Doulos Iesou
Member
Throughout this forum you will find a wide assortment of people espousing all kinds of beliefs be it flat earth, young earth, geocentricity, creationism, etc. To a person who is knowledgeable about the history of science, it will seem rather odd, almost like being back in time to see what most view as outdated and falsified ideas being held so zealously. This is not to demean those who hold to these ideas, but rather to highlight a major point that largely goes undiscussed on this forum. That point is the nature of Religious Belief and how it affects our Objectivity on matters related to the scientific.
A religious belief is very different from a normal belief, for instance I believe that it will rain this week in Washington State. I hold this belief based off of projections made by experts, my own personal experience in Washington State, and given the fact that it has the appearance of looking like it will rain continuously this week. If you were to disagree with me on this belief, it would be highly unlikely to illicit an emotional response from me. I wouldn't passionately defend my belief and state my allegiance to a person or thing as an anchor to my belief. I am actually rather indifferent about the weather this week, which leaves me somewhat objective about what I and others predict will happen.
Religious beliefs on the other hand are on matters more consequential to us and thus come with more emotional power behind our beliefs. These are beliefs that we stake our identity on, that we plot our life's course on the basis of them being true. Most importantly, we root these beliefs within trusting in a particular person, God. Therefore when we are challenged in our beliefs on a certain point, be it Evolution, many of us will object fervently as it appears almost as an assault on God. That it must be some secular or perhaps demonic plot to subvert belief in the God we cherish for acceptance of some natural series of events that created the diversity we see.
I am not saying that having religious beliefs are wrong, but what I am saying is that they deeply influence our ability to be objective. Would someone really believe in a flat earth, were it not for some text that they interpret such? Would someone really believe the earth is only 6,000 if it were not for an inference made off of a religious text? Given that modern science is driven by skepticism, it seems rather incompatible with religious belief which is founded on a deep trust.
On this basis, it makes debate and discussion on this forum very difficult. It is extremely difficult to separate oneself from their own point of view, especially when it is so important and powerful to them, and look to someone else's perspective or entertain an idea they don't accept.
Thus it is my opinion that Religious Belief does not lead towards objectivity, especially on matters pertaining to science. Note that I am not saying that simply because one has religious beliefs that they cannot be objective, I am merely saying that it makes it much more difficult.
A religious belief is very different from a normal belief, for instance I believe that it will rain this week in Washington State. I hold this belief based off of projections made by experts, my own personal experience in Washington State, and given the fact that it has the appearance of looking like it will rain continuously this week. If you were to disagree with me on this belief, it would be highly unlikely to illicit an emotional response from me. I wouldn't passionately defend my belief and state my allegiance to a person or thing as an anchor to my belief. I am actually rather indifferent about the weather this week, which leaves me somewhat objective about what I and others predict will happen.
Religious beliefs on the other hand are on matters more consequential to us and thus come with more emotional power behind our beliefs. These are beliefs that we stake our identity on, that we plot our life's course on the basis of them being true. Most importantly, we root these beliefs within trusting in a particular person, God. Therefore when we are challenged in our beliefs on a certain point, be it Evolution, many of us will object fervently as it appears almost as an assault on God. That it must be some secular or perhaps demonic plot to subvert belief in the God we cherish for acceptance of some natural series of events that created the diversity we see.
I am not saying that having religious beliefs are wrong, but what I am saying is that they deeply influence our ability to be objective. Would someone really believe in a flat earth, were it not for some text that they interpret such? Would someone really believe the earth is only 6,000 if it were not for an inference made off of a religious text? Given that modern science is driven by skepticism, it seems rather incompatible with religious belief which is founded on a deep trust.
On this basis, it makes debate and discussion on this forum very difficult. It is extremely difficult to separate oneself from their own point of view, especially when it is so important and powerful to them, and look to someone else's perspective or entertain an idea they don't accept.
Thus it is my opinion that Religious Belief does not lead towards objectivity, especially on matters pertaining to science. Note that I am not saying that simply because one has religious beliefs that they cannot be objective, I am merely saying that it makes it much more difficult.