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Can religion and science co-exist? Does one hinder the progress of the other? Copernicus and Galilei tried to make people see reason that one does not hinder the other. Did they succeed?
Copernicus: “it is an endeavor to seek truth in everything”
Galilei: "If we have these gifts from God (intellect, curious), why should we not use them and just let them sit"
The enemy of both is fanaticism, which has found a home in both realms.
Fanatic: one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject
-- Winston Churchill
Excellent quote by Churchill. Indeed, that's the fanatic.
On a side note, Mencken lookin dapper.
The conflict relationship model between science and religion has it's roots in the writings of Draper and White in the nineteenth century, but few modern scientific historians believe in it. It's mostly been disproved and discredited and several decades ago at that.
Quote:
The conflict thesis, which states that there is an intrinsic intellectual conflict between religion and science, remains generally popular for the public; most historians of science no longer support it.[1][2][3][4] Other contemporary scientists such as Stephen Jay Gould, Francisco Ayala, Kenneth R. Miller and Francis Collins hold that religion and science are non-overlapping magisteria, addressing fundamentally separate forms of knowledge and aspects of life. Some theologians or historians of science, including John Lennox, Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme and Ken Wilber propose an interconnection between them. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Relatio...on_and_science
The question would be more useful if you specified what kinds of religions you're talking about. Of course the two can coexist if the religious beliefs don't contradict scientific facts.