September 29th, 2008, 11:26 am
I don't think one can separate religion and science on anything by a very shallow level because both make claims about the history of the world, the consequences of action in the world, and the potential dynamics of systems in the world. Both speak to increasingly overlapping aspects of human affairs. The entire creationist debate is a clear of example of a particular religion making particular claims in contradiction to science.Moreover, the methods of science, in theorizing and explaining forces and phenomena, would insist on including the effects of any deities on the world. If a physical theory fails due to the intervention of a deity, then a scientist would insist on modifying the theory to encompass and explain the deity. That is, no deity can be outside the laws of physics unless the deity has entirely decoupled itself from the current universe (which is possible under some "hands-off" of "build-and-let-go" theologies). In that regard, any aspect of quantum mechanics that binds the hands of the deity can serve as a detector of the omniscience/omnipotence of a deity (e.g., can a deity successfully snoop on a quantum cryptographic signal without collapsing the wave function?)Even on "human" matters, science encroaches in seeking to explain the biological basis for social (and asocial) behavior. By understanding the human brain, the evolution of social behavior, and the properties of distributed/social networks of agents, scientists can understand why people act the way that they do (including belief in religion) and the consequences of alternative actions in human societies. Such work creates a scientific basis for moral and ethical action that potentially supplants religious coda for behavior.In fact, give the predilection for sectarian violence, the only truly moral and ethical path for human development is actively pursue a universal science to supplant parochial religions.