By JERRY COYNE - WHY EVOLUTION IS TRUE
Added: Sat, 13 Jun 2009 23:00:00 UTC

http://whyevolutionistrue.wordpress.com/2009/06/14/does-religion-have-greater-epistemic-competence-than-science-in-some-areas/

Take a look at this article from Naturalism.org; it’s about the misguided notion that in some areas faith can give us genuine answers to questions before which science is impotent. This is the NOMA refrain that we hear constantly from organizations like the National Academy of Sciences, the National Center for Science Education,and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Are there “ways of knowing” that are not only unique to faith, but provide real answers about the nature of the universe? I have long thought that this notion is completely misguided, a conclusion reached in the article. A snippet:

A popular rationale for such respect is that science and religion don’t conflict since science can’t evaluate religious claims about the supernatural; it’s only concerned with the natural, material world. This suggests that religions have epistemic authority when it comes to the supernatural. Some recent statements about the relationship of science and religion make this point:

Science is recognized internationally as the best way to find out about the natural world. But the natural world is not the only thing that human beings ask questions about…[M]ost people believe that there is a universe or world or something beyond or other than the material one, which is populated by gods, spirits, ancestors, or other non-material beings. Science doesn’t tell us anything about this world; this transcendent world is the provenance of religion. – Eugenie C. Scott, Evolution vs. Creationism, p. 47, original emphasis.

Because science is limited to explaining the natural world by means of natural processes, it cannot use supernatural causation in its explanations. Similarly, science is precluded from making statements about supernatural forces because these are outside its provenance. Science has increased our knowledge because of this insistence on the search for natural causes. – National Science Teachers Association, in Teaching About Evolution and the Nature of Science p. 124

TAGGED: COMMENTARY, RELIGION, SCIENCE