Religion and Science; both are necessary

There have been several articles recently in these columns on the relative merit and demerit of religion and science. An interesting article though somewhat unbalanced was the one written by Govind Bhattacharjee who had attempted to show that religion is full of evil and that science must redeem religion (The Island, 26th & 28th Nov.2022). He begins with a reference to Fritjof Capra, who in his “Tao of Physics” written in 1975 says science does not need religion and religion does not need science while man needs both. Capra is a physicist and an ecologist and held the post of Director of the Center for Ecoliteracy, Berkeley, California. In his works he attempts to find a linkage between modern physics and eastern (Vedic) mysticism. He says that both physics and metaphysics lead inexorably to the same knowledge. While not fully agreeing with his views one could see whether the world needs both science and religion.

Bhattacharjee says religion has brought untold misery and suffering upon humanity throughout the course of history by claiming certainty in “information” and “facts” amenable neither to reason nor to observation. As examples of misery and suffering that religion has brought upon humanity, he mentions the burning at the stake of heretics and atrocities committed by Islamic regimes. While burning of heretics took place in the “Dark Ages”, the “Age of Enlightenment” brought about a transformation of Christian attitude towards science to a significant degree. Moreover, religion cannot be blamed for what happens in countries like Afghanistan where Islamic fundamentalists and extremists have taken over political power. Prophet Mohamed’s pacific religion has been distorted to suit the dogmatism and bigotry of the extremists and religious wallahs.

Both science and religion were made by man to meet different needs. From very early times man has been delving into both religion and science. In early civilizations such as Mesapothamia, Egypt, China, India religion and science were contributory to the nurturing and development of their industry and culture. Early man like his present counterpart had an inquiring mind and also a sense of spirituality. Inquiry into mysteries of nature resulted in science and spirituality led to the invention of religion. The basis for such a division of interest was the belief that there is something beyond the physical world and the need to connect with that higher power. The meaninglessness of being attached to the mundane physical phenomena was being felt by early man as is the case with the modern counterpart. The meaning of life which was short and full of evil was a mystery that could not be unravelled by scientific inquiry and man needed a different approach to understand that aspect of life. The belief in the spirit or soul that is different, transcendental and beyond the realm of the physical world was a need, a comfort and a source of solace. A code of ethics for leading a good life formed the basis of religion. In parallel to these development, science made vast strides and solved many problems but could not totally displace or eliminate the need for religion.

More importantly man had to come to terms with the evil that resides within his own psyche. Greed, hatred, jealousy, violence, self-ego, ignorance were part of human nature and these phenomena needed to be understood and pacified. Science was inadequate to deal with these psychological problems. Apart from saying these characteristics were inherited in the process of evolution, science has not found a remedy for these ills. Religion on the other hand has succeeded in developing remedial measures aimed at eliminating these defilements. Meditation is one such method that has the ability to train the mind to control these ills. If these evil characteristics are left unabated they could cause immense harm. What we witness now is a world in chaos. Wars, extremes of riches and extremes of poverty existing side by side, ecological destruction threatening the very existence of life are a few of the ills caused by greed, hatred, self-ego and such human characteristics. Science has been a facilitator and a partner in most of these foul endeavours of man.

However just as religion cannot be blamed for evil deeds of religious practitioners, science cannot be indicted for the crimes of scientists. Just as science could be manipulated to do evil, religion could be distorted to serve the foul purpose of the religious practitioner. But just as science is indispensable to man, religion has an important role to play in this mad world.

Belief is important for the practice and development of both religion and science.  Belief is defined as the state of mind regarding a phenomenon with or without empirical evidence. Beliefs could be differentiated into Belief-in and Belief-that, in the sense that for instance one could believe in god and one could believe that the Sun rises from the East. The former type of belief is linked with religion, while the latter belongs to epistemological considerations and scientific knowledge. Psychologists have studied belief formation and have proposed several possible models for the process of belief formation. Inference from past experience could be one model. Cumulative effect of several pieces of information could be another. Inculcation or internalisation during childhood could be another method of belief formation e.g. religion, so could the influence of charismatic leaders who could cause the formation or modification of beliefs. While religious belief is based on faith, scientific belief is a forerunner in the process of development of knowledge. Faith and belief in god or a similar phenomenon could be a source of comfort and solace to a person afflicted by the human predicament. On the other hand scientific belief could be transformed into scientific knowledge if facts could be found to support the belief. Bertrand Russel defines knowledge as belief supported by facts. Scientific method is the process designed to find these facts. Religious practice is designed to strengthen religious belief. Both types of beliefs may be necessary for mankind.

There have been attempts, mainly by scientists who are believers in religion, to bring about a reconciliation of science and religion. Understandably this has not been very successful and the fact of the matter is that there is no need for this. Science could stand on its own merit and so could religion. However when religion attempts to explain, for instance the origin of the world in terms of a creator god it could be encroaching into the territory of science leading to friction and this too is unnecessary for religion to have more important work to do. This may have been what great scientist Albert Einstein meant when he said he does not believe in a personal god. He did not reject religion. He has also said that Buddhism may be the religion of the future which shows that he may have believed in the importance of religion. This may bring us to the question whether Buddhism is a religion or a philosophy. The answer could be that Buddhism has features of both philosophy and religion and at a very profound level too.

Bhattacharjee has said science may have to redeem religion. This may be an unbalanced statement considering the fact that it is the practitioners of both science and religion that have sinned and not science or religion. Perhaps the sinners of both sides of the divide need the philosophies, ethics and tenets of these two creations of mankind to redeem themselves.

N.A.de S. Amaratunga