is there a reconciliatory christian view towards science?

If it can be proved that something can be created out of nothing, it is a possibility.

I have read about religious scientists trying to prove just that....

 

there is no such thing as "genetic predisposition" behind homosexuality, at least nothing has been supported by plausible evidence in the scientific community..I stand by my opinion that homosexuality isn't something "you are born with" until it has been scientifically proven otherwise..(I do believe though that homosexuality is a psychological irregularity)

I'm not christian by the way..

 

There's nothing God can't fix or know. Science can't know everything...

I think future moral conflicts will involve neuroscience's progress into individual free will and its interpretaion the spiritual soul (which includes our natural gravitation towards spirituality).

I think it'll make the Evolution debate look tame by comparison.

And farther down ahead, humanity's great desire for science is to make its fruits, technology, into a conduit that allows a pure translation of abstraction to reality. An optimist could say that many people in the industrialized world can do that already. Like microwaved burritos, we want it five minutes ago.

 

If anybody ever effectively challenges the 2nd law of thermodynamics, you'll have a scoop. But, the problem is the law of uncertainty, mankind will always be limited in our ability to to fully perceive reality; limited by our senses, our tools and our momentary existence For example: The Big Bang will probably always appear to us and the beginning of time, when something was created from nothing because we will have no method to perceive the universe before The Big Bang. It may have existed in some form (singularity?) or it may not have.

My sense of logic tells me their was always some physical form of existence to the energy we see today. Lot's people assign it to God. The leap of supposition is the same and equally unprovable.

 

Humans undoubtedly have a natural instinct, regardless of how you want to attribute it (genetics). Our free will allows us to overcome many of these natural instincts (nurture). "Free will" does not necessarily pertain to the individual themselves, but to those who are raising the individual. We are primarily guided by nurture. Nurture is not a cognitive process.

You can take two twins, compare them 10 years later, and regardless how close they are, they live very very different lives. Using the butterfly effect theory, two peoples lives living side by side can have very diverse results.

Genetics however, can not be used as an excuse. Using genetics as an excuse is taking zero responsibility for ones actions. You're not obese because your parents were fat. You're not a serial killer because some genetic abnormality was found. A homosexual, obese person, serial killer, ect ... never sits down and decides, "hey, i want to be ....". However, they can acknowledge their tendencies and decide if (free will) they want to continue that path or change their ways through nurturing different thoughts and environment.

 

Respectfully, I've always felt you could substitute "religion" for "genetics" in that sentence and be making the same point.

 

Interesting question, in one sense. In another sense, there are many Christians who incorporate science seamlessly into their faith and view of the universe, even if one organized strand doesn't necessarily make bold statements about such.

I was most struck by the Dalai Lama (sp), who is very interested in neuroscience. He was asked "what if a neuroscience discovery challenges some part of Tibetan Buddhism?" He said, "Then we will have to change that part." He talks of religion evolving even as deep faith and mindfulness are rock solid.

As to the "gay gene," I also do not want to derail the thread, but the evidence is pretty striking. This "prove" thing is always a red herring, as we've said in one million threads on global warming. Gravity is not proven. If anyone's interested in recent "gay gene" experiments, start with this link and then this here other link.

 

I don't beleive the Genetic predisposition behind homosexuality has been proven.

Alot fo times. . . science is more politically motivated than religion

Rocket River

 

That is a political statement, and a false one, but I do understand where you're coming from. Data is politics neutral. How it is reported, by the media, and digested, and quoted in soundbites, and how it is used: those are definitely politics.

 

Im not sure what you're alluding to here, but very few religions advocate violence. Anyone who uses violence in the name of religion is "wing nutty".

Otherwise, I agree with you. As much as there is a popular trend on hating on Christians, it is VERY unfair to associate common bigotry to Christianity, even though quite a bit of bigotry comes from so called Christians. Its akin to calling all Muslims terrorists.

 

I wasn't alluding to anything nefarious. Just that I find that christens "giving it up to God" are abdicating their responsibility at times for things that they feel like they have no control over in their lives or positions they take on issues.

but this is certainly a discussion for another thread.

 

A lot of Christians and a lot of Intelligent Design theorists will say that God jump started Evolution. We can't forget that no where in the Theory of Evolution does Darwin attempt to explain the origin of Life.

 

I think first and foremost Christians and scientists should all recognize the bible was never intended to be a science book. That isn't what it's about. To try and argue science based on the bible is stupid.

 

im sorry did you compare serial killers with homosexuals. sexuality is something necessary for all life. whereas killing people isn't. sexuality that we're most familiar with in humans is hetero. it is not exactly an 'excuse' or taking 'zero responsibility' to submit that it could also be homosexuality as it maybe in terms of serial killers.

 

Science is funded by those with very serious political and social agendas, so by virtue of that, the types of research being done is in part politically motivated. Obviously not all topics of scientific research are political -- probably very few are. A lot of research does NOT take place because it would be politically dangerous or would not be accepted by societal norms.

 

Dude, it's religion. It can reconcile anything.