The Third Rails of Science and Religion

In today's blog I want to ruminate around what has come to be called, "The Third Rail."  Wikipedia cites the use of the term specific to politics, "...in which it is a metaphor for any issue so controversial that it is 'charged' and 'untouchable'."  Any one daring to broach the subject, in this case Social Security, will suffer great political consequences.   In past blogs, I have discussed some third-rail subjects.  In today's blog I plan to be more direct, specifically as it relates to the Third Rails of science and religion.  

Both official Belief Systems, religion and science, refuse to acknowledge their Third Rails, let alone willing to even look at the centuries-long War waged between Science and Religion.  Personally, I think the primary reason for this is that, in attempting to resolve this verbal warfare, they must examine those Third Rails.

In regard to science, and Scientific Thinking, the Third Rail is the refusal to move beyond Charles Darwin's theories of evolution.  (I can remember back in the 60s seeing newspaper headlines declaring Darwin's theories, in effect, passe.  By then I had already rejected those theories for myself).    

To review: in modified form, Charles Darwin's original theory, that all species have descended from common ancestors, combined with his development of his theory of natural selection, (colloquially known as, "survival of the fittest"),  has, over time, become the unifying theory explaining the diversity of all life forms and are the foundation of all the life sciences.  As Wikipedia's article on Darwin notes, "Darwin's work established evolutionary descent with modification as the dominant scientific explanation of diversification in nature."

Keep in mind that Charles Darwin lived from 1809-1882.  All his theories, and those of the other scientists of his time, were developed through observation of living forms in nature.  (Further, although the first early magnifying devices were developed in the 17th Century, it wasn't until 1850-1880 that they began to be improved to the point of being of scientific use.)  Therefore, Science, as it developed was, basically, an intellectual exercise.  Some of those early theories won out, with others being assigned to the trash heap. 

The 21st Century scientific colossus, is primarily made up of individuals who have been indoctrinated to believe in the infallibility of Darwinian Theory.  It is part of their Belief System, and no matter what current evidence there is to refute the original theories, they still stand as absolute unquestioned Facts.

If modern scientists, who have access to electron microscopes, dare to question those theories, based on their research, they will experience grave professional consequences; their reputations besmirched with charges of being guilty of, "believing in creationism."  (Belief in Creationism, a major tenant in Western Religions, being antithetical to belief in Science.)

Science, and Scientific Thinking, being relatively recent essentially stands alone, whereas, religions are practically impossible to separate from Cultures.  As a result, there are few individuals alive today who, due to the nature of child-rearing, have not been indoctrinated into accepting the Truths of their personal religion/culture. This is the reason for the momentous power of the collective colossus of earlier as well as modern religions.

The Third Rail of religion concerns The Nature of God,  All the Western religions, Catholicism, and those religions which have split off from Catholicism, each have developed their own version of religious Truth.   Basically, however, for all of them, the God Image is the one portrayed by Michelangelo in his Sistine Chapel work, specifically the part titled: The Creation of Adam, that is, a powerful-appearing old man in human form with long gray hair and beard. 

Due to the religious/cultural indoctrination of most individuals from childhood on, it rarely happens that individuals even think about questioning those beliefs, preferring to reject them completely, having converted to the Scientific Thinking camp.  Many become agnostic or atheist, thinking they have severed themselves from those beliefs, without understanding that those Beliefs are imbedded in their unconscious selves. 

We have been taught to believe that the Nature of God, was developed through stories passed down by individuals and collected in what is now called: The Bible.  In actuality, those stories essentially portray a being or, actually, beings, who interacted with early Middle Eastern peoples.  Biblical stories, such as Noah and the Flood, Moses leading the Jewish people out of Slavery in Egypt, and Sodom and Gomorrah actually suggest that what is now referred to as God by religions is a controlling group, with advanced technology, involving itself in human life. 

The only way to understand the problems with both these Belief System is to allow the questioning of their Third Rails.  Darwinian Theory cannot withstand scrutiny by advances in Science, The Nature of God is beyond our current understanding of a physical universe.


With that, I end this blog.


Shirley Gallup