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Show A12 DAILY HERALD Sunday, May 25, 2008 Science and religion intersecting on Aliens, Einstein Steve Padilla LOS ANGElES TIMfS The ongoing debate over whether religion and science comfortably coexist got more ammunition this month and on both sides of the argument. This ammunition took forms a foundation dedicated to exploring provocative questions, a letter written in 1954 by Albert Einstein and a Vatican astronomer who said it's OK to believe in space aliens. thought-provokin- Let's start w ith Einstein. The letter was sold at auction in London on May 15 for $404,000. Einstein, writing a year before his death to philosopher Eric Gutkind, said, "The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honorable but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish." But Einstein once said that "Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind" and people with and without faith have tang argued that he fell into their camp. Some atheist bloggers warmly greeted the letter. In it Einstein celebrated his Jewish cultural roots but also said, "For me the Jewish religion like all others is an incarnation of the most childish superstitions." Next up: space aliens. Speaking with the Vatican elsewhere in the universe. "How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" said Funes, director of the Vatican observatory. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and "sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother? It would still be part of creation." In the story headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," Funes told the newspaper that the concept of alien life "doesn't contradict our faith." newspaper L'Qsservatore Ro- s mano, Father Jose Gabriel said it's possible life exists Fu-ne- He called the Big Bang theory of the creation of the universe "reasonable" and said that the Bible "is not a science book." Next, a debate. The John Templeton Foundation (online at www .templeton. org), which explores topics related to religion, is fond of asking thoughtful people what it likes to call Big Questions. A previous question: "Does the universe have a purpose?" (Reviews were mixed.) This month the foundation asked, "Does science make wireless pi r I f i ' i ' I i u ! Li t I.J rat i k k a, i I I 5 ? d Lj 50 on our latest messaging devices. it ' r Touch screen slider. Samsung Glyde :i i venzon wireless txciusive $249.99 price - $50 mail-i- n rebate. n powerhouse Pirt-size- d for web and email. TM TheNEWBIackBerry8 Curve 8330Smartphone $14999 $299.99 price - $50 mail-i- n rebate and $100 advanced device credit. Slimmer, smarter, sexier. TheNEWLGenV2 Verizon Wireless Exclusive $9999 .....iiw ) $149.99 - $50 price rebate. mail-i- n 'V TXTer. Dual-fli- p The NEW Alias by Samsung Verizon Wireless Exclusive $7999 r. mail-i- n price there has been an inexorable trend: the deeper we probe these questions, and the more we learn about the world in which we live, the less reason there is to believe in God. "Start with the origin of the world. Today no honest and informed person can maintain that the universe came into being a few thousand years ago and assumed its current form in six days (to say nothing of absurdities like day and night existing before the sun was created). Nor is there a more abstract role for God to play as the ultimate first cause. This trick simply replaces the puzzle of "Where did the universe come from? with the equivalent puzzle Where did God come from?" I From Mary Midgley, philosopher and author of "Evolution as a Religion": "Of course not. "Belief in or disbelief God is not a scientific opinion, a judgment about physical facts in the world. It is an element in something larger and more puzzling our wider worldview, the set of background assumptions by which we make sense of our world as a whole. We seldom notice these assumptions, but we often use them in resolving our inner conflicts. "As life goes on, we shape them gradually into patterns by which to relate the things we find most important. And occasionally, when something goes badly wrong, we realize that we must somehow think differently about our whole lives. Doing this is not an irrational substitute for formal proof . It is the groundwork without which new thought is impossible." I From Michael Shermer, publisher of Skeptic magazine, professor at Claremont Graduate University: "It depends. "The answer turns on whether one emphasizes belief or God. Science does not make belief in God obsolete, but it may make obsolete the reality of God, depending on how far we are able to push the science. -All with new activation per phone; Q 9m & Curve - $50 I rebate mail-i- n $79" mm and $100 advanced device credit. Unlimited Text Picture Video Get Unlimited to ANYONE on ANY Messaging r1 require Nationwide Email Calling Plan $79.99 or higher. Save 50 $229.99 Here are excerpts from a few of the answers: I From Steven Pinker, Harvard University psychology professor and author of "How the Mind Works": "Yes, if by 'science' we mean the entire enterprise of secular reason and knowledge (including history and philosophy), not just people with test tubes and white lab coats. Traditionally, a belief in God was attractive because it promised to explain the deepest puzzles about origins. Where did the world come from? What is the basis of life? How can the mind arise from the body? Why should anyone be moral? "Yet over the millennia, price rebate. 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