[宗教和科學在歷史上的衝突]
中世紀時，羅馬天主教曾經權傾一時，
凡是和教庭思想不符合的，皆稱為「異端」：
heresy = disagreeing with the church.
凡是和教庭思想符合的，就是「真理」：
truth = agreeing with the church.
所以教庭曾經視科學為異端。
When science was a child, religion sought to
strangle it in the cradle. Now that science
has attained its youth, and superstition is
in its dotage, the trembling, palsied wreck
says to the athlete: “Let us be friends.”
( Robert G. Ingersoll, September 5, 1885 )
The greatest tragedy in mankind’s entire history
may be the hijacking of morality by religion.
( Arthur C. Clark, 1991 )
What is morality in any given time or place？
It is what the majority then and there happen
to like──and immorality is what they dislike.
( Alfred North Whitehead )
可以想像一下當年中世紀天主教 Inquisition 的主腦，
會如何說服群眾處死異教徒：
「各位，你們見到我們這裡全部都是道德高尚的好人，
證明真理就在我們的那一方，證明神與我們同在，
Hallelujah！ Praise the Lord！」
現代依然有宗教思想家認為
1. 天主教和基督教唯我獨尊；
2. 天主教和基督教騎劫道德是合理的行為；
3. 人類沒有可能創造自己的道德規條。
對並非邪教的宗教來說，「善」和「真」是同樣重要的價值。
任何宗教如果只重視「善」而不重視「真」，就會產生「偽善」，
而當這個宗教人多勢眾時，更加會產生逼害，甚至戰爭和殺戮！
Men never commit evil so fully and joyfully
as when they do it for religious convictions.
( Blaise Pascal )
Christianity is the most ridiculous,
the most absurd and bloody religion
that has ever infected the world.
( Voltaire )
The most heinous and the most cruel crimes of
which history has record have been committed
under the cover of religion or equally noble motives.
( Mohandas Gandhi )
Historically, all ethics undoubtedly begin with religion;
but I do not now deal with historical questions. I do
not ask who was the first lawgiver. I only maintain
that it is we, and we alone, who are responsible for
adopting or rejecting some suggested moral laws; it is
we who must distinguish between the true prophets
and the false prophets. All kinds of norms have been
claimed to be God-given. If you accept ‘Christian’
ethics of equality and toleration and freedom of
conscience only because of its claim to rest upon
divine authority, then you build on a weak basis;
for it has been only too often claimed that inequality
is willed by God, and that we must not be tolerant
with unbelievers. If, however, you accept the Christian
ethics not because you are commanded to do so but
because of your conviction that it is the right decision
to take, then it is you who have decided.
( Karl R. Popper, The Open Society and Its Enemies, Volume 1 :
The Spell of Plato )
[宗教和科學的統一]
宗教有可能和科學統一嗎？
當然不可能，因為宗教和科學探究的是不同的課題，
但我們可以肯定三點：
1. 宗教不應該排斥科學，
宗教一旦排斥科學就會醜態百出。
2. 宗教精神和科學精神有相同的要求，
就是堅持「真」和「誠」，拒絕「虛偽」。
3. 科學精神是宗教精神的子集，
因為科學精神只要求「愛」真理，不一定要「愛」人，
因為科學精神只要求「聰明」，不需要「智慧」。
如此看來，宗教和科學在精神方面根本一早就已經統一，
科學只不過是子集，宗教精神才是母集，
只是愚昧、自以為是的人將宗教精神貶了值，
讓宗教擁抱虛偽，喪失了宗教精神，
才會出現宗教和科學之間的矛盾。
But science can only be created by those who are
thoroughly imbued with the aspiration toward truth
and understanding. This source of feeling, however,
springs from the sphere of religion. To this there also
belongs the faith in the possibility that the regulations
valid for the world of existence are rational, that is,
comprehensible to reason. I cannot conceive of
a genuine scientist without that profound faith.
The situation may be expressed by an image:
science without religion is lame,
religion without science is blind.
( Albert Einstein, address at
Princeton Theological Seminary, May 19, 1939 )
換言之，如果沒有「愛」和「智慧」的監管，
從科學所產生的科技 [科學的應用] 就會為禍人間，
所以愛因斯坦說：
science without religion is lame,
從另一角度來看，
宗教是人類對宗教精神的應用，
一旦宗教對「真」和「誠」的要求下降，
就會立即令宗教精神貶值。
一旦宗教精神貶值，禮失求諸野，
宗教精神就需要回頭向科學精神學習「真」和「誠」，
體驗科學對「真」和「誠」的嚴格要求。
這就是為何愛因斯坦說：
religion without science is blind.
…the scientific method can teach us nothing else
beyond how facts are related to, and conditioned by,
each other. The aspiration toward such objective
knowledge belongs to the highest of which man is
capable, and you will certainly not suspect me of
wishing to belittle the achievements and the heroic
efforts of man in this sphere. Yet it is equally clear
that knowledge of what is does not open the door
directly to what should be. One can have the clearest
and most complete knowledge of what is, and yet
not be able to deduct from that what should be the
goal of our human aspirations. Objective knowledge
provides us with powerful instruments for the
achievements of certain ends, but the ultimate goal
itself and the longing to reach it must come from
another source. And it is hardly necessary to argue
for the view that our existence and our activity
acquire meaning only by the setting up of such
a goal and of corresponding values.
( Albert Einstein, address at
Princeton Theological Seminary, May 19, 1939 )
換言之，如果要捍衛人類的精神文明，
及避免人類文明自我毀滅，
科學精神和宗教精神一定要攜手並進！
It has become appallingly obvious that
our technology has exceeded our humanity.
( Albert Einstein )
宗教和科學都是「道」。
「太初有道，道與神同在，道就是神。」《約翰福音 1:1》
道和神不應該是合一的嗎？
如果道和神不相同，那麼道是甚麼？神又是甚麼？
道和神之間的關係又是甚麼？
神可以逆道而行嗎？可以逆的道還是道嗎？
我們可以想像一位沒有「道」的神嗎？
如果「道」不成為肉身，難道「道」就不再存在了嗎？
難道科學不是一種「道」嗎？
難道神會反對科學嗎？當然不會！
所以愛因斯坦提出未來的新宗教 cosmic religion，
其實宗教一早就應該如此：
The religion of the future will be a cosmic religion.
It should transcend personal God and avoid dogma
and theology. Covering both the natural and the
spiritual, it should be based on a religious sense
arising from the experience of all things natural
and spiritual as a meaningful unity. Buddhism
answers this description. If there is any religion
that could cope with modern scientific needs
it would be Buddhism.
( Albert Einstein )
Religion deals with the truths of the metaphysical
world just as chemistry and the other natural
sciences deal with the truths of the physical world.
The book one must read to learn chemistry is the
book of nature. The book from which to learn
religion is your own mind and heart. The sage
is often ignorant of physical science, because he
reads the wrong book──the book within; and the
scientist is too often ignorant of religion, because
he too reads the wrong book──the book without.
( Swami Vivekananda, Science and Religion )
Louie Schwartzberg
Hidden miracles of the natural world
這段七分半鐘的影片竟然觸發起另一位科學家的感受，
寫了一篇關於宗教和科學的文章，值得一看：
Jeff Schweitzer
Hidden Wonders: What Nature Teaches Us About Ourselves
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-schweitzer/hidden-wonders-what-natur_b_5249698.html