Can’t We All Just Get Along?

Robert Stephens

Mr. O’Brien

English IV

2013 March 7

            Since the period of the Enlightenment, there seems to have been an irreparable schism between Science and Religion. Depending on which side one takes, the other is either a bunch of liars and storytellers or a cult of devil worshippers, respectively. It seems almost unfathomable in our modern society that there could be a moment when these two views were in anything except opposition. I grew up raised in a Christian home, and to this day I would certainly consider myself a Christian, yet I’ve never found anything that science has said as particularly problematic. Before I discuss this fact in greater detail I must also make two things abundantly clear: 1) I am a Protestant Christian, and not a Catholic (which, even from a purely historical standpoint, puts me less at odds with science to begin with). 2) I am not a fanatic of ANYTHING to the point where I can ignore irrefutable facts and logic. Yet, as I’ve grown older, I’ve found a method of continual self-assessment and adjustment that allows me to juxtapose these two areas of belief together harmoniously.

            In some ways I would compare myself to John, the Narrator and protagonist of Kurt Vonnegut’s story Cat’s Cradle. I say this because in the book John begins as a Christian and, through his journey of discovery, changes to the religion Bokonism, which at its core is simply an altered form of Christianity. In that same fashion, I began, as I stated before, in a Christian home where I attended a church and private Christian school that both taught Creationism. As a young child, the origin of the universe that we inhabited was the least of my concerns and I accepted these teachings with little thought. As I grew older however, I began giving more thought to the actual implications of the creationism theory. As I gave thought to this theory, I also was learning more from a scientific standpoint. I was constantly plugged in to a stream of information about evolution, the big bang, etc., all of which were things that I had heard of previously, but they were always presented as “those evil lies that the scientists are trying to spread in order to infect your mind.” As I listened, though, I was able to see past this bias and brain-washing (of which, unfortunately, most if not all religions are guilty) and begin to synthesize all of the information. Interestingly enough, I never seemed to reach a point where I had to say that the two could never co-exist. The reason that I never hit this wall is simple: there is safety in ambiguity.

            In the book, John survives the wrath of Ice-9 with Mona by hiding underground, and when they come up they find that everything has been ravaged by Professor Hoenikker’s creation. There has also been a mass suicide which was led by the religious leader Bokonon, who is actually still alive simply because “He always said he would never take his own advice, because he knew it was worthless” (Vonnegut 179). In this same fashion, I believe one simple thing: we have to decide ourselves what we believe. I mentioned that there’s safety in ambiguity because it is what has allowed me to incorporate both religion and science into my own beliefs. The ambiguity stems from the simple fact that we CANNOT say for sure where it all began. I am a believer that there is a higher power than us, as to whether or not this power created the world in six days, whether it is omnipotent, omniscient, and all-loving, and as to whether it plays an active role in our everyday lives, those are areas that I cannot comfortably just trust in written work for. I am also a firm believer that this power surely made us to adapt and evolve, and I don’t find it hard to believe that it created the world by smashing the stars together.

It is obvious that nobody has come up with ALL of the answers. But I don’t agree that anybody should accuse another party of having come up with an incorrect answer. Science has taught us to be logical, and Religion has taught us to have faith, but they don’t have to oppose each other. I choose to have faith in my logic and to be logical with my faith; that’s what I believe in.