Religion vs. Science

The New York Times has an interesting article on how science and religion meet – and the results. In this case a young evangelical paleontologist who believes in the Bible as the last word and a fossil record that argues otherwise. The contradiction is obvious – the Bible says the Earth is only 10,000 years old but the dinosaurs of Marcus Ross’ paper lived in the Cretaceous era about 65 million years ago. Naturally this has caused some controversy. Scientists worry about how Ross will use his degree now that he has it. “Online information about the DVD identifies Dr. Ross as “pursuing a Ph.D. in geosciences” at the University of Rhode Island. It is this use of a secular credential to support creationist views that worries many scientists.” There is also the worry that universities could begin enforcing a belief system but others argue this is not discrimination based on religion but science. “Dr. Dini, of Texas Tech, agreed. Scientists ‘ought to make certain the people they are conferring advanced degrees on understand the philosophy of science and are indeed philosophers of science,’ he said. ‘That’s what Ph.D. stands for.’”

It’s a conundrum and I don’t know what the answer is. But I do not like the idea of people getting their Ph.D.’s in the scientific field from big universities and then using them to teach religion instead of science. If you want to teach religion, get a Ph.D. in religion. A Ph.D. in science should not be a substitute for that.