I’ve been reading a little bit recently about the tension between questions of science and questions of faith. There are some people who believe that science has all of the answers and religious belief is nothing more than misguided superstition. For example, these thinkers argue that the Intelligent Design movement is just a Trojan Horse to get the Book of Genesis taught in science classes, and they aren’t happy about it.
Science has all the answers, they say, but two thoughts have come to mind recently.
One, (and this isn’t original) they can’t disprove God, so it seems rather arrogant to say we should not believe He exists.
Two, what about when science is demonstrably wrong? Here’s an example: Plenty of Christian folks fought against slavery in America from the 1700s to 1865, arguing that it was immoral for one race to treat another so badly. From the late 1800s through the early 1900s, you had scientists arguing that some races were inferior to others. Such beliefs helped people justify the continued possession of colonial lands and the Nazis efforts to exterminate the Jewish people (and others).
Obviously, not every Christian fought slavery, and not every scientist was a racist, but my point is that inarguably there are occasions when religious faith is a good thing and sometimes scientists are wrong.
For some people their religious faith does lead them to superstitions. Other people of faith find truths to live by. In the best of all scenarios, people find the Truth, and it really does set them free.