How is science changing religion?

[fando]

For some time, the Catholic religion has slowly been giving up cherished dogmas in favor of new insights revealed through science. The most stunning example of this is the relatively recent admission (www.aloha.net/~mikesch/darwin.htm) by the Pope that Evolution is fact. This singular event has made me wonder how our scientific discoveries are changing the role and meaning of religion in modern society. In particular, I want to know where this is headed; What is going to happen to religion down the road? Here are my speculations.

Transparent Religion
I predict that religion will eventually be unable to compete with scientific theories for all answers about life, the universe and everything. That is to say that religion will evolve into a collection of viewpoints that will not influence the average person's perception of reality at all (the default would be scientific reality). There are few examples of such a religion today. One good example would be to think of God as the Cosmos itself. I knew one or two people who believe this. They still have religion, but it doesn't impact their view of reality. I call these religions transparent.

Opaque Religion
I also predict that some forms of religion will evolve into a radicalized fundamentalism that provides an entire body of "religious theories" to replace scientific theories. In these religions, the perception of reality will be governed solely by religious theories. The first stages of this trend will involve religious groups that challenge current scientific theories. Constant failure to do so will compell these groups to turn a blind eye to science and provide its own alternatives, along with a mechanism to control the beliefs of its followers. An example of such a religion is the Church of $cientology, or just about any existing Cult. I call these religions opaque.

Convergence
Most modern religions are somewhere between transparent and opaque. In time, all religions will experience convergent evolition towards either of these extremes. The rate of change is roughly related to the rate of scientific discovery. Convergence might be asymptotic; I don't hope to live to see mass acceptance of transparent religion. As an atheist, I would prefer to see transparent religion dominate over opaque.

What is your take on this? How is science changing religion? What will happen to religion down the road as more scientific discoveries challenge religious dogmas? Is there any good literature that explores this?

[Berthold]

Catholicism is dogmatic in several meanings, but it is not literalist. Evolution was open to discussion nearly from the beginning, Darwin was never on the index of forbidden books, though it took quite some time before Copernicus and Galilei were taken from it.
In the very same declaration about evolution ( that was e. g. heartily welcomed by Stephen Jay Gould ) the Pope claimed the "soul" as his territory, exempting it from any form of scientific research. Now, whatever the soul is meant to be, it surely overlaps with the mind. The border just shifted a bit.
John Polkinghorne, by the way, would be a fire and brimstone heretic in the Catholic Church, and I suppose he does not stand for Anglican mainstream either.

[funinspace]

Transparent Religion
I predict that religion will eventually be unable to compete with scientific theories for all answers about life, the universe and everything. That is to say that religion will evolve into a collection of viewpoints that will not influence the average person's perception of reality at all (the default would be scientific reality). There are few examples of such a religion today. One good example would be to think of God as the Cosmos itself. I knew one or two people who believe this. They still have religion, but it doesn't impact their view of reality. I call these religions transparent.

Opaque Religion
I also predict that some forms of religion will evolve into a radicalized fundamentalism that provides an entire body of "religious theories" to replace scientific theories. In these religions, the perception of reality will be governed solely by religious theories. The first stages of this trend will involve religious groups that challenge current scientific theories. Constant failure to do so will compell these groups to turn a blind eye to science and provide its own alternatives, along with a mechanism to control the beliefs of its followers. An example of such a religion is the Church of $cientology, or just about any existing Cult. I call these religions opaque.

Convergence
Most modern religions are somewhere between transparent and opaque. In time, all religions will experience convergent evolition towards either of these extremes. The rate of change is roughly related to the rate of scientific discovery. Convergence might be asymptotic; I don't hope to live to see mass acceptance of transparent religion. As an atheist, I would prefer to see transparent religion dominate over opaque.
This has already been happening for 100-150 years. Fundamentalism is just such a reaction. It isn't just cults that is, or will be doing this. Though I guess there will be some Fundamentalism that will accept most of science, but will struggle to keep their canon inerrant. They had their hay day in the 1950's to 1970's, but I would guess that they are already past their prime.


What is your take on this? How is science changing religion? What will happen to religion down the road as more scientific discoveries challenge religious dogmas? Is there any good literature that explores this?
The mainstream Protestants are already part of such "transparent" changes. The rate of change may have been tied in the past to scientific discovery, but I would say that is no longer the engine of change. The other significant factors were the ability to exchange knowledge, aka the printing press to the internet, and the adoption of more open governments. The reality is already pretty obvious. I would think that what will drive it in the future is simply time itself, and generations of people thinking and learning for themselves, weakening the bonds of rigid belief systems.

[quartodeciman]

Bertrand Russell once said something like the following (a paraphrase from memory):

"People have said for a long time that faith could move mountains, but they didn't actually believe it; now people say that nuclear bombs can move mountains and they DO believe this."

[BioBeing]

Ladies and Gents - please look at the date of the first post...

I have no idea if fando is still interested in this subject, so I would suggest that if anyone is, they open a new thread on the subject. This thread is now locked.

BioBeing
S&S Moderator