Can religion and science ever get along?

There is a surprising number of people in this country who are more than a little skeptical of human evolution. And I’m not talking about hardcore Christians and Muslims. I’m talking about people who identify themselves as Buddhists. There are people I know (that happen to be Buddhist) who can’t seem to wrap their heads around the idea that “humans came from monkeys!? (O RLY?)”

LOLyeah!

Isn’t that just bizarre?

And here I thought Buddhists were the least resistant to the “theory” of evolution; but turns out that that’s not the case at all.

This is, by no means, to say that Buddhists are more intelligent than followers of any other religion. If the Buddha had ever said anything counter to our modern understanding of the universe, most Buddhists, I’m sure, would have accepted it wholeheartedly and unquestioningly. But fortunately, that was a topic He wisely avoided – with good reason.

Anyway, one Buddhist told me that, if we had indeed evolved from an ape-like common ancestor, he couldn’t fathom how we developed something as immensely complex as speech – humans being the only known species with this seemingly unique ability. Another one said, “if humans really did evolve from chimpanzees or any other kind of monkey, how come those guys are still around?” (This is actually one of the most widely used “arguments” by evolution-deniers – a special favourite among the religious fundamentalists).

A Christian friend went as far as to say that the theory of evolution was something that “someone who had stranded himself on some dodgy Caribbean island because he had nothing better to do” had come up with. (No, I don’t think he was drunk when he said that).

I don’t get it.

A staggering 99.9% of the scientific community accepts evolution as scientific fact; it’s taught in most schools as solid science; it makes perfect sense when you actually think about it; and yet, there are so many people out there who will never buy it. I find that utterly disconcerting (and mildly fascinating).

This is, of course, not to say that science must never be questioned. That would make science no different from organised religion. After all, science is something that needs to be open to change and constant reexamination. But the problem here is that there is so much evidence to support evolution, and we see its results all around us – everyday.

I can understand that, for a faithful few who wish to take the Bible literally, the very idea of evolution amounts to heresy – which is fine. But what about the other, more ordinary, everyday kind of people (Christians included) that are otherwise quite intelligent and will refuse to believe things without solid proof, who won’t accept something as plausible and believable as evolution? Why do they insist that there is no way that man just didn’t suddenly pop into existence, when there is so much evidence to the contrary?

More importantly, why do they feel that by being open to something as “radical” as evolution, they’re (oh, no!) questioning their faith. Must an acceptance of evolution really affect your faith and your belief in God? Must scientific worldview and religious worldview always be in conflict? Is there absolutely no way that they can coexist, peacefully, at least in a person’s head?

I need answers, dammit!

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