So... am I the only religious person on this website who is also very scientific? I mean, I believe in evolution, and in my opinion the two concepts have always been complementary rather than exclusive (but I won't start a debate). Just curious.
I don't think they're compatible at all. I think those who think they are simply display evidence of our ability to maintain cognitive dissonance; religion and science are not compatible. The only people who think they are, are religious people who can't leg go of their faith, so they rationalize.
Science is anti-faith, religion is anti-evidence, how anyone thinks them compatible is beyond me. Faith is not a virtue in science, it's just bad thinking.
That he did, but his belief can be summed up with this quote..
"The net of science covers the empirical universe: what is it made of (fact) and why does it work this way (theory). The net of religion extends over questions of moral meaning and value. These two magisteria do not overlap, nor do they encompass all inquiry (consider, for starters, the magisterium of art and the meaning of beauty)."
And he's quite simply wrong, they do overlap as science has something to say about all of those things. Religion has no claim on the realm of morality and meaning, nor does it provide any actual answers on the subject, nor does it serve as a guiding light on the subject.
Gould is trying to play nice because he thinks religion is valuable to many people and he doesn't want to offend. I do not believe his position honest, merely political.
As for what the church thinks, they're going to rationalize no matter what, their opinions simply support my original statement.
No, I also consider myself both religious and science minded. For example I have no issue with the idea that complexity in evolution is an emergent property, like for example seen in Conway's life. My religious ideas on the soul are very much in line with for example Karl Rahner's: http://www.anselm.edu/Documents/Institute%20for%20Saint%20An...
I don't know about this website, but I know mathematicians (some of whom have made significant contributions) who are practicing christians. Not just for the social life either, but because they believe in god.
The hostility with which religion has treated science has provoked an annoyingly equal and opposite reaction. I personally have some interesting beliefs, but it's useless to wonder whether they're religious or not.
But really, there is a deeper issue that, without a testament of the nature of your personal interpretation of your religion, it is not actually possible to usefully decide if evolution and your religious beliefs are compatible.
