It wasn't long ago that a lot of people, especially people on college campuses, viewed religion as a musty artifact from the Bronze Age. Naturally, they thought of it as inherently unscientific. Times have changed, and a new generation has discovered how strongly science and religion are intertwined. But old views persist -- they often do -- and many people still hold science and religion to be in conflict, so it can come as a shock to learn that the youngest of the world religions, the Bahá'í Faith, founded in 1844, holds the agreement of science and religion as a core principle. And Bahá'ís don't see the agreement of science and religion as a theological debate but a plan of action.
Two Wings of One Bird
The view that science and religion agree has a distinguished heritage. It prevailed in Athens during the axial age, in Islam at its peak, and in Europe during the scientific revolution. Modern society is likely to soon embrace it again, in no small part because it is increasingly clear that secularism and science by themselves cannot answer the challenges of a global society.
The Bahá'í view is that true science and true religion are completely compatible:
Any religious belief which is not conformable with scientific proof and investigation is superstition, for true science is reason and reality, and religion is essentially reality and pure reason; therefore, the two must correspond... If we say religion is opposed to science, we lack knowledge of either true science or true religion, for both are founded upon the premises and conclusions of reason, and both must bear its test. (Excerpt from a 1912 talk given by `Abdu'l-Bahá, son of the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith, while visiting America)
Science and religion are the two wings of one bird. Both must be equally strong for the bird to fly: "Religion and science are the two wings upon which man's intelligence can soar into the heights, with which the human soul can progress. It is not possible to fly with one wing alone!" (`Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, pg. 143).
Weakening, sidelining, ridiculing, or disparaging science or religion in favor of the other has very real consequences: "Should a man try to fly with the wing of religion alone he would quickly fall into the quagmire of superstition, whilst on the other hand, with the wing of science alone he would also make no progress, but fall into the despairing slough of materialism" (`Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, pg. 143).
Science is essential if we are to understand and work with reality. But by itself it is not enough, nor does it tell the whole story. The needed fuller understanding requires not only rational methods, facts, and scientific concepts but benevolence, intuition, moral values, spiritual perception, and goals. It is in this light that Bahá'ís believe that "faith in God and confidence in social progress are in every sense reconcilable; that science and religion are the two inseparable, reciprocal systems of knowledge impelling the advancement of civilization" (from a November 2003 letter written by the Universal House of Justice, the international governing body of the Bahá'í Faith).
Four Ways for Science and Religion to Work Together
What are some of the ways that science and religion can work together? Below, we describe four possible ways inspired by the Bahá'í teachings of the unity of science and religion:
1. Reduce or Eliminate Conflicts Over Evolution
The United States is torn apart by rancor and a distrust of science and secularism caused by conflicts over evolution. The distrust is growing and now spreading to the rest of the world. Not only does it block progress toward addressing serious environmental problems (global warming and the need for a sustainable energy policy, for example), but it drives much of the deep-seated polarization underlying the current paralysis in public discourse.
Clearly, the view that religion overrides science is part of the problem. As the Bahá'í writings put it:
Between scientists and the followers of religion there has always been controversy and strife for the reason that the latter have proclaimed religion superior in authority to science and considered scientific announcement opposed to the teachings of religion...
...If religious belief and doctrine is at variance with reason, it proceeds from the limited mind of man and not from God... (From a talk given by `Abdu'l-Bahá July 14, 1912 in New York)
But also consider the other side of the story. Modern secularism (enlightenment thought, individualism, and materialism) has frequently deployed interpretations of evolution as a creation narrative, using it both to bash religion and to buttress all sorts of social movements, some distinctly unsavory (e.g., eugenics, "scientific" European racism, and communism). The resulting conflicts with religion are deep-seated, continuing, politically exploitable, and the major source of the growing distrust.
Much can be done to eliminate these conflicts over evolution and the havoc and destruction they create. From the secular side, a first step would be to start to recognize that there is indeed a problem, that it is not just ignorance or bad behavior on the part of the religious. A second step would be to own up to the unsavory legacies of 19th-century secularism. This, and reciprocal steps from the religious side, would go a long way toward healing the wounds of this distrust. (Common Ground explores this in posts like "Your Faith Is a Joke" by Maya Bohnhoff.)
2. Develop Moral and Ethical Principles for Global Progress
Solutions to the world's mounting problems require the willingness of large numbers of people to act together. Clear moral and ethical principles are needed, principles that can be embraced by large numbers of people. And it requires the sustained willingness of those large numbers of people to act together for long times. In short, it requires religion, humanity's age-old way of acting on moral and ethical values in a sustainable way.
