Science and Religion

Science and religion is big news these days. Are they mutually exclusive or are they chalk and cheese?
In Australia we have Cardinal George Pell, making profound statements about science. What puzzles me is why anybody is taking him seriously. Cardinal Pell is making comments about cloning and stem cell research. Gee whiz, I didn't know he knew that much science.

I would like to weigh up the differences in knowledge between science and religion and let the reader decide if the two are compatible or not.

On the religious side we have miracles, virgin births, resurrections from the dead, angels, demons, blind faith, the inexplicable mind of GOD.

On the science side we have technology, medicine, electricity, biology, astronomy, geology, physics, chemistry.

Science has made our lives profoundly richer and more interesting.
Religion gives hope in a false way, religion breeds fear, intolerance, ignorance, irrationality, inquisitions, burning witches.

Indeed, religion was the custodian of all knowledge in the dark ages but the renaissance wasn't a product of religion and Gutenberg's printing press liberated knowledge and information and allowed the spread of new ideas.
When Galileo looked through a telescope and tried to tell the world that the earth wasn't the center of the universe, the Church hounded him into silence.

Today the battle is between the Christian fundamentalists and their refusal to accept evolution.
Today the battle is between religious spokesmen who are self-appointed defenders of ethics and morality. They feel the need to control science. The religious want to be the self appointed defenders of mankind, defend us against our own mischievous curiosity, like little children playing with matches.

The religious pundits, those who are selling us an afterlife, with no money back guarantee.
The religious pundits who expect us to suspend all rational thought and believe in the unbelievable and if we can't quite complete the task, feel guilty about it. We should feel guilty because we cannot believe in unsubstantiated myths, legends, miracles, stories, an invisible God, saints, angels.
And now these same pundits are experts on science and stem cell research. We must bow to their superior wisdom and insight. Politicians must pass laws in response to superior wisdom and insight.

Why are we giving so much credence to religion??

Science seeks to discover the truth while religion claims to have a monopoly on truth.

Science is open to inquiry while religion builds impenetrable walls of dogma.

Science is subject to proof while religion demands blind faith without any proof.

Chalk and cheese.