Science vs. religion… Or science and religion? Holy Science!

GUEST COLUMN: Dr N Prabbudev

Bengaluru, Feb. 15: ISRO Scientists in Temples prior to the launch of Chandrayan! Was it right? ISRO believes in science or god! 
Despite our scientific and technological brilliance, our understanding of God is often remarkably undeveloped or even primitive. I believe in God, but I am frustrated with Him!Contradictory coexistence of religiosity and scientific temper in India! This supposed oddity was on full display at a time when the country celebrated a historic scientific feat.

ISRO is a highly admired institution in science and technology. Society at large looks up to ISRO as motivators and influencers. Scientific temper motivates intellectual enquiry and observation and conclusion. The contention between science and religion has been an issue of debate for decades. In India’s ambitious space odyssey rocket science and spiritualism seem to be going hand-in-hand.
Dr. Kalam, the veteran aerospace and defence scientist, who later went on to serve as the President of India – is a devout Muslim. He would perform Namaaz daily, fast during Ramadan, and read the Quran. He engaged with temples and churches with the same intensity. ISRO chairman Sreedhara Panicker Somanath is an equally devout Hindu!

A scientist visiting a temple may be looked at as an irrational behaviour and lack of scientific temper! These reactions, have their origins to the Western world. The soft power of the West, especially the US, influences the rest of the world, propagating Western ideas as the only truth. 
Religious faith is a deeply held belief in and reverence for God or higher power! The doctrines and teachings involves trust, confidence, or a sense of certainty in the existence and benevolence of a higher power.  You are unable to test religious ideas.

Religion would fade from relevancy as the world modernizes. Anyone can count the seeds in an apple. Only God can count all the apples in one seed! Is this a credible evidence?  To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible!
God made us like him. Religions have made him look like us – a souped-up version of ourselves. The moral parameters remain relevant to keep human society in check. If God did not exist, it would be better to invent Him. The existence of God is based on a human need for him.

The question of what we should rely on — science or religion — continues to plague the minds of many to this day. I believe we should take a much humbler approach to knowledge. I have learned to appreciate them as harmonious components of what I call “life.”
Religion’s offers security in an uncertain world. It has been a long tradition that the ISRO scientists pay respects to the presiding Deities of that region of India from where the launches are made. Science and religion seem to have travelled on different paths. Many physicists and scientists have been religious, such as Einstein and kalam!.

‘Is he a scientist? Twitter was divided as ISRO chief visits temple ahead of Chandrayaan-3 launch. The move has sparked a debate on the mixing of science and religion. There is one field, where atheism is often assumed – science. All scientists are not atheists! Many are culturally religious. More than half of scientists in India are devotedly religious! A growing movement of religious scientists, individuals who hold both faith and scientific expertise seek to understand the existence of God not through blind faith or ancient scriptures, but through the lens of scientific observation and the pursuit of knowledge.

Science can provide explanations for many things! But it has not proved or disproved the existence of God. Science excels at explaining how things work, but often it struggles to answer “why? “. Many results that were considered solid previously are later dismissed.
“Science” is a tool we use to find truth about the universe and the laws that govern the universe!  The understanding is that these truths are provisional rather than absolute. Fallibility belongs to science as one of its best traits. Indeed, fallibility allows science to be always open to admitting its errors and correcting them. Science is manmade – man is not a god! Therefore Science cannot answer everything!

A belief is not an established fact. Beliefs are incompatible with science. Certainly science doesn’t have an answer for everything, but where it does, those answers work whether you believe them or not. There are more than 4,000 recognized religions in the world, although most people belong to one of five major religions worshiping different gods.
Religious scientists walk a tightrope, balancing their commitment to science with their faith. Ultimately, the quest for God through science is a journey, not a destination. It’s a call for open-mindedness, a willingness to explore different paths to understanding the universe and our place in it. It’s an invitation to embrace the mystery, the awe-inspiring vastness of existence, and the possibility that our scientific understanding is just the beginning, not the end.

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