The reigning etiquette since Galileo's time, (claims Blackshama in the last Comment Thread), has been for scientists to stay out of Theology and for theologians to stay out of Science. Under this dispensation, there is a kind of detente between Science and Religion where each side pretends that the questions addressed by the other are not of any abiding interest, that each is exploring a different region of the Universe, or some different aspect of reality between which there are not supposed to be any conceptual or fundamental contradictions resulting from the answers each side develops. For a while a kind of uneasy truce is possible, sometimes under the auspices of Deism, which holds that God created the Universe and established its Laws, but once having set it in motion, He does not interfere with History. Thus scientists can go on exploring the "natural world" as long as they leave enough breathing room for theologians to happily inhabit supernatural or praeternatural realms and Religion be safe from Science, like different departments in a large and generous University.
But as genres of human rhetoric, I think that both Science and Religion fall into the category of ULTIMATE EXPLANATIONS of reality and inevitably there is bound to be trouble since the answers have been in wild contradiction to one another, leading to entirely incompatible explanations about everything, and having practical, political and social consequences when such matters affect public policy. These are manifested in the reality of Philippine life in the weighty matters of overpopulation, public education, social justice and even in the popular morals and ethics promoted and tolerated by established religion.
The end of the era of polite detente between Science and Religion is marked by the emergence of a New Atheism, in a crusade led by RICHARD DAWKINS, the evolutionary biologist and Oxford University's Professor for the Public Understanding of Science who wants atheists to "come out of the closet" and stand up to "the religious lobbies."
Statistics have it that about 75% of Americans believe in a personal God, while the exact same proportion of Britons do not, with similar results for Western Europe. He addresses this observation the BBC documentary The Blind Watch Maker by Richard Dawkins...
It was Oxford theologian Alistair MacGrath who first called RICHARD DAWKINS "Darwin's Rottweiler"- for his vigorous defense of scientific orthodoxy and a remarkably pugnacious brand of atheism lately celebrated in the publishing success of The God Delusion (1.5 million copies sold in over 31 languages) -- by far his most popular book. In it, Dawkins pointedly describes religious faith as "a persistent false belief held in the face of strong, contradictory evidence." Dawkins is the author of The Selfish Gene in which he coins the celebrated and controversial term "meme" to refer to viral ideas that hijack human brains.
As Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University, evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has been leading a global crusade to get atheists "to come out of the closet" (much as the Gay Pride movement did a generation or so ago) about their nonreligious beliefs and actively challenge the religious lobbies in the public sphere over substantial cultural and educational issues. I've been following his recent exploits asynchronously through the wonders of podcasting.
UPDATES:
ART PANGANIBAN agonizes over Separation of Powers!"I firmly believe that maintaining public trust in the Supreme Court’s independence and integrity is by far the most important judicial reform. What does it profit the Court to gain all the money it desires if it loses its credibility?Do tell!
