Science And Religion - Network For Church Monitoring

The Fall of Foolish Faith

Posted by N4CM Belief, Christian Right Watch 12 Mar 2012

Source: HuffPost. I want to talk about a particular group of secularists — scientists — and their interaction with religion. Most scientists prefer to stay out of any conflicts with religion. They don’t want to endanger their sources of research funding and generally just don’t want to be bothered. They have better things to do, or at least they think they do. I want to urge those of you who are not scientists to try to convince [...]

Tragedy of religion stifling science

Posted by N4CM Belief, Opinion 10 Dec 2011

Source: CapeCodOnline.com. It’s almost a cliche nowadays to hear people talk of where the world of computers will be in 50 years. Or where medical science will be. Advances are moving at such a rapid pace that few of us can imagine the technological future even 10 or 20 years from now. But few people realize how much time has been lost and how forces are gathering to slow or stop research that might enhance [...]

Science in America: Decline and fall

Posted by N4CM Belief, Opinion 1 Nov 2011

Source: New Scientist. The big thing we are working on now is the global warming hoax. It’s all voodoo, nonsense, hokum, a hoax.” So said Michele Bachmann, a candidate for the Republican nomination for president, in 2008. Bachmann also thinks that the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine can cause mental retardation and that science classes should include creationism.

US: Reality Bites

Posted by N4CM Belief, Opinion 2 Jul 2011

Source: The American Prospect. The science-based community once was split between Democrats and Republicans – but not anymore. Increasingly, the parties are divided over expertise–with much more of it residing among liberals and Democrats, and with liberals and Democrats much more aligned with the views of scientists and scholars. More fundamentally, the parties are increasingly divided over reality itself [...]

Science and religion don’t have to be enemies

Posted by N4CM Belief, Opinion 23 Apr 2011

Source: New Statesman. It was a surprise to me to be awarded the Templeton Prize, joining an eclectic roll-call of scientists, philosophers, theologians and public figures among the previous winners. I feel I tick only one of the relevant boxes: like other scientists who have won it in recent years, I focus on “big questions” (in my case, cosmology) and have made efforts to communicate the essence of my work to a wide public.

Is there any place for religious faith in science?

Posted by N4CM Belief, Top Stories 16 Apr 2011

Source: The Guardian. Last week, the astrophysicist Martin Rees was awarded the Templeton prize, which aims to promote religion. Emine Saner brings together atheist writer and neuroscientist Sam Harris and Professor Robert Winston to discuss the conflict between science and faith. So, should Rees have accepted that award?

Catholic bishops: More exorcists needed

Posted by N4CM News 13 Nov 2010

Source: msnbc.com, 12 November 2010. Citing a shortage of priests who can perform the rite, the nation’s Roman Catholic bishops are holding a conference on how to conduct exorcisms. The two-day training, which ends Saturday in Baltimore, is to outline the scriptural basis of evil, instruct clergy on evaluating whether a person is truly possessed, [...]

The Skeptic’s Skeptic

Posted by N4CM Belief, Opinion 5 Nov 2010

Source: Scientific American Magazine, 3 November 2010. By Michael Shermer. Science values data and statistics and champions the virtues of evidence and experimentation. Those of us “viewing the world with a rational eye” (as the new descriptor for this column reads) also have another, underutilized tool at our disposal: rapier logic like that of Christopher [...]

Scientific Advisors Meet At Vatican

Posted by N4CM Biotechnology, News 4 Nov 2010

Source: PhysOrg.com, 3 November 2010. The scientists are members of the Roman Catholic Church’s papal advisory council known as the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. They largely agreed that modern science does not have to be at odds with religious faith. In speaking to academicians during the conference, Pope Benedict XVI praised the achievements of modern [...]

Morals Without God?

Posted by N4CM Belief 19 Oct 2010

Source: The New York Times, 17 October 2010. I was born in Den Bosch, the city after which Hieronymus Bosch named himself. [1] This obviously does not make me an expert on the Dutch painter, but having grown up with his statue on the market square, I have always been fond of his imagery, his symbolism, [...]