Sat 31 Mar 2007
Some of you know that I’m a Mormon, and one thing us Mormons do is hold a global conference every so often. This weekend, for example, marks the 177th Annual General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The LDS church, as I see it, helps improve the world by inspiring men and women to be better and by strengthening families. I believe that cause is noble.
Yet, religion is not always seen favorably in the popular press or among some people at large. It has even been libeled with oft-repeated assertion that “the more you know, the less likely it is that you will buy into a religion.”* I seriously doubt the correlation is as strong as is claimed and I know this much personally: as I approach the end of my post-graduate degree, nothing I have learned inside or outside of school has weakened my belief in a wise, beneficent God. To the contrary, it seems to me that the more learning I acquire, the greater this conviction becomes.
I’ve heard people state that those who support both science and religious dangerously cater to contradiction and inconsistency. Yet, I see no incompatibilities. Any honest scientist will freely admit that science fails to answer many questions. For me and others, religion nicely patches gaps that science doesn’t (or cannot) fill. Religion completes the picture. You’ll excuse my oversimplification, but to me, it is evident that true science and true religion firmly anchor themselves in veracity and as such, they fit nicely together.
What do you think? Are intelligence and religiosity inversely proportional?
March 31st, 2007 at 10:17 pm
I was amused reading Scott Adams blog. I’ve heard that comment before about people that are more educated are less likely to “buy into” religion.
The problem with the comment is that they always say that the smarter people don’t buy into religion. But when you look at what they really are saying, it’s not the smarter people, it’s the people who have remained longer in the American’s higher eduction system. Those who are more educated.
I don’t necessarily agree that the more educated you are, the smarter you are. In fact, some of the smartest and most successful people in this world are college drop-outs.
I think this is just one more way they try to justify their beliefs (and belittle those who don’t believe as they do). It’s the elitists of the higher education system. And not to make this a political issue, but the higher education system is inundated with the liberal left. These are the same people trying to remove any form of religion (except their atheism and humanism) from our society.
April 1st, 2007 at 5:59 pm
You’re Mormon? Don’t you go to the U?
April 1st, 2007 at 6:49 pm
Yes, yes I do go to the U. As did President Hinckley.
April 1st, 2007 at 8:09 pm
He’s Mormon, too?
April 1st, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Janet, you didn’t know that?
Ryan, is there any report done to show those in higher education but not teaching and their religion, vs those in teaching and their religion? I’d like to see the numbers.
IMHO — I believe that Religion and Science can pose some difficulties, such as the discussion you and I had about a year ago in your actual office at the old work location. You said that right and wrong are universal, while I believe they are social. I do believe your religion had an effect on your view of right and wrong being universal, while mine was a scientific and logical view of them being social.
Just a small example.
–Will
April 1st, 2007 at 11:27 pm
errr..
s/social/environmental/ix
April 1st, 2007 at 11:43 pm
errr…. most readers might not understand regex
April 2nd, 2007 at 6:50 am
Actually, I’d think even a purely Mormon doctrinal viewpoint supports right and wrong being appropriate to the age and customs of the time; e.g., polygamy in Biblical times, pioneer times, and now; killing and murder; and food prohibitions throughout various ages. The distinction being of course that it’s dependent on authoritative revelation, and not what I decide is right for myself. In many of those cases, the religious and social forces were/became intertwined.
April 2nd, 2007 at 9:25 am
The LDS Church itself has conducted studies, where they have found the more extensive a member’s education, the more likely he or she is to remain faithful. Interesting, no?
April 2nd, 2007 at 10:07 am
Can you link to these “studies”?
–Will
April 4th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
[…] A couple of days ago I blogged about the compatibility of Science and Religion. I am apparently in good company. Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., the director of the National Human Genome Research Institute in his new book The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief, says “I am a scientist and a believer, and I find no conflict between those world views.” Check out the CNN article on Dr. Collins. Remember how I wrote about how science was unable to address many essential questions? Collins enumerated some of those questions: […]
October 6th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
[…] read here about the 176th Semiannual General Conference, and the 177th Annual General Conference. Well, it’s October again and that means it’s time for the 177th Semiannual General […]