Being a member of the church will be a liability

[_Sanctorian]

Science and religion have always been at war. Religion ruled the earth for the first few million or so years and science really started to take off a couple thousand years ago. Both are based on theories. Religion is based on the theory of a creator and an afterlife. Science is based on theories of the observable world.

Religion arguably is a hindrance to mankind. Early homo sapiens used religion to explain the way the world works. It took about 5 million years of the current homo sapiens to get to a world population of 1 billion. It took only 200 years to get the next 6 billion. Science is advancing at a rate religion has never dreamed of.

In the next two hundred years, science will have answers for a lot more theoretical observances and religion will still be trying to determine if drinking a coffee sends someone to hell. Those that hang onto religion will be looked down upon, not for being a "good" person, but for the lack of critical thinking skills. Religious folks will be considered gullible.

It may be prophecy fulfilled that the weak will be strong in the kingdom of heaven and the righteous will be mocked. Or, science will have an answer to the theory of human's true creator and it ain't the Mormon God. Based on how the fight is going the last 200 years, my money is on science.

[_Everybody Wang Chung]

Excellent post!

With the rate at which science is advancing in almost every area and the decline in religiosity around the world, I think it's a safe bet to say that religion has lost the game. Unless your religion happens to be a fundamental Islamic terrorist organization.

[_Mormonicious]

It is a liability.

For normal humans the inconsistencies of religion (especially the Mormon religion) harms their intercourse with the physical world.

For the zealot religious person, its time to strap on the Suicide vest and all your problems are solved.

[_Maksutov]

Science and religion have always been at war. Religion ruled the earth for the first few million or so years and science really started to take off a couple thousand years ago. Both are based on theories. Religion is based on the theory of a creator and an afterlife. Science is based on theories of the observable world.

Religion arguably is a hindrance to mankind. Early homo sapiens used religion to explain the way the world works. It took about 5 million years of the current homo sapiens to get to a world population of 1 billion. It took only 200 years to get the next 6 billion. Science is advancing at a rate religion has never dreamed of.

In the next two hundred years, science will have answers for a lot more theoretical observances and religion will still be trying to determine if drinking a coffee sends someone to hell. Those that hang onto religion will be looked down upon, not for being a "good" person, but for the lack of critical thinking skills. Religious folks will be considered gullible.

It may be prophecy fulfilled that the weak will be strong in the kingdom of heaven and the righteous will be mocked. Or, science will have an answer to the theory of human's true creator and it ain't the Mormon God. Based on how the fight is going the last 200 years, my money is on science.

I'm afraid that there are many religions and belief/political systems out there which are as bad or worse. I will name no names.

Do not interpret this as a defense or an endorsement.

[_Kishkumen]

Do not interpret this as a defense or an endorsement.

[_Fiannan]

Science and religion have always been at war. Religion ruled the earth for the first few million or so years and science really started to take off a couple thousand years ago. Both are based on theories. Religion is based on the theory of a creator and an afterlife. Science is based on theories of the observable world.

Religion arguably is a hindrance to mankind. Early homo sapiens used religion to explain the way the world works. It took about 5 million years of the current homo sapiens to get to a world population of 1 billion. It took only 200 years to get the next 6 billion. Science is advancing at a rate religion has never dreamed of.

In the next two hundred years, science will have answers for a lot more theoretical observances and religion will still be trying to determine if drinking a coffee sends someone to hell. Those that hang onto religion will be looked down upon, not for being a "good" person, but for the lack of critical thinking skills. Religious folks will be considered gullible.

It may be prophecy fulfilled that the weak will be strong in the kingdom of heaven and the righteous will be mocked. Or, science will have an answer to the theory of human's true creator and it ain't the Mormon God. Based on how the fight is going the last 200 years, my money is on science.

Oh really? Many trans-humanist scientists say that once we conquer aging and the limitations of our current existence we will grow into far more spiritual beings.

[_canpakes]

Oh really? Many trans-humanist scientists say that once we conquer aging and the limitations of our current existence we will grow into far more spiritual beings.

That'll be interesting. Folks will live for hundreds of years (presumably mostly within wealthier western nations) yet we'll still be having children.

I can't see what could possibly go wrong as regards employment, resource use or income distribution. ; )

[_Maksutov]

Science and religion have always been at war. Religion ruled the earth for the first few million or so years and science really started to take off a couple thousand years ago. Both are based on theories. Religion is based on the theory of a creator and an afterlife. Science is based on theories of the observable world.

