Understanding Scientific Mistakes

Bacon

When Franciscan friar Roger Bacon began his development of the scientific method some 800 years ago, he was not trying to create a new way of investigating the world.  A devout Catholic, he was hoping to discern God’s design through research.

The same reason motivated scientists and scholars who were gathered in the two Houses of Knowledge created separately in the Muslim world.

Their efforts helped unleash a cornucopia of information that has been enhanced by each generation of scientists who have followed.  At the same time, they undermined the very reason that prompted their studies.

MRI scans

Scientists today have pierced through the inner realms of the body.  Such formulas as DNA have surrendered their secrets as have the origins of many diseases.  Our modern understanding of medicine and treatment has erased thoughts of Furies and divine punishments.  Our diseases don’t come from some heavenly mandate, but are often the result of microorganisms inexplicable to Bacon and his successors for centuries.

Prayer may soothe worries, but is not an antidote to any disease.

At the same time, scientists have developed tools to explore space, to understand how the universe developed, where planets come from.  Nicolai Copernicus moved the Earth from the center of the universe; modern astronomers now know we are on small, rocky planet on the outer arm of a medium-sized galaxy, one of innumerable planets and almost as many stars.

Rover on Mars

In doing so, however, they have shown that no God is necessary.  Planet and star formation continue and have been observed.  The steady hum of the Big Bang still informs sensitive listening equipment.  Our satellites have filmed the other planets in our solar system, landed on some of them, dove through their poisonous clouds and explained their presence.

On this planet, scientists are cloning animals, understanding the process of animation and nearing the time when life itself with be no mystery.  God will soon be erased from that realm, too.

Tectonics

In addition, scholars in archaeology, paleontology and anthropology have demonstrated conclusively the natural processes that led to man, how the Earth breathes, how the land moves so slowly that the results must be seen across millions of years.  The evidence in the chemicals and in the geological processes have created paradigms, while effacing any need for some divine figure

Faithful folks looking on, refusing to acknowledge their beliefs are fatally wounded, see disagreements among researchers and assume that means the findings are wrong.  They don’t realize that’s how science works and has since Bacon initiated his experiments.

Some scientist proposes an idea, a hypothesis, based on current findings.  Others search for contrary evidence.  If they can’t find it, the concept moves to a theory.  If not, the idea is discarded, one of many proposals that have vanished or lingered on the borders of science. 

Sometimes, the evidence shows up much later, when technology reaches the necessary level.  That’s what happened with plate tectonics, a theory ridiculed at first and then proven accurate.

Darwin

All theories are continually tested with new proposals constantly raised.  That’s how science advances, with each idea pulled and debated until it is honed into something demonstrable provable.  The process never ends.  As a result, even something as accepted as The Big Bang or evolution remains under study as scientists prod and probe.

Today, for example, we know Charles Darwin was wrong -- not about evolution or natural selection, but about the process. He thought it necessarily took eons of time and that all creatures were endlessly fighting for the survival of the fittest.  Today, we know that some changes can be abrupt as a result of environmental impact or mutations.  We also know that some living creatures work in harmony rather than competition.

To believers, the understanding of Darwin’s errors constitutes a sign that his theory was wrong.  Actually, it’s evidence that science is alive and well.

None of this relates to God.  There’s no proof of the existence or nonexistence of God. There can’t be.  As a result, the concept cannot be tested.  No scholar has ever submitted a single paper to a reputable scientific journal that uses evidence to "prove" such theories as creationism.  Besides, centuries of research have repeatedly demonstrated that natural reasons exist behind everything.  Injecting a god would simply contradict clear evidence uncovered by extensive human effort.

Bacon would have been stunned by the ironic results.  The Church definitely was and soon banned scientific studies while attacking scholars.  Caliphs did the same thing as evidence piled up, contradicting religious teachings.

It was too late.

The research continues.  God has no part to play in that either.

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history with an occasional foray into American culture.  He holds an ABD in American Studies from Case Western Reserve University.   He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida.  You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net.  He is the author of the famed Unauthorized Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel Writers Get Their Information; Noel: The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Dummies Guide to Comparative Religion.  A recent book, Passover in Prison, which details abuse of Jewish inmates in American prisons.  His books are available on Amazon.com, Kindle, bookstores and via various publishers.  He can also be followed on Twitter.

Dreaming of Changing Faiths

Kansas City

Last night, I had the oddest dream.  I was walking in Kansas City – I’ve never been there, but a friend just got a job in a company based there – when I was recognized by a sheriff, who was dressed in a suit.  I didn’t know him, and have no idea how I knew he was in law enforcement, but he knew me as a reporter and called me by name.  I have retired, but he didn’t know that.

Heaven?

He told me that he was a member of the Church of Christ, but was concerned because membership had fallen.  As we walked past stores in a crowded business area, I started to explain why.

