Re: Reconciling Pagan Spirituality with Modern Science
But science isn't limited when it comes to lightning. We know exactly what causes lightning and it makes a lot more sense than a cosmic viking doing a bit of smithin'.
I was under the impression that people who use science and religion in tandem used religion to explain the bits science can't, rather than ignoring science's explanation altogether and substituting their own. Sure, some things science doesn't know, and others science may never know. In those cases, turning to religion at least makes sense to me, even though it's not something I personally do. But something as mundane as lightning? I don't get it.
Even without the scientific explanation, if I looked up at the sky during a storm and see nothing but clouds and lightning, my mind doesn't go, "well, must be Thor/Zeus/Quetzalcoatl/Susano'o/etc." I'd think "Though a thunder god is a possible explanation, it seems the least likely out of all these other explanations I can think of." I don't look at nothing and think a god is probably there, I look at nothing and think a god probably isn't there. I suppose that's where the faith part comes in. There we go, answered my own questions in that last line xD
Originally posted by Doc_Holliday
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I was under the impression that people who use science and religion in tandem used religion to explain the bits science can't, rather than ignoring science's explanation altogether and substituting their own. Sure, some things science doesn't know, and others science may never know. In those cases, turning to religion at least makes sense to me, even though it's not something I personally do. But something as mundane as lightning? I don't get it.
Even without the scientific explanation, if I looked up at the sky during a storm and see nothing but clouds and lightning, my mind doesn't go, "well, must be Thor/Zeus/Quetzalcoatl/Susano'o/etc." I'd think "Though a thunder god is a possible explanation, it seems the least likely out of all these other explanations I can think of." I don't look at nothing and think a god is probably there, I look at nothing and think a god probably isn't there. I suppose that's where the faith part comes in. There we go, answered my own questions in that last line xD
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