Religion arguably is a hindrance to mankind. Early homo sapiens used religion to explain the way the world works. It took about 5 million years of the current homo sapiens to get to a world population of 1 billion. It took only 200 years to get the next 6 billion. Science is advancing at a rate religion has never dreamed of.

In the next two hundred years, science will have answers for a lot more theoretical observances and religion will still be trying to determine if drinking a coffee sends someone to hell. Those that hang onto religion will be looked down upon, not for being a "good" person, but for the lack of critical thinking skills. Religious folks will be considered gullible.

It may be prophecy fulfilled that the weak will be strong in the kingdom of heaven and the righteous will be mocked. Or, science will have an answer to the theory of human's true creator and it ain't the Mormon God. Based on how the fight is going the last 200 years, my money is on science.

Oh really? Many trans-humanist scientists say that once we conquer aging and the limitations of our current existence we will grow into far more spiritual beings.

Who says that?

[_Res Ipsa]

Science and religion have always been at war. Religion ruled the earth for the first few million or so years and science really started to take off a couple thousand years ago. Both are based on theories. Religion is based on the theory of a creator and an afterlife. Science is based on theories of the observable world.

Religion arguably is a hindrance to mankind. Early homo sapiens used religion to explain the way the world works. It took about 5 million years of the current homo sapiens to get to a world population of 1 billion. It took only 200 years to get the next 6 billion. Science is advancing at a rate religion has never dreamed of.

In the next two hundred years, science will have answers for a lot more theoretical observances and religion will still be trying to determine if drinking a coffee sends someone to hell. Those that hang onto religion will be looked down upon, not for being a "good" person, but for the lack of critical thinking skills. Religious folks will be considered gullible.

It may be prophecy fulfilled that the weak will be strong in the kingdom of heaven and the righteous will be mocked. Or, science will have an answer to the theory of human's true creator and it ain't the Mormon God. Based on how the fight is going the last 200 years, my money is on science.

You are much more of an optimist than I. Science may be advancing at an amazing rate. People and their brains are not. Evolution gave us brains that are just ducky for surviving on the plains of Africa. It did not give us brains that work well for surviving today. Our ability to destroy our civilization -- if not ourselves -- has increased much to fast for evolution to keep up. Denial, confirmation bias, and the backfire effect keep us from adapting to a rapidly changing world. We get hysterical over Ebola, but ignore larger threats from guns or the flu or diet or climate change or countless other actual threats. Snake oil is just as prevalent as it ever was, and our medical school and establishments have been infiltrated with non-science based woo. Our leaders are obsessed with winning the next election and scoring the immediate political point. Our businesses with next quarter's profits. Scientists and science are continually under attack -- from the religious, from conservative/libertarian deniers of climate science, from anti-vaccine zealots, from anti-GMO protesters, and from politicians who want to use a disease that is devastating parts of Africa to score cheap political points. I've begun to wonder if there if one of the reasons we've never seen evidence of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe isn't some tendency of intelligent life to self-destruct by having its ability to destroy itself outstrip the brains ability to evolve in ways that would prevent such a result. In a contest between human nature and science, I'll root for science but put my money on human nature.

But if you are right, I would hope that the secularists of the future would be kinder than you describe.

[_KevinSim]

Science and religion have always been at war. Religion ruled the earth for the first few million or so years and science really started to take off a couple thousand years ago. Both are based on theories. Religion is based on the theory of a creator and an afterlife.

I took a look at "http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/religion?s=t" and got the following definition of religion: "A set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."

Two out of the three things that make up religion support your statements, the cause of the universe and the nature of the universe; it's very possible that science will eventually discover the truth behind the cause of the universe and its nature. But I strongly doubt that science will ever discover the purpose of the universe. That's simply not what science does. I think it will always fall to religion to define the purpose of the universe. Perhaps religion will evolve away from the cause and the nature, and will come to focus solely on the purpose. When it does that, it will have found its true home, and will never die.

In the next two hundred years, science will have answers for a lot more theoretical observances and religion will still be trying to determine if drinking a coffee sends someone to hell. Those that hang onto religion will be looked down upon, not for being a "good" person, but for the lack of critical thinking skills. Religious folks will be considered gullible.

This may be true for some religions, but it doesn't have to be true for all of them.

It may be prophecy fulfilled that the weak will be strong in the kingdom of heaven and the righteous will be mocked. Or, science will have an answer to the theory of human's true creator and it ain't the Mormon God. Based on how the fight is going the last 200 years, my money is on science.

My money is not. Science will never be sufficient by itself. Science can say how things have happened, and how they are happening. I doubt science will ever tell us what things should happen.