Science and Religion Again

 I hope that some of those reading my Shabbat message this week will remember that each year, we participate in Evolution Weekend. Evolution Weekend, or Evolution Shabbat is the brain child of a Jewish scientist at the University of Michigan who, along with many of his colleagues (who are both involved in their respective churches and synagogues and are world class scientists) are concerned about the discord between religion and science in America. I share this concern.  

So Evolution Shabbat is an opportunity to talk about the importance of science, and to remind ourselves that religion and science should not and must not be at war with each other. Over 400 congregations throughout America will devote time this weekend to talk about this issue. For over 10 years, we have been among them, because ….. well let me tell you a story.

Did you know that I was a science major?  Yes, I have been here for 26 years so many of you have heard the punch line of this joke many times.  I was a Political Science major. 

The truth is that my secondary education is in the social sciences: political science, sociology, and the humanities.  And my graduate education is, of course, in Talmud and Rabbinics.  Now what I am going to say is not particularly dangerous or controversial in a suburban synagogue catering to the needs of college educated, middle class Jews.   What I learned in college and seminary is good for many things.  But you cannot build a society on those teachings and lessons alone.  Only a fool or a coward would deny the important role that the hard sciences and the truths that they reveal should be ignored or rejected due to religious doctrine.  That is true even when those truths pose a challenge to our religious convictions or observances. 

But many contest this approach.  We have seen a backlash against science emanating from religious communities in America for many years, which only intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic.  It’s all around us and too many people have died unnecessarily as a result.  That is why, despite my general disinterest in what I call “themed Shabbats,” I always register our congregation for Evolution Weekend, and proudly join with other religious organizations who will devote some time this weekend to speak about the relationship between science and religion.   

If you want to see the battle between science and religion, and I mean this with all due respect to Jewish Republicans, let’s go back to the 2016 Presidential elections.  In the debates among the candidates that preceded the elections, the issue of climate change came up repeatedly.  How is it possible that almost every scientist says climate change is real, yet all the candidates only seemed to listen to the five scientists who say it isn’t.  And then look at the segment of the Evangelical vote they feel that they must win to get elected.  The battle lines have been drawn.   

About six years ago, one of the most significant scientific discoveries of recent years was on the front page of every major newspaper in the western world.  A team of scientists announced that they had heard and recorded the sound of two black holes colliding about 1 billion light years away from the earth.  These sounds are evidence of what are known as gravitational waves, something that Einstein had theorized, but whose existence he could not prove 100 years ago.  For those of you who were REAL science majors, this may be the proof of the last prediction of the general theory of relativity which made Einstein’s achievements worthy of him being considered the most significant thinker of the 20^th century. (I can’t help but mention that his competition for that spot was Sigmund Freud.  Two Jews.  Just saying!). But I digress.

Now among the amazing aspects of this announcement was the possibility that time as we understand it moves at different rates in different parts of the universe.  I don’t even really know what that means.  But I know that this has tremendous implications for our understanding of how the universe operates and expands.  It has already encouraged even more research into the fascinating yet still largely misunderstood nature and meaning of black holes.  And these discoveries and that which will grow out of them will tell us more in time about our solar system, our sun and especially our earth, and its origins, and for all we know, even our future.  And that is great.  We should embrace it. 

I guess, what I am saying, and try to say each year, is that we don’t need to choose one over the other, between being open to and even excited about scientific advances or religion.  It is our responsibility to be the grown-ups in the room and say proudly and unequivocally that we recognize that each exist to answer different questions.  Just as the scientific discovery I mentioned demonstrated that theoretically there can exist multiple speeds at which time can move, we too are capable of living with a variety of different truths held together by a healthy appreciation for both the wonders as well as limits of each.  Ultimately science answers the question, -- how did it come to be?  Religion cannot possibly answer this question in a compelling fashion.  Even our Rabbis taught that “the Torah speaks in the language of humanity" – which I will translate for our purpose today as – it is foolhardy to try to reconcile the first chapter of Genesis with the Big Bang theory.  Similarly, only the moral development pioneered by religion can impel us to use our scientific knowledge to build a hospital instead of an Auschwitz. 

So enough of the science vs. religion debate.  What are we afraid of?  The truth is that there is nothing to fear.  Especially if we, as our Rabbis taught, are wise enough to accept wisdom and truth in all its disparate forms, and then live these truths to the best of our abilities.

Shabbat Shalom

 

For more on this subject, Please click

An Open Letter Concerning Religion and Science from American Rabbis