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08/25/2003: "Science, Religion, and Politics"

Let’s take a look at the timely topic of politics at the intersection of science and religion. The US has historically been characterized as one of the most religious countries on earth as well as a world leader in science. I feel like a poster child for this dichotomy, where as a teenager my two greatest interests were science and faith. It never occurred to me then that there is any kind of conflict between science and faith, and it wasn’t until I was well into my thirties that I realized that even in this modern age there are many people of faith who sincerely believe that science poses a threat to their belief. Big-C Conservatives in particular act on this misconception to undermine teaching of science. I have a personal experience that fuels my very strong feelings on this subject. The story begins with my Bible Belt high school biology class, with a chapter called “Origins.” This was the first and only chapter of the entire course to attempt what all my other science courses addressed as a matter of course, the underlying explanations for the “facts” each course presented. Real science goes beyond merely inventorying facts in a subject area, for example, the characteristics of mammals as opposed to reptiles. For science to be more than a collection of trivia, it must provide explanations for these facts. Then, once you understand these underlying explanations, you can turn them to the advantage of humanity via technology. Prior to the Origins chapter my high school biology course was merely a collection of facts about animals and plants. This chapter thus was crucial in bringing order the “chaos” of the animal facts of the earlier lessons. So what did the chapter say? I still remember very clearly even many years later. The chapter boiled down to the following ideas: “Some scientists believe that different species originated from other species. Some scientists believe that species were spontaneously created.” I remember this being the only science lesson in my high school career that I couldn’t understand. What did they mean by “spontaneously created?” Did it mean beamed down like on Star Trek? My teacher was noticeably reluctant to talk about it. Then, years later, I watched that terrific series on PBS by David Attenborough called “Life on Earth,” where he explained very clearly and persuasively how small changes in a particular feature of one creature could account for the differences with other creatures that were seemingly very different. For example, he pointed out how a reptile skin cell with relatively simple changes could produce a mammal’s hair or a bird’s feather. He also explained the role of ecological niches, how a “primitive” species like sharks, alligators, and dragonflies could continue to occupy a particular niche for hundreds of millions of years simply because no later species had a characteristic that made them better suited for that niche. Reptiles can continue to occupy many niches even in competition with smarter and faster mammals because mammals are only smarter and faster because they are warm-blooded, a characteristic requiring that they consume food at a far greater rate than cold-blooded reptiles. At that point I realized that I had been robbed of over a decade of understanding of an important aspect of life itself, robbed by small-minded but powerful figures whose faith was so insecure that it couldn’t stand competition from those who dedicate their lives to painstakingly looking at God’s creation in order to understand it in depth. With the cancerous growth of Big-C Conservatism over the last decade or so, there is a real danger that science in our country could be hobbled, as it has been many times and many places in the past, with disastrous consequences for our country’s place in the world. This is thus an issue worthy of close consideration this week.