Further, it is likely that only religion can generate the willingness to act together for the time needed to create a global society. Historically, it is religion that has created the moral commitment -- and the loyalties that transcend tribal, regional, ethnic and linguistic affiliations -- that have made large-scale social progress possible.
The Bahá'í International Community puts it this way: "It is -- or by now should be -- a truism that, in every sphere of human activity and at every level, the insights and skills that represent scientific accomplishment must look to the force of spiritual commitment and moral principle to ensure their appropriate application" (The Prosperity of Humankind, section IV).
Science and religion, working together, offer extraordinary potential as a mechanism for enabling us to address and solve our problems. Those preaching -- and inciting -- continued conflict between science and religion should reconsider their stance. They are blocking progress.
3. Provide Universal Education in Scientific Literacy
Science is not only for rich, industrialized societies with advanced militaries, high-tech industries, and state-of-the-art medical infrastructures. It is also for farmers, fishermen, villagers, craftsmen, town dwellers, and indigenous people. The Bahá'í Prosperity of Humankind statement puts it this way: "Instruments of social and economic change so powerful must cease to be the patrimony of advantaged segments of society, and must be so organized as to permit people everywhere to participate in such activity on the basis of capacity."
Science for the few tilts the playing field away from most of the peoples of the earth. At best, they receive trickle-down benefits from the rich and the powerful. At worst, they are forced from their homes and lands when science, technological change, or market forces make their land exploitable.
Universal scientific literacy, similar to universal reading and writing literacy, is the direction we must head if we are to be true to the promise of science. Religion is needed to make scientific literacy universal.
4. Renew and Transform Religion
For religion to play the roles suggested in the paragraphs above, it must advance and develop. For this to happen, according to the Bahá'í teachings, religion must be brought into harmony with science. The results will be spectacular:
When religion, shorn of its superstitions, traditions, and unintelligent dogmas, shows its conformity with science, then will there be a great unifying, cleansing force in the world which will sweep before it all wars, disagreements, discords and struggles -- and then will mankind be united in the power of the Love of God. (Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, pg. 10)
One way to see this starting to happen is to look at the Bahá'í experience with a culture of learning that includes a continuous process of consultation, action, and reflection, being carried out in Bahá'í communities around the world. This process, which mirrors the process of generating and testing hypotheses in science, allows individuals, families, communities, and other organizations to continually learn and grow. There is no clergy or priesthood in the Bahá'í Faith, so the responsibilities -- and the benefits -- of this accrue to everybody.
When this process is applied to the Creative Word -- the revealed teachings of the divine religions -- it makes possible powerful ways to develop and test new understandings of those teachings, not by sectarian conflict but by application and evaluation. When such means of testing and improving understanding is taken as a fundamental part of religion, then progress, and the fruits of that progress, can continue indefinitely.
Robert Fuller: How to Keep Your Balance When There's No Place to Stand and Nothing to Hold
As for "the Creative Word--the revealed teachings of the divine religions," the quotes above are hearsay. The son of the religion's founder spoke in Persian which was translated into the language of the audience who took notes. It's good marketing and public relations to bring religion into harmony with science, but misrepresenting science or misrepresenting religion isn't going to persuade anyone other than "true" believers.
The idea of secularism isn't separation of church and state but an atheistic philosophy used as a straw man. Similarly, this nightmare distortion of evolution--creation narrative to bash religion and support eugenics, racism, and communism--is unrecognizable to anyone who has studied it academically within the last 60 years. Only discredited extremists imagine evolution so negatively. The idea that "religion is needed to make scientific literacy universal" is truly frightening to contemplate.
It is meaningless to state, "Any religious belief which is not conformable with scientific proof and investigation is superstition, for true science is reason and reality," when religious believers pick and choose what is "true science." Look at the Wikipedia article on "Baha'i Faith and Science" and read about evolution only within species and the existence of ether.
Review apologetics for Bahaism at commongroundgroup[dot]net and judge the presentation of biology in the series Evolution, Science, and Religion: "We know Darwin’s opinion--he thinks man is an animal. And we know his reasons for thinking so--all the capabilities he sees in humans are found in nascent form in animals. But, and this is an important point, it is clear that he has not done more than just form an opinion in the context of his understanding of evolution." Stephen concludes, "So, humans are not animals, except biologically. What is surprising--at least to me--is how weak and “unsciency” the view that humans are animals is." [Number 8: No, Humans are Not Animals, April 2, 2012]
"He Who is the Lord of the world is come and hath shown the way. His faith is the faith of benevolence and His religion is the religion of forbearance. This faith bestoweth eternal life and this religion enableth mankind to dispense with all else. It verily embraceth all faiths and all religions"
"The Holy Spirit Itself hath been generated through the agency of a single letter revealed by this Most Great Spirit, if ye be of them that comprehend."
