Greetings all, i don’t particularly post a lot these days but there seems to be a number of new interesting forumites around i feel that perhaps i shall take an opportune moment to ask a question.
Admittedly this is a bit of an opinion question, but i’m hoping that people can show a certain level of civility and restraint in airing out those opinions.
I’ve come to today ask about the religion and the discomfort of biology. What I mean by that is the following. I’m not here to bore you with the “Science vs. Religion” warfare paradigm, simply because i don’t buy into it, at least not in its extreme form as if there were two idealized factions warring across the face of human history.
But if we are to chop up all the sciences into their individual specific fields, there seems to be rather heavy discomfort with the theoretical and applied aspects of biology vis-a-vis religion, be you Catholic, Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, or otherwise.
Stop and think with me for a second. In the long history of Western science, fields like Chemistry or Geology do not evince a very negative reaction.
Chemistry’s forefather alchemy tended to get a light slap on the wrist in terms of the idea of turning lead to gold. But the religious authorities backing such negative criticism seem to merely falling in lock-step with the secular authorities of that time, who were afraid that such successful transmutation would destabilize their economy. In other words, their worried about their money.
I know someone is about to shout Physics and the Galileo incident, however as much of a stain that incident was it doesn’t properly characterize the whole relationship between religion and physics. In fact, during dark times, many religious figures were the ones who are carrying the torch of Reason in trying to understand the mysteries before us.
But there’s something about Biology, and extended into medical science, that really raises the hackles of religious opinion throughout all eras. I’m not talking about plants or animals, but really biology that applies to us. In fact, my friends who do work in those allied fields would claim that, Galileo aside, Physics gets off easy. After all, you don’t really see people protesting the CERN Reactor in Switzerland.
To them, religious sentiment tends to be downright obstructionist toward biology.
Before a moderator comes in and shoots down fire brimstone upon my head for fear of raising the specter of yet another evolution debate, please have a little more faith me.
I’m a very applied person. So let’s start with something more down to earth, such as the Dissection of Corpses.
A non-issue in this day and age, but something that would have gotten me hanged in the Middle ages. More often than not, the reasoning behind it tends to be a religious one.
Let me clarify, i don’t mean to say this doctrine. But when somebody would pursue that bit of knowledge in the past and if they got caught, would summarily be vilified. Bad moral character, demonic possession, and offense toward the creation of God are some of the charges levied against such a person.
At this time i’d like to point out that the Alchemist and Astrologer, the forebearers of the Chemist and the Astronomer, get off pretty easy in comparison.
Fast forwarding to the future, some would say there’s a symmetry between those old attitudes and the treatment of say stem cell research. It would go something to the effect of “oh, here they going again. Obstructing progress once more. etc. etc.”
That’s a debate for another day and another time. The point i’m trying to illustrate though is that there’s kind of an emotional “umpf” if you will when it comes to biology.
No one gets angry at the findings of quantum physics or the creation of new organic compounds. However, people can get downright nasty when it comes to biological research in applied or theoretical forms, everything from animal testing (a problem for those who believe in reincarnation) to stem cells.
And i wouldn’t say its a coincidence that those atheists who clash the most with religious organizations tend to emanate from the biological sciences.
So, my question is simply: Why? What is it about biology that creates such a visceral discomfort?
And congratulations!
