Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Duelity

At duelity.net, the Vancouver Film School presents a pair of beautiful animations that illustrate two opposing theories of the origins of life, evolution and creationism.

View the videos here.

I want to stress that the theory of evolution is a scientific one, supported by evidence gathered from the natural world. Creationism is a religious doctrine; it is substantiated not by scientific data but by Christian belief.

The conflict between science and religion, I think, arises when one discipline infringes upon the boundaries of the other. Science -- because of its inability to gather data beyond the natural world -- should not make any claims about the existence or non-existence of God. Religion -- because of its inability to discredit scientific theories based on rigorous data -- should not make any claims about the validity of the theory of evolution.

Science can not tell you that you do not have a soul, or that God does not exist. Likewise, religion can not tell you that the world is flat or that humans did not share a common ancestor with other primates. To avoid conflict, keep the areas of expertise between the two disciplines distinct. For I believe there should be room for both science and religion in a moral, rational, and free-thinking human being.

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