"Beware lest ye speak of duality in regard to My Self, for all the atoms of the earth proclaim that there is none other God but Him, the One, the Single, the Mighty, the Loving. From the beginning that hath no beginning I have proclaimed, from the realm of eternity, that I am God, none other God is there save Me, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting; and unto the end that hath no end I shall proclaim, amidst the kingdom of names, that I am God, none other God is there beside Me, the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved."
They say Two? There is only One.
Let it not be imagined that the House of Justice will take any decision according to its own concepts and opinions. God forbid! The Supreme House of Justice will take decisions and establish laws through the inspiration and confirmation of the Holy Spirit.
Baha'u'llah proclaims: "The Holy Spirit Itself hath been generated through the agency of a single letter revealed by this Most Great Spirit, if ye be of them that comprehend."
As an exercise in hypothetical thinking, say the bahai "new world order" was established, and you were a so called "Scientific" advocate of bahai ... er.... "thought", that was a "Judge" sitting in a case of some "heretic" (for example, an ex-bahai dissident) that had dared to question the validity of truth claims in "official" bahai scripture.
No one in the right mind that is not a rigidly orthox, traditional bahai would possibly imagine that you would be capable of the bare minimum of OBJECTIVITY needed for the the "defendant" to have a snowball's chance in hell of hoping for any "real justice".
And that is the bottom line: the practical implications of your ethereal theology/metaphysics are, according to the vast majority of human history and experience, HORRIBLE.
This might explain why bahai culture is so insularized, most bahais live in an echo chamber, and do not try to engage in any meaningful forms of social activism. They avoid dealing with reality and cling to meaningless theory.
In this new post-prophetic cycle scientific progress leads to knowledge and recognition of truth. Science is even demonstrating that existence came from non-existence through its own self-subsistent nature. Regarding the organizational structure of the Baha'i order and system, it is an important matter because it guards and protects the small community of Baha'is who are beacons of light in the world of superstition and fanaticism. It is the Covenant of Baha'u'llah that gives the Baha'i community great powers of love, unity, and sagacity -- and it is the Covenant that enables the Baha'i institutions to serve as a shining models against religious fanaticism and extremism that are proving to be so danger in our world. Other than that Baha'is are among the weak and humble. A disunited community would, on the other hand, be powerless to combat extremism and fanaticism of superstition, an all-devouring disease of fire.
You assert a model of a Superman/Hero alongside a "purity" myth, and then you frame the rest of the world outside that purity myth as the satanic and a "diseased of fire", then accuse other religions of being "superstitious" and full of "bogus claims". On the basis of self-referencing, circulatory logic that sits on a foundation of APPEALS TO AUTHORITY.
OK ..... SURE. "Makes perfect sense" (NOT!).
The "Covenant" is complicated, but in practice, is has not prevented bahais from abusing religious authority, and attacking free-thinking people such as critics, dissidents and nonconformists (which of course most of the important "real" scientists were, historically). The "Covenant" is in simple terms, the internal "legal" structure that defines how the bahai "tribe" is superior to all other "tribes" because of its spiritual Mega-Dude founder is "more cool", and how it will "handle" the process of putting members of (non-bahai) "spiritually inferior" tribes "in their place".
But, it is a tolerant and loving religion that only seeks world peace. (sarcasm)
I do not know what "science" you are referring to. From what you have presented here, it would seem to have to be something called "pseudoscience" or "bad science": bad or incomplete data, and/or bad interpretation of the data according to a flawed theory.
have a nice day.
O Baha'u'llah, what hast Thou done? May my life be sacrificed, may my soul be offered up for Thy sake! How full were Thy days!
With trials and tribulations!
How severe the ordeals!
O Baha'u'llah, How solid the foundation Thou hast laid
O Baha'u'llah, How glorious the banner Thou didst hoist
Baha'u'llah, Baha'u'llah
The Glorious banner Thou didst hoist!
O Baha'u'llah, What hast Thou done
O Baha'u'llah
" It behoveth every one who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. "
So, contrary to what some "5th generation" etherealist iranian bahais are attempting to claim here, not only does one have to conform to a myth structure that maintains exclusivism as the core principle, one is obligated to follow the political and cultural agenda ("ordinances") that follows from that exclusivistic claim.
