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Recently I was attending a conference on faith and
Science organized by a Christian forum. It was
interesting as many think that they are mutually
exclusive and are in competition with each other. At
least that's how it is often portrayed. Faith Hmmm!
That's kind of foolish stuff; no decent person in the
educated world would have it. Science is rational,
advanced and can solve all the problem of this world. If
only all the God seekers and believers could turn away
from their evil religions and seek science and pursue
it, we would have had a better world! Well, that's how
many in Wester n world and increasingly in the educated
circles of the eastern world think! That's what my two
teenage friends also think! We sat and discussed for
some time while having lunch.
These two are in their first year of university. They
told me that science have 'proved' that there is no God
and they thought that there was no need to have an
entity called God. Everything in this world can be
explained by natural phenomenon. We don't need to
unnecessarily bring God into everything. Man invented
God to control one another and look at all the
atrocities that are committed in the name of God, one
said. Everything just happened by chance, blind
probability game of atoms. So, as far we are concerned,
they said, there is no God. The problem is he added 'we
think! God guys just believe!' We just wanted to know
what these people believe and why they have such blind
belief…that's why we came here they said.
I was sort of happy that at least these two students had
a thought to see and listen to what the 'God guys' had
to say. Many just don't want to hear the other side but
at least, they thought it is worth a hearing. I think
that there is no competition or contradiction between
science and faith, Christian faith in particular. Many
leading scientists and leading thinkers in the past and
present believed/believe in God and their quest for
knowledge is hinged on knowing the marvels of God's
creation and to know what this Almighty God thought.
Although I should admit that Churches sometimes did
disgraceful things towards many scientists in the past.
This has more to do with the politics and power struggle
of that day and nothing to do with the theology. Many
powerful clergies did use Church as a cover to achieve
whatever they wanted. Biblical Christianity is neither
anti-science nor against good thinkers.
Post Darwinist philosophers and neo-Darwinists have
achieved the separation of science from faith to a great
extent. They have campaigned successfully and managed to
convince many that science and Christian faith are
contradictory although many including me think it is not
true! That's why we find that God has no place in the
text books or in contemporary school and university
teachings especially in science. Somehow atheism has
been given the privilege of being a default option and
all the other worldviews will have to explain why they
are there! What separates people between God believers
and atheists is not science but the world view itself. I
think it is shameful that atheists tend to hide behind
science and use it as if it is their exclusive right.
Is faith or religion the cause of all evil, I beg to
differ! If evil is done in the name of Christian faith
then it is contradictory to its teachings. Christian
faith is not a blind faith; it is deeply rooted on solid
evidence. If people have blind faith in a religion and
perpetrate violence in the name of God, it is
condemnable. But remember some religious point of views
are violent as we see quiet often but Christianity
teaches sacrificial love and does not justify violence
by any means. Is atheism holy then? How can we forget
the millions who died in Russia? How about the
sufferings of thousands of people in the eastern
European countries like Romania, Hungary, Poland,
Bulgaria etc. in the hands of atheist rulers? Hitler
followed Darwinian principles to extinguish Jews and
gypsies. Are we forgetting North Korea and China? So,
it's a myth that Christianity or religion is the cause
of evil in the society. If we take God out, we will not
solve the problem. Some men will rule in the place of
God and society will have no hope! Have we forgotten the
contributions of Christianity to the society?
Christians believe in miracles and supernatural
things…yes we do. But even atheistic scientists do
believe in miracles but they coat it with a sugary coat
of science and use sophisticated language. Think of the
odds how life were to evolve as they say, that's a
miracle. Can they ever explain the origin of universe
without believing in miracles? Can they explain and give
evidence for their theory without forcing us to believe
in miracles? Can they explain where matter and energy
came from?... they too BELIEVE…
My friends across the lunch table looked puzzled and
confused. I asked them how they concluded that they were
atheists even before they heard the 'God guys'. They
said well…we believe our text books and professors…
Friends, think hard, analyze and weigh the evidences
carefully with an open mind and honesty. Truth will be
revealed and it shall set you free!
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