, and bisexual orientation, and transgender/transsexual persons.

Copyright © 1999 to 2017 by Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Originally written: 1999-NOV-28
Latest update: 2019-MAR
Author: B.A. Robinson

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