Since I’m sitting around in an airport waiting for a flight, I had a little time to put together a few thoughts related to this topic.
In this conversation the worth “truth” has been tossed around quite a bit. However, we need to first examine what really is “truth” really is. Take colors for example. Say one person sees a color and sees it as red. Another person sees the same color and sees it as blue. Now who it telling the “truth” as to what that color really is? Now here is where it get’s interesting. There actually exists two truths and they may not be the same. There is an absolute universal “truth” and there is a perceived practical truth. The absolute truth, in theory, would be the truth in the truest sense of the word, while the perceived truth would be what we the population perceives as the truth at that given moment in time. In the example above, the perceived truth is different for each person, yet there is only one universal truth, and it could be that the color isn’t red or blue at all, but green.
Most arguments I see between faith based people and those with a scientific approach breaks down to a discrepancy between truths. Faith based people argue “absolute” truth since it is the foundation of their faith. God represents absolute truth, and so thus they can make absolute statements based on that truth. Those with more of a scientific mind argue from a “practical” truth approach. They basically say that truth is only as far as we know it at that moment in time. They also argue that there is no way, as humans, to really ever know absolute universal truth , so we must rely on our perceive practical truth to live by. Let’s re-examine the color example, but this time let’s say 5 billion people see the color as red and only 1 person sees the same color as blue. The faith based person will argue that the 1 person could actually be correct and that the 5 billion other people are wrong. Or they may even argue that the color is neither red nor blue, but green. Whatever their doctrine tells them the color is, that is what their faith believes, because they believe in a universal truth. And if there was a document that stated absolute truths, and they had faith in that document (like a bible), then despite what anything else may say to the contrary, their belief stands firm, regardless if it is in the majority or minority. However, the scientific mind completely dismisses the universal truth. That is not to say that they don’t think that it doesn’t exist, but that, as humans, there is no way to know the absolute truth for sure without having to put blind faith in something. Their argument is that we must, to a large degree, live by these perceived and practical truths. Again, in the color example, the scientific mind would argue, that because 5 billion people see a color as red, then for all intents and purposes that color is essentially red. If you try to say the color is blue or green, then in the eyes of the population, you are not telling the truth. This becomes evident if it were, say, a court case and it came down the discussion if the traffic light was red when you zoomed through. Even though it may not coincide with the absolute universal truth, in order to communicate, function and interact with others, you have to accept that the color is red. Back when the world was considered flat, a scientific mind would have accepted it as truth because at that time it was the accepted truth and in order to plan travel or discuss the land with fellow countrymen, speaking in terms of a round earth wouldn’t have made any sense to anyone else.
Now a religious mind would argue that this is myopic and very narrow minded. And from their perspective it is. However, the scientific mind understands that truth is constantly evolving and that the truth is only as “true” as it is perceived by the people. The scientific mind also recognizes that the religious mind for the most part lives life accepting these perceived truths all the time and it is only in the one instance of religion, that they deviate from their practical truth beliefs and accept an absolute truth stance. After all regardless of religion, most people can agree on what the color red is. They can also believe in other current perceived truths, like, how we are made up of atoms, or the laws of physics like gravity. We don’t have to rely on faith or direction from a book of truths (aka bible) for these, because in a practical sense, they are functional practical truths. We don’t have to accept that they are absolute universal truths, but we do need them as practical truths, or at least try to come to some consensus on them. I say that because even among practical truths, there is a very grey area as to what is true and what isn’t, even in discussions that have no/little religious bias at all. Example: Do plants/animals have feeling, emotions, pain? If so which do, and which do not? Dogs? Snails? Mushrooms? Or how about the color of the dinosaurs? Much of the population would be divided on that, and so in that case, the practical truth is that there is none. In a practical sense we can’t make a truthful statement because we really don’t know or agree on a truth. And most religions, to my knowledge, really don’t address it, so there really isn’t even a religions truth or position to it as well. This differs to the discrepancy of other religious based arguments, like abortion or angels, where the religious and scientific minds have a clear position or doctrine which are in direct opposition from one another.
In summary, the point I was trying to make is that when these sort of discussions break out into a disagreement, it really boils down to a discussion of truths. If both parties understood how the other party is viewing the definition of “truth” then you’ll be surprised how there really isn’t that much difference in perspective from either. For example, if the scientific mind were to speak in terms of absolute truths, then I’m sure they could agree that some absolute truth and/or force created the universe and that could easily be considered “god” and in many ways they would be in agreement. Yet if the religious mind were to think only in terms of perceived truth (using our 5 senses and scientific knowledge) then they could easily agree that there is nothing to support the existence of any “god”. Unfortunately what typically happens is that in conversation, the religious mind will only speak in absolute truth, while the scientific mind will speak in perceived truth and thus will result in and endless argument because they are diametrically opposed from the start.
If the scientific mind were to accept universal truths and that humans could actually know it and that some document or religion decreed it, then they could easily see the religious perspective. If the religious person were to accept only perceived truths, then they could easily see how using only perceived truths, one could reason that there are no “gods” and the like.
Just a few thoughts before I catch my flight...