"These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the other. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Source of Divine inspiration. "
Comment: more of the same. Any belief that goes contrary to the "recognition" or "inseperable ordinances" clauses, as defined by the bahai founders or those that claim to be the legitimate successors of those founders, subjects a person to being "investigated", stigmatized and potentially shunned in the bahai community.
Science has no role in the basic formulation of bahai theology, rather, it is something that is a side issue, or problem that has to be fit into the basic mythic-conformist framework of bahai belief.
It is as if you are attempting to separate my identity from my actions, my mind, my words, and my body. They are inseparable from my identity.
This is a perfect example of how Axial religions are basically tribal.
You have defined a system of thought that is completely closed off.
As such, you will redefine any "outside" ideea as a "threat", and anyone hold "outside" ideas as "Satanic".
This requires that you take on the posture of a "victim" in order to "demonize" anyone that dares to disagree with you.
As I said previously, dreary, medieval stuff.
From a western Buddhist perspective, why the construct of Axial "prophets" is problematic:
Excerpt:
http://www.shambhalasun.com/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=2059&Itemid=0&limit=1&limitstart=2
[Q] What I would like to do now is to ask a few very technical questions. One of the most confusing things about being a practitioner of Asian mystical traditions is the fact that before the Enlightenment the West had a thousand year tradition of civilization based on a highly mystical religion, Christianity. And yet ... you characterize this thousand year period as one that promised but did not deliver genuine transcendence. Why do you say that? How could a whole civilization miss the point for so long when it had expressions of the idea in Plato, the Corpus Hermeticum, Neoplatonism, mystical Christianity, and so on?
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"The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation."
Comment: well, this is certainly grandiose. For the "true believers", it is a source of pride and joy. For others is could be extremely disturbing for various good or bad reasons. Please note that in the "official" english translation, a bald and aggressive truth claim is made that the religion is the only valid path to "God". This violates the principle of "non-exclusion" in postmodern/holistic culture by insisting those of any other belief system are spiritually "inferior" and incapable of doing their "duty" as human beings.
When you consider that bahaism's goal is to create a world-dominant "new order", the fact that the root of the religion is planted is an exclusivistic paradigm is extremely worrisome.
" Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed."
Comment: more of the same "us vs. them" cultural imperialism.
(to be cont.)
Please see my other comments at the head of the comments section for further analysis.
We are drops and He is The Greatest Ocean.
Glad-tidings! glad-tidings!
The Sun of Reality hath shone forth!
Glad-tidings! glad-tidings!
The Breeze of Favour hath wafted!
Glad-tidings! glad-tidings!
The rain drops of the Cloud of Bounty have showered!
Glad-tidings! glad-tidings!
The hearts are all in the utmost purity!
Glad-tidings! glad-tidings!
The Sun of the Supreme Horizon hath radiated to all the world with boundless effulgence!
Glad-tidings! glad-tidings!
It is the Splendor of His Highness Bahá'u'lláh!
"The cause of its existence [all that to which the name "thing" can be applied], in truth, is ITS OWN SELF and naught else."
"The Divine Reality is sanctified from singleness, then how much more from plurality."
"...no one hath any access to the Invisible Essence. The way is barred and the road is impassable. In this world all men must turn their faces toward 'Him-whom God-shall-Manifest.' He is the 'Dawning-place of Divinity' and the 'Manifestation of Deity.' He is the 'Ultimate Goal,' the 'Adored One' of all and the 'Worshipped One' of all. Otherwise, whatever flashes through the mind is not that Essence of essences and the Reality of realities; nay, rather it is pure imagination woven by man and is surrounded, not the surrounding. Consequently, it returns finally to the realm and conjectures."
"All the people have formed a god in the world of thought, and that form of their own imagination they worship; when the fact is that the imagined form is finite and the human mind is infinite."
"Therefore consider: All the sects and peoples worship their own thought; they create a god in their own minds and acknowledge him to be the creator of all things, when that form is a superstition — thus people adore and worship imagination."
Your primary foible is that you conflate everything I said into your presupposed ideas of mysticism and metaphysics. I am telling you brother, all mysticism and metaphysics are bogus. All of them. Baha'u'llah was very clear on this in His responses to the masters of all mysticism the Sufis.
You are the one claiming that Baha'u'llah received "so called 'revelation'". In my finite and relativistic mind Baha'u'llah is only unveiling (nothing to be "revealed") Himself to mankind (there's no need to presuppose a deity or other mythical figures). Everything He said was unique, since His situation was unique and none of His life experiences were experienced by anyone before Him or after Him (the same may be said about any one really, no one else has the same exact experiences you have). If anything, Ibn-al-Arabi and his like were merely morning stars that rise in anticipate of Dawn of the Sun itself.
