Science vs. Religion

Science does not tell us about the cause of any event in the universe- it merely gives knowledge about the how the chain of events occur one after the other. It recognizes patterns (and calls them laws). It explains the 'hows', but does it explain the 'whys'? People seem to think that it does.

For example, if you ask someone why does the earth rotate around the sun, they would quickly mention that scientists have found that the earth rotates around the sun following the law of gravity. OK, but that is a 'how' - we know how the earth rotates around the sun - it does so following laws of gravity - but again, why does earth rotate around the sun? Gravity is not the cause; it is the mechanism by which this event occurs. For example, if I tip a spoon off a table, why does it fall?!! You would not answer because of law of gravity- that's the principle by which it falls with acceleration 'g'. But why did it fall? BeCAUSE, I tipped it off. The actual cause was my will - to tip it off. We often mistake the 'how' for the 'why' in the realm of science. When we explain the big bang theory, we get excited thinking that knowing the steps or the chain of events (which inevitably follow some laws or patterns) is like knowing the cause of big bang - no it isn't. We just know how it occurred - but why did the big bang occur - what caused it- who's will was it that tipped that big lump of matter into the fall of explosive energy.?

Another interesting example that I love to quote to skeptics is this: Newton once invited a skeptic to his lab and showed him a replica of the solar system. The skeptic was amazed at the beauty and the craftsmanship. He asked who created this. Newton replied saying nobody. The skeptic laughed saying how did the replica appear if no body created it. To this Newton replied saying, if you can't imagine a replica of the solar system to have been created on its own, how do you so easily believe that