A few days ago, we jubilantly shared the news that science is back (baby), thanks to the heralded return of the nerdy Cosmos show and announced debut of a TV show based on the "I F*cking Love Science" Facebook page. At the time, we lamented several years of science being brutalized by the religious right.
We are here to sadly announce: the abusers are back.
Following the show's respectable Sunday premiere, Twitter came alive with anti-science tweets, such as "Regardless of what #cosmos says, I believe that we are made in the image of God" and "Apparently #cosmos can just lie on TV. The moon was actually created by God. As was life. So yeah we do know where life came from."
Meanwhile, the benign-sounding (but not at all benign) Evolution News and Views ripped into the show's celebration of science martyr Giordano Bruno.
Why why why do people persist in pitting science against religion? Faithful people: science is your friend!
A wonderful column written by a proudly religious man in Alabama beautifully illustrated this potential connection.
I don't understand the need to draw battle lines between science and religion. In fact, the more I learn about science, the more in awe I am of God's work.
It strengthens my faith. It doesn't weaken it.
Even Einstein, genius of geniuses, reflected frequently on the powerful link between science and faith. His insights run deep, but we particularly love this nugget of wisdom:
While it is true that scientific results are entirely independent from religious or moral considerations, those individuals to whom we owe the great creative achievements of science were all of them imbued with the truly religious conviction that this universe of ours is something perfect and susceptible to the rational striving for knowledge.
And if that isn't sufficiently convincing, consider that The Bible itself embraces the human pursuit of knowledge. From Psalm 111:2:
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.
Whatever your religious faith, can't we agree that we all share an amazing world (and universe), and revel in the knowledge of all it contains?
Image: LuckyFrame/DeviantArt
