Do religious people think that science is biased?

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So being that I am an atheist in a christian household, my father seems to have the need to reaffirm his beliefs in my presence, and as humorous as this is I still feel a bit baffled by his combination of distrust and ignorance of science. An example would be the time he stated that it was "stupid to think that we could have evolved from bacteria", while he spoke in the context of the origins of life, which would actually be abiogenesis, as evolution explains the biological diversity of life on earth. He will also mock the idea of the Big Bang while knowing nothing about it, and yet he will readily accept many amenities(electricity, vaccines, cars....) brought about by the use of the scientific method. I want to explain to him that science is just an objective way of gaining verifiable data to explain a given circumstance(by use of experimentation and measurement), but he seems to think that science is biased towards his beliefs, so have any of you ever met someone like this whom either distrusts science, or believes that science is biased?

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  • lufa
    11 years ago | pl

    You could've asked so many better questions like:

    Do religious people have the IQ to grasp even the most simplest/rudimentary concepts of science?

    Do religious people think superstition trumps science?

    Do religious people think 'skydaddy make man from mound of sand' is a superior answer to Evolution? lol

    etc

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  • Dot123
    11 years ago | pl

    What is science? How do we know what we know? I personally believe were always here. Living in a dream. We came from nothing, but everything is an idea.

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    • lufa
      11 years ago | pl

      Science is the most powerful methodology we have of finding out the truth, particularly of nature.

      'believing' things does not mean they are true.

      in fact, belief is that foundation of unreason and untruth.

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  • Darkoil
    11 years ago | pl

    Religious people are simple minded morons and he has the cheek to say it is stupid to believe we evolved from bacteria.

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  • Avant-Garde
    11 years ago | pl

    When, I was in 1st grade, I went to a catholic school and not once do I remember them teaching science. A few years ago, I signed up to a christian school and part of it was online. None of the subject taught were logical. Health was polluted with "temples" and how god doesn't want you to marry "redheads"! Science was a complete fail. I forget what they called it, but it wasn't "Science". It was butchered to suit their ways and nonsensical. There was no evolution, just a bunch of strange creationist views. I learned absolutely nothing! They couldn't even get "geography" right!

    Most of my relatives are christian, but at least some of them believe in science. Their theory of "earth" might of made sense to me as a kid, but now it doesn't. The scientific origins and even ancient origins make more sense. I luckily haven't meant people like that in person, because I'd probably flip out on them. It's baffling.... There's even a sect that doesn't believe in modern medicine. They believe that god will cure them and consequently allot have died.

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    • charli.m
      11 years ago | pl

      What sort of Christian school was that? That sounds pretty bizarre. Science they taught may have been along the lines of "intelligent design"? Not sure, just a guess. Sounds nuts.

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      • Avant-Garde
        11 years ago | pl

        The first one was a private school and it had a very toxic environment....

        The second, was a homeschooling one. The geography had about 12 books and at the end of the first one mentioned a cult-like idea on how as "christians" it was their duty to go around the world and "convert" people. Especially, people in impoverished nations. The books looked and were severely outdated. Most of what they said, science had already debunked it. The drawings of people of african descent were "very ugly" and "old". Yet, the ones of other races were "nicely" drawn.

        I don't think the super-continents Gondwanaland and Pangea were even mentioned. One of the craziest things I read was about noah and his ark. They said that "we" were expected to make an ark, because god wanted us to make one. They were dead serious about it. In health, they said that if you had to run a race and you prayed to god, that god would make you win that race. In "science", they would only mention "scientists" that were christian. They would say that the knowledge basically came from god and would repeatedly put down actual Science.

        I remember I had to write a paper about how Evolutionists were wrong and evil and that creationist were right. It went against my beliefs, because I believe in Evolution. I tried to ask if I could agree with evolution and my family went mad with rage. They said that it was stupid for a elephant to come from a fish. So, I unfortunately had to write that paper and I lied on every part of it. I am ashamed that I had to do it.... I couldn't finish all twelve of those books and partially got to 2. Then, we somehow lost that book. We called them to tell them that I couldn't finish it and the lady on the phone flipped out at us.

