Faith, science meet in space

[atommom]

The questions that are now creating controversy -- the teaching of evolution, the right to life, stem cell research -- have put science on the defensive as well as revealed an almost dangerous literalism that has infected certain religious communities. Genesis is less of a science text than even ''The Descent of Man" is a religious book, but we have read them both looking for answers into the other. But the science of space is a science that begins, like authentic religious feeling, in wonder and trembling. Astrophysics is the last best hope for science to bridge the cultural gap between science and faith.

As both a theist and a skeptic, a believer and a rationalist, I can appreciate the cultural tension currently at play. I have at times wanted my science to be speckled with religious sentiment, and my faith to be reasonable. Nevertheless, this conflict is resolved for me when I read about galaxies forming.

All this leads me to wonder if the same senators who are pushing for the teaching of alternatives to evolution would want to limit NASA funding because these kinds of experiments don't also attempt to give some evidence for a creation of the world that occurred in seven days. Why aren't the members of school boards who want to introduce intelligent design into biology classes keeping their hands off astronomy? How do religious communities and churches draw the line between which kinds of science are acceptable and which are not? And where is gross politicking -- the real thing that is driving a wedge between faith and reason?

The politics of faith and science is rife with contradiction and misguided intentions. For example, in 2000, Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas lent his support to the reelection bids of those conservative state Board of Education members who voted to remove evolutionary theory from the required state curriculum. He also sits on the Senate Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space, which recently approved more than $16 billion for NASA,

So why is Brownback voting to spend money on science that in effect supports fundamental implications of evolutionary theory, that things evolve slowly, over long pressures and geologic changes, and that to even get to an Earth capable of a seven day miracle you need billions of years?

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/07/18/faith_science_meet_in_space/