I was just thinking, aren't most people's relationships with science very much like those with a faith. Some atheists believe that science and mathematics hold all the answers (I used to be one of those) in the same way that many people believe their religions hold all the answers. Priests and scientists are both trusted deeply for giving answers, the specifics of which are not always understood - God works in mysterious ways, and there are plenty of these atheists who aren't scientists themselves, and don't know exactly how man evolved from apes, as Darwin suggests, but they believe him like Christians believe Christ, because of the fulfillment it gives them. Science has always been so full of theories and speculations anyway, especially when it comes to the creation of the universe and the workings of the mind - I still don't believe science can explain a human consciousness - that is really is very similar to a faith.
Whether you put your faith in the spiritual guidance of the Bible, or the rationalising of scientists, I think everyone does follow some kind of faith.
This is something that just occurred to me, it probably has holes in it as an argument, but I just thought I'd share it.
From what I've learned in school, science is basically defined as "Science is a systematic enterprise that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. In an older and closely related meaning, "Science" refers to the body of reliable knowledge itself, of the type that can be logically and rationally explained."
I think science used to be more like faith, because it used to be closely tied to explanations, and for example, like philosophy.
But I think now it's more branched off so it's a bit more different, even if shares some common traits. Now science is more about having a formal system for testing theories that arise from common knowledge. It takes a lot for something in science to become a law and "true". Science is also ever changing and checking it's true. I mean look at Pluto, or how many moons a planet has. Also something is accepted until it's proven otherwise, and it's not believed until it's been proven over and over.
However, religion/faith aren't really tested in a defined system to see if they are need to be changed, and never really updated. Even if something doesn't exactly fit the informal rules of society. For example, doesn't the bible say or talk a father can sell your daughter for a slave or something? Yet now, I doubt many would do it would still do it.
I mean yes, I do think they share similarities, like having the comfort of explantation, believing it's true (in the case of science, people generally believe it's true until said otherwise), even in the fact people can believe different things in science (if you have ever taken social sciences, even some physical sciences, I've seen such a wide range of opinions), but there is enough differences in: how they are followed, how they come about, the system of how they exist, where the general belief comes from and how they evolve or not, that it's debatable they aren't the same thing.
I'm not a religion expert or a faith expert so that area I may be slightly incorrect, but I have learned in school what science is supposed to be.
I think both have a place in life because human nature loves explantations and comfort. I mean I was not raised in any religion or sense of faith. I have only stepped in a church once in my life: one for a friends's singing, and my parents never really talked about god or anything faith like. Yet I still find myself questioning if God exists, and still even praying at times.
But it's is what makes human nature so interesting: it's not simple. We look for patterns. It's wired in us. Some things aren't explained as simple as 1 plus 1 is 2.
Even the definition of time itself is divided according to what humans decided would work best. Even in certain cultures, age is defined differently. West cultures have us starting off as being "0" then grow from there. A few Eastern cultures start off babies being '1" years old, then grow from there.
I don't think it's a simple answer. It's close enough it can be debated and believed, yet far enough apart it can debated it's not.
I just read up on them, and I love the fact that they strongly believed in science AND religion! The good news was that they were fantastic astronomers, the bad new was .... er, ritual human sacrifice! But, that wasn't really bad news as those, and only those, who had their hearts literally ripped out by a priest went to heaven!!