        The computer programs were a catastrophe. Everyday, I was expected to do a quiz! The worked got backed up and overdue very quickly. Everything was outdated. They made me learn how to use a windows computer on XP, but windows had long updated to Vista! It was a nightmare!

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        • charli.m
          11 years ago | pl

          I have no idea what to say. That's all very odd and confusing...

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  • ThatOneGuyFromThatOnePlace
    11 years ago | pl

    Ok, so first off, I AM religious (Christian: Catholic), but I'm like obsessed with science, because you can LEARN about other beliefs without believing in them. Also, just for the record, if you believe in the Big Bang and other such concepts, you are technically a theorist, where an atheist doesn't have any question or belief of how the universe came to be. Again, just for the record. Another thing, the only reason some "religious" people (in my religion anyway) aren't the nicest to atheists/theorists/etc. sometimes is because they fail to remember that in the bible it is written "love the sinner, not the sin." One last thing, your dad shouldn't say it's stupid to think we could have evolved from bacteria, or that any other theory is stupid for that matter, as nothing has been proven right or wrong yet, thus the terms "theory" and "religion." Because, again, though I don't believe in it I can back you up, humans have evolved slightly over time and there IS evidence of that, such as the fact that I can bend my arms backwards and turn my legs completely around (because I have hyperflexibility, also known as hypermobility).

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    • TheLogicalSkeptic1
      11 years ago | pl

      Calling science a belief does not bring religion up to its standards, Science has objective data and reasoning, while religion has subjective beliefs, science is a method used to gain knowledge of our universe, it does not presuppose knowledge. The big bang has microwave background radiation, religion has a book full of baseless presuppositions. An atheist can have ideas on how the universe came to be, the only thing being an atheist entails is a lack of belief in any god. A scientific theory is a prediction based on a broad set of facts, a scientific theory has much more credence than a religion, and they are in no way synonymous. Don't go around spewing a load of shallow drivel in regards to science, while stating that you are "obsessed" with it, or you will come off as either a liar or a fool.

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  • pondlife
    11 years ago | pl

    People with a scientific background also have to understand the deep psychological attraction religion engenders. Religious people don't mock for no reason. They mock out of utter fear that they'll die and rot and there's no golden handshake with St. Peter or x number of virgins or the chance to be reincarnated as a seahorse. Should we really destroy people's faith, even if we don't share it?

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  • misca
    11 years ago | pl

    You shouldn't use Big Bang as an example if you want to explain science. That theory has so many problems, one of them being the fact that it doesn't fit most of the data collected from the universe (not too scientific). By googling a little you can find lots of more problems.

    A pro tip: Try to think of the world a bit more critically (doesn't matter if you are an atheist or a religious person, this tip suits both).

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    • lufa
      11 years ago | pl

      you're obviously a Delusionist, (my new word for theists, aka believers of fairy tales).

      go do some actual research before you try to take down a well founded theory like the Big Bang or Evolution, chump.

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  • Ihadtomakeyetanotheraccountffs
    11 years ago | pl

    No point trying to convince a dumb ass. My mother is similar. She's not religious but she believes in God, ghosts, souls, angels etc.

    The main problem is that using facts and logic doesn't phase some people. They will simply believe what they like. At that point I just try to find common ideals that we both have such as compassion, truth, freedom etc. to show that at least our hearts are in the right place.

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  • Alison89
    11 years ago | pl

    I'm sure it's very frustrating, but I personally wouldn't try to disprove a loved-one's beliefs, unless they were adversely affecting his/her way of life.

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  • nobleserpent
    11 years ago | pl

    Modern science. What a ghastly bauble of man's folly.

    In discovering a grain of truth he trips over the rock of it, using his facts to suit theories rather than theories to suit facts.

    In the words of Alexander Pope: "either drink deeply from the well of wisdom, or drink not at all".

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    • TheLogicalSkeptic1
      11 years ago | pl

      Bashing the methodology which has allowed us to transgress our natural limitations, and accusing those using the scientific method correctly of commiting an act often repeated by the religious, as far as I can tell the only group twisting facts to suit theories are fundametalists whom open their big book of fanciful fairy tales and decide that the facts must match primitive man's imagination.

      Here's a quote by John Burroughs: "Science has done more for the development of western civilization in one hundred years than Christianity did in eighteen hundred years."

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