Name: Science and Religion Are Not Compatible
Uploaded: 2017-11-14T07:07:38.000Z
Duration: 4 min 50 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Past simple

the late biologist Stephen Jay Gould said that
science and religion were two separate things.

He called them
"non-overlapping magisteria", or NOMA.

and the morals and implications of it,
those were the purview of religion.

A lot of people believe that he was right.
I mean, obviously

there are a lot of great scientists out there
who also happen to be religious.

They found a way to reconcile the two worlds pretty well,
at least in their own minds.

Or they just learned to
compartmentalize it really well.

But I don't think those two worlds
are actually compatible.

I think if you're a
devoutly religious person,

and someone who accepts
the scientific method,

something's gotta give.
Whenever science succeeds,

because a gap of knowledge
that was once unknown,

has now been filled by
something that's not God.

is that science actually does have something
to say about morality. I'll talk about that in a second.

And we know religion has plenty to say
about what happened and how things happened.

Religions make claims about
the natural world all the time.

Not just about the afterlife,
but about how our current world actually works.

Creationists do this, saying the world is 6,000
years old, and that humans and dinosaurs lived at the same time,

People who believe God
performs miracles do this --

they say that God healed somebody in a way
science can't never possibly explain.

-- and they have been tested.
And religion had lost every single time.

We know the universe isn't 6,000 years old.
The evidence for that is overwhelming.

We know intercessory prayer -- when you pray for
someone who doesn't know you're praying for them --

We know literal actual
miracles don't happen.

You know, if someone's cured
of some disease,

there's either a scientific
explanation for it...

or, if we don't have one at the moment, I would bet
good money that we would have a good scientific explanation,

if only we had a little more knowledge
than we do right now.

And, like I said, science does have
something to say about morality.

Sam Harris wrote an entire book about
this very concept. It's called The Moral Landscape.

One of the ideas he talks about in the book
is about how science can actually

tell you what increases and
decreases people's pleasure,

and we can work in our lives to make sure
the good stuff happens more often.

The point is that science and religion
don't occupy different worlds.

And I believe we have to choose
one or the other.

Do you put your faith
in evidence... or faith?

Don't get me wrong: There are brilliant scientists
out there who stick to science in the lab,

They accept the evidence for evolution,
but believe God put the whole process in motion.

They accept the Big Bang,
but believe God started it all.

They run controlled
experiments in the lab,

but believe in God because
of a feeling they have.

I think all of that is just
intellectually dishonest.

And it only gets worst the more devout
you are with a specific religion.

I don't think you can actually believe
Jesus was born from a virgin mother

if you actually understand
and accept how biology works.

You can't believe that Muhammad
flew to heaven on a winged horse,

because pretty much all of that
is physically impossible.

You can't believe Jesus
rose from the dead,

if you understand how death works.
It doesn't work that way.

You get the idea. This notion that
science and religion are truly compatible,

but is an idea that it's just
well past its expiration date.

but don't expect people to
take you seriously if you do.

My name is Hemant Mehta and I write
at FriendlyAtheist.com

Leave a comment below and we'll sure
to check it out. And don't forget to subscribe.

Subtitles ListPlay Video

Science and Religion Are Not Compatible

stick

obvious

significant

overwhelming