Science and God

If Science and Religion stayed out of each other's way things would be simple. No overlap. No heartburn. But over time, more things that were unknown become known. Why does it rain? Why does the Sun rise every morning? Why do comets appear? What makes people sick? What makes some people gay? What explains speciation? How old is the universe? What is the nature of matter? And invariably some new-found answers conflict with someone's religion. At which point the keepers of that faith have to stick their heads deeper in the sand or acknowledge the error and move forward.

If I were a big-wig in one of the major religions of the world, I would organize a strategic retreat. Instead of trying to defend everything, pull back to a defensible position. Put some serious effort  into collecting the questions that will forever be inexplicable by science or be outside the realm of science. Like what happens to you after you die and where did the stuff come from before the stuff that science can explain came from. The NP-Complete set of problems of Life. There's plenty there. And it's not chicken shit either - these are the questions that keep humanity collectively awake at 4am. Then, own this set staunchly and cede the rest to science.

At the dinner table today Vivian said "At school Ms S told us that God made us all".  I reminded her that she can believe it and that I don't. She reminded me that Aunt C believes it too. We followed it up with some friendly banter. A little bit later Vivian and I were in the car and there was a story on NPR on how America was falling further behind other countries in science and math.

Vivian asked "Daddy - what do scientists do?"
I said "they try to find the truth about nature."
She asked "like what?"
I said "like where we came from."
She said "But God made us all."
And I said "May be someday you may decide to look into that a bit more and then you can ask a scientist."

And I wished that Ms. S at school could have told her that God decides what happens to you when you die and and I could say that scientists measure the pH of water. No overlap. No heartburn.