paleonet science-faith relationship

["Dr. David Campbell" <amblema@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> "Science cannot be involved in religion and religion cannot be
> involved in science."

Part of the problem is defining the type of involvement.  Religions 
typically include a number of moral directives that are good for 
science, e.g. don't lie, don't steal, etc.  Religions also tend to 
encourage doing good work.  One doesn't have to have a religion to do 
good, honest work, but religion can provide a strong impetus for it.  
At a more abstract level, religion can provide a suitable (or 
unsuitable) framework for doing science.  For example, the combination 
of belief in the orderly and physical nature of the world and of 
belief in the value of doing work (found, among others, in Judaeo-
Christian-Islamic views) is conducive to doing science, whereas 
believing that natural phenomena are produced by the whims of numerous 
unpredictable and competing deities is not.  

On the other hand, science can provide some input regarding certain 
religious claims.  Archaeology and related fields are often relevant.  
Religious claims that are more in the superstition line (e.g., 
astrology) are often amenable to scientific testing and disproof.  

-- 
Dr. David Campbell
425 Scientific Collections Building
Department of Biological Sciences
Biodiversity and Systematics
University of Alabama, Box 870345
Tuscaloosa AL 35487-0345  USA