Saturday, April 6, 2013

Confusing Science and Faith


One sure way to destroy the separation of church and state is to treat science as a “faith.” I caught a Boston Globe columnist making this mistake and today (April 6, 2013) the Globe published my response (page A8):

Don’t confuse science with faith


KEVIN LEWIS (“Uncommon Knowledge,” Ideas, March 31 [Boston Globe]) seems to misunderstand science when he asks, “Could a faith in science similarly guide your values?” The question assumes that faith underlies science in the same way that it underlies religion.

The difference between science, properly understood, and faith is that science looks to experience to challenge and modify its own concepts, whereas faith is adherence to given ideas regardless of experience.
John L. Hodge
Jamaica Plain

As I’ve argued before, the survival and growth of democracy depend on getting religion out of politics. Politics needs to be based on facts (whether certain or probable), reasoned arguments and agreements. Science belongs in politics; faith does not.

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