How is science different to religion as a belief system? Flashcards
Religion is based on a subjective understanding of a religious ideology whereas science is based on the objective collection of empirical evidence
Science is value free as bias and personal prejudices have no place in science.
In contrast, religion is very much concerned with ideas of what is considered right and wrong behaviour. Religion lays down a moral code for how people should behave. Although ethics may come into scientific practice, it is ultimately concerned with the objective discovery of the truth. Once the truth is established, science operates in agreed paradigms of knowledge: there is an agreed set of beliefs of how the world operates.
This also allows science to be theoretical; it seeks to uncover causal relationships between facts or occurrences, it does not simply describe events.
Nevertheless, religion also claims to be the ‘truth’; it claims its teachings, often based on a holy book, give it a monopoly of the truth and the correct interpretation of how life on earth can be explained.
The ideas of science are falsifiable whereas the basis of religious beliefs cannot be tested; it is not possible to disprove that there is no God
Scientific knowledge is never absolute and can always be challenged. Scientific theories are open to criticism, testing and falsification.
In contrast, religion is a closed belief system. Religious explanations are said to be irrational, based on faith and in beliefs which cannot be substantiated by evidence. For example, Christianity teaches that God created the world in seven days
However, Darwin’s theory of evolution provides scientific evidence to show that all life on earth developed through natural selection. Science has clear rules of procedure, evidence and explanation; scientists can demonstrate that things are “true” through the use of repeated evidence.
Nevertheless, religion is powerful for the opposite reason. Faith allows the religious to provide any form of explanation, rational, mythical, magical or whatever, that suits a particular purpose or problem; its explanation is infinitely elastic - they can be stretched to accommodate any situation in a way that scientific rules cannot.