I woke up then, but still remember the reasons.

For starters, the internet has opened our eyes to multiple cultures and religions.  It’s no longer realistic to tell people only believers of one religion will go to heaven and everyone else will be punished.  When we didn’t know how many billions of other people there are or that some of them have the same belief, but in their own religion, any claim will work.  That’s not true anymore.

Second, the more we know, the less plausible heaven and hell seems.  A true believer has a problem believing he’s going to be rewarded after death, but must accept the existence of multiple heavens for others, who have different beliefs, but are living “good” lives.

Hell?

Pope Francis tried to end that confusion by saying all good people, including atheists, can go to heaven.  That disrupted the centuries-old insistence that only Catholic believers in Jesus can be “saved.”  After all, the New Testament claims that.  However, Francis had no choice but to concede the obvious.

If heaven has an open door, hell has vanished.  The concept of people being punished for not believing a certain dogma simply makes no sense, not with a known 4,600 religions with each having its own tenets.  Many have punishments as well.  Actually, the idea that all the people born before Jesus and having no way to believe in him would face eternal punishment simply because of when they were born never seemed plausible anyway.

Then, too, religion has undermined itself with the Catholic Church trying to hide pervasive priestly abuse of children, and evangelicals actively supporting such known pedophiles as Roy Moore and known adulterers like Donald Trump.  They have conceded morality to nonbelievers without a whimper of shame.

Bible

In addition, biblical claims of inerrancy have been completely compromised by archaeology, anthropology and other sciences.  Believers are forced to close their eyes and ears to documented research, moaning as the Bible is reduced to a collection of unsupported stories combined with morality teachings.  As time passes, concepts of morality are altered anyway.  The Bible has come up short in that area, too.  The Catholic Church has abetted the shift in culture by conceding that the Bible represents not facts but the “beliefs” of the authors.

Moreover, the old concept of a God who sees everything and is involved in our lives has become unbelievable.  A simple glance at the news shows that innocent people are struck down randomly, such as a child dying of the flu or a car driver swept away by a surprise cascade of mud. We are inundated with such obvious contradictions of faith on a daily basis.  The traditional excuse that God works in mysterious ways falls flat.

Where can anyone find a God in daily life?

Wiesel

Elie Wiesel gave his definition when, in 1945, he watched the hanging of a young boy in a concentration camp.  That was God, he told a companion, hanging from that noose.  He lost any faith, as have many others since.  That life is a series of random events has become increasingly obvious.

Then, too, we have new gods.  Humans like Mao and Stalin were elevated as divinities, in the same way Romans defied emperors or Greeks turned heroes, even imaginary ones like Hercules, into gods.  We have done the same with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln and other cultural touchstones, including the National Anthem and the flag. 

Everyone has their own god anyway: Allah or Muslims, Yahweh for Jews; and Jesus for Christians. Or no god, like Buddhists; or thousands of gods, like Hindus. The whole concept has become untenable.

Besides, we are also turning electronics into gods, just as Paul Simon noted in the 1960s: “And the people bowed and prayed/to neon god they made.”

Tragg

The end result is that vast numbers of people are walking away from our existing religions.  Statistically, nearly 24 percent of the American population are no longer associated with a religious organization, the highest number of “nones” ever reported.  The totals continue to grow, leaving my dream sheriff, who reminded me of Lt. Tragg from the old Perry Mason TV series, to wonder about the future of his belief.

Even in my dream, the sheriff knew today's violence, along with the persistent attempts by believers to control books, media and lives, represents the last spasms of aging, fading religions.  One look at the lonely old souls who are typically the only ones these days occupying pews would illustrate that.

For the shrinking remnant of believers, of course, this scenario is not a dream, but a nightmare.  For the rest of us, it’s the end of one era and the beginning of the next.

Long-time religious historian Bill Lazarus regularly writes about religion and religious history with an occasional foray into American culture.  He holds an ABD in American Studies from Case Western Reserve University.   He also speaks at various religious organizations throughout Florida.  You can reach him at www.williamplazarus.net.  He is the author of the famed Unauthorized Biography of Nostradamus; The Last Testament of Simon Peter; The Gospel Truth: Where Did the Gospel Writers Get Their Information; Noel: The Lore and Tradition of Christmas Carols; and Dummies Guide to Comparative Religion.  A recent book, Passover in

The Shepherd Poem

Amidst the steady stream of cars

In a crowded intersection,

He stood.

Proud and erect, directing the flock

By his meek presence.

They moved around him,

Shaped into a proper flow

In easy rhythm.

He gave no signals,

Made no gestures.

He smiled, he looked,

Into the eyes of each driver,

Silently directing.

The cars swirled about him;

He was not afraid.

As Jesus before him,

He loved his sheep.

He raised his sign

In silent prayer

That all might read the good news.

It read:

“Will work for food.”