Atheists often mention the harm that religion has caused in
the world, and the common rebuttal to this is, “science has done just as much
harm”. The arguments against science range from the obvious nuclear weapons to the
less obvious oil and gas which create pollution and contribute to climate
change. To decide if science and religion are both equally responsible for harm,
it is important to look at the claims both are making.
There are thousands of different religions and all of them
make different claims, however they all basically make the same claim which is
that it improves the quality of our lives. It attempts to do this by giving us
moral guidelines to live by, and more often than not the religion claims that
these morals are given to us by the creator of the universe.
Science however, doesn't make claims and unlike religion
there is only one scientific method and it was created by men to help us better
understand the world around us. The scientific method includes: formulating
a question, hypothesis, prediction, test, and then analyzing the data. While
science doesn't make claims, scientists do, and when claims are made they can
be tested by others using this same method.
The difference between both of these is that one is making a
claim and the other is a tool to investigate how the universe works. A method for
understanding cannot be guilty of harm but those who use science for evil of course can
be.
Religion is often used to justify harmful acts, but you
can’t say the same for science. Science has never been used to justify acts of
violence even though science may have been used to cause the act. It is similar
to the argument “guns don’t kill people - people do”; anyone who has used that
argument can’t also say that science is as much to blame for harm as religion,
because like guns, science doesn't harm people - people who use science for evil do. Science works and it is our responsibility to use it responsibly.
Religion doesn't work, and when it doesn't - religious individuals
have used science to do what their god can’t. Those making the argument that
science is harmful - know that religion is guilty and project the same blame
onto science to somehow justify the continued belief in their own religion. If
both are equally guilty, then in their mind there is no reason to question
their own position and the debate is a draw. Arguing that science has caused
harm in the world is completely illogical, and anytime someone makes this claim - they expose the fact that they don’t value knowledge.