My whole point in this comment was that hopefully science will progress to such perfection in this Most Great Cycle of Baha'u'llah that there will be no need to anyone to presuppose an imaginary god, for religion has proven itself to mankind to be the source of division and strife. May the Most Great Peace hasten itself.
There is no actual evidence that subatomic physics can be linked to any human idea or metaphyscial construct. The fact that the very rationale for the idea that religious authority has some source beyond human limits is simply a construct of culture and bad enough, but when the integrity of science is violated (by amateurs) by using it to further justify the silly metaphysics behind claims to "revelation" it is additionally absurd.
All of your ideas are the foundation of fundamentalism and oppression, they are not, and can can never be the source of spiritual liberation (freedom from clinging and suffering).
In the Axial religions, the ultimate "cultural logic" is based on the archetype of Law and Order, or Patriarchy, or the "strict daddy" paradigm.
No metaphyscial system that is based on the "strict daddy" paradigm can lead to liberation without the necessary balance of the Divine Feminine (nurturance, unconditional acceptance).
Two things make "clear as the noonday sun" that bahaullah's claim to unique divine revelation is a construct that is as limited by culture as are all previous similar claims.
The highest political structure in the bahai system, the universal house of justice, has its membership constituted by the principle of the exclusion of women. If I recall correctly, the bahai imamate ("guardianship") was also limited to male descendents.
The Divine Reality is sanctified from singleness, then how much more from plurality.
Now all people Worship an imagination, for they have created a God in the realm of imagination and him they worship.
Know thou of a certainty that the Unseen can in no wise incarnate His essence and reveal it unto men. He is, and hath ever been, immensely exalted beyond all that can either be recounted or perceived.... He Who is everlastingly hidden from the eyes of men can never be known except through His Manifestation, and His Manifestation can adduce no greater proof of the truth of His mission than the proof of His Own Person.
The essence of belief in Divine unity consisteth in regarding Him Who is the Manifestation of God and Him Who is the invisible, the inaccessible, the unknowable Essence as one and the same.
The response by "nathansquest" is another in a very long line of typical dysfunctional responses to criticism that one experiences over and over in the bahai community. It is a vile personal attack. It is an attempt at defining the critic, dissident or nonconformist "other" as being spiritually inferior. The complainant fails to follow their own advice. The complainant distorts the beliefs and positions of the critic and attempts to invalidate his ideas in an irrational manner using tribal logic even in a discussion about science!
This "bahai method" is used by both individuals and bahai institutions. Bahai institutions usually use it with more subtly, but it is still emotionally devastating to the "target" because of the intimate nature of people's relationship to religious authority.
There is no question that the great failing of modern culture is that the Volraire's model of rationalism was overplayed, leading to narcissism and nihilism.
To use that failure to justify an even more poorly constructed religious framework that is simply a glorified version of pre-modern tribalism and cultural imperialism is appalling.
Here is the short version of the bahai argument by Dr. Friber and others:
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Sure our religion is still oppressive like all previous religions, but the alternative used in the "materialistic" western, scientific, liberal culture is problematic, so our backward way of thinking is "ok".
See Jean Gebser's analysis of "paradigm regression" (in "Ursprung und Gegenwart" or "The Ever Present Origin") for an in-depth description of the problem.
I have presented proposed models of human consciousness that are holistic and integral. It is a pity that "nathansquest" either did not bother to read that material, or did not understand, or ignored it.
Again the response of "nathansquest" is typical of the state of social awareness in the bahai community. There is an arrogance and insularization that is as appalling as it is backward and narrow-minded.
If you religion claims to be "perfect" but your argument in support of it is that critics that blow the "perfection" up should be quiet for irrational reasons, you have simply made it clear that it is a religion that is incoherent, and not at all "perfect".
In other words, it is simply another in a very long line of "ways of existence" that illustrate what the most recent developments in "dual inheritance" (evolutionary) theory tell us:
Human beings are liars and hypocrites by nature, and those are among the necessary traits for social bonding that we used in our evolutionary history to survive as small bands and tribes.
There is nothing "sublime" about human nature, or the religions that sprang from it. There is nothing "perfect" about the so called "prophets" that claim to establish ABSOLUTE religious truth.
The use of ABSOLUTIST claims is cultural imperialism, which is proof of cultural limits (or "imperfection").