Attempting to describe the relationship between religion and science

This was written as a response to another question on Quora: "What is the relationship between religion and science?"

It is quite obvious that there IS a relationship between the two: Both are human activities, both are ways of seeking answers to questions, and both have profound affects on how humans live their lives.

Scientific research can help us learn the effect of specific religious beliefs and/or practices on ones ability to do scientific research, understand scientific theory, or use science to solve problems. We can also use scientific methods of research to understand the affects of specific religious beliefs and/or practices on whether a person’s life is happy, creative, productive, etc.  Social sciences can help us to understand the effects of religion on the societies in which they are practiced.

The people in a marriage or other partnership have different roles to play in order to make their relationship harmonious and mutually beneficial - and the people in the relationship often have to make an effort to find and implement the means to keep that harmony.  Similarly, science and religion have different rolls to play in the lives of individuals and in the development of civilization.  Pointing to present or historical examples of conflict between science and religion and concluding that they are always incompatible is like pointing to bad relationships between women and men, and concluding that men and women are incompatible in any relationship.

An individual who finds a good, dynamic (i.e. flexible, ever-evolving) relationship between science and religion in her or his life can become a person who is seen by others as exemplary. Likewise, a society - whether limited to the population of a single village, or one which spans the entire earth - which finds the right balance between science and religion can be the matrix in which its individual members achieve exemplary levels of happiness, creativity, and ever-growing ability.  The question, then, becomes: what relationship between religion and science can lead to individuals and society being happy, creative and productive? 

Science has an important roll to play in our lives and in society and civilization.  Most individuals do little or no scientific research, but familiarity with (and access to) the body of scientific knowledge and of the methods and standards of science help them to understand their world and to make choices based on that understanding.  Those who do legitimate, peer-reviewed, scientific research advance our understanding of how things work, the likely outcomes of various actions, and the web of cause and effect in the world.  But there are decisions that cannot, logically, be answered by science, and humans have needs which can be better fulfilled through religion.

Science leads to technology, but it takes something beyond science to answer the question, “what is the appropriate use of this technology?”  In this age, one appropriate roll of religion is to provide the wisdom to answer that question.  Some sample questions are, “should we be studying ways to build better weapons of mass destruction, or should we apply the same human resources to finding better ways to educate our children?”  “Should we be applying the technology of social psychology (i.e. advertising and public persuasion) to influence people to buy things they don’t need?”  “Should we apply that same technology to influencing people to get along?”  “Is it right for medical research to concentrate on developing treatments for illness rather than finding means of prevention?”  Science does not provide answers to such questions.  Ethics might provide answers, but it does not provide motivation. 

The role of religion is to provide both ethical answers and personal motivation to follow these ethics.  In this age, one of the central questions which religion asks of us is, “does this action or use of technology benefit all of the people of the world, or does it benefit a few at the expense of many?” In this age, one role of religion is to help us be aware of the oneness of Mankind.  In this age, one role of religion is to lead us to set aside our differences and prejudices and to cooperate in solving the problems of society and of the world.  When religion is the cause of strife, of discord and conflict, then no religion would be better.

So, in short, the relationship of religion and science is that religion points to what should be done and the purpose of our existence in this universe, while science is the tool for how our goals can be achieved and for understanding the nature of our universe.