In my “Science and Religion” class the other day we read about this guy named Ian Barbour who said Science describes lower laws (like it’s just the machinery that makes the world run), and religion describes higher laws (the things that give us meaning and have the power to transform us).
I think the reason that we dismiss the higher Laws (religion) in favor of the lower ones (science) in this culture is because the lower ones are just more certain and predictable. They are easier to nail down and put an equation to that we can trust.
But I think that is similar to any pairing that works together. The first does one thing well at the expense of doing something else less well. The second is the complement of those things. That is why both are needed.
I think of it kind of like a car. A car can be understood because each component has a specific, very measurable function that makes the car run. But, as far as the question of “Where will we go in this car today?” That is the far more important question, and is much more uncertain and open to discovery and choice.
So, I just wanted to share this realization that we shouldn’t discount something as less important because knowing it is less certain. Religion often seems very uncertain but it can be what gives meaning, and motivation to our whole human machine.
Raw Spoon, 10-6-16
