Why the truth matters. What stories do you tell? Why? When? Are the stories true? Have the facts been substantiated? What are the consequences and implications of these stories and the worldviews that they promote?
Just consider that the the so-called war between science and religion is a fabrication. It was a war started on false pretenses. And that fabricated story is based on another fabrication: the myth that Christians ever believed the world was flat.
Humans should be more eager to seek and share all truth instead of seeking the comfort of selective evidence and story sharing that only serve to “confirm” or “validate” their opinions or worldview. What wars or conflicts (big or small) do we have with others that are based on false pretenses? The truth matters.
From the article:
“Claiming that science and religion have known only unrelenting warfare betrays one’s ignorance of history and possibly one’s social/political agenda.”
“The lesson in all of this is that both science and religion are human endeavors, and human nature imposes itself upon them….Sadly, dividing up into opposing factions is deeply engrained in our primate heritage. Even more than friends, we humans need enemies. They define us, give us purpose; often, without them we are lost. Searching for points of agreement and constructing common ground are not sexy; they don’t stir the senses or make the blood boil. It’s so much more fun to wave a sword around and cry out, “Get the bad guys!” Usually it is too late when we realize that we are the bad guys.”
“Within both science and religion, however, there lies inspiration to resist destructive tribalism. At its best, religion teaches us to be humble, to be instruments of divine peace, to seek to understand rather than to be understood. Likewise, at its best, science teaches us to falsify our most cherished and comforting ideas, seek to prove them wrong. Science and religion are not enemies of one another. Small minds and dim imaginations are enemies of them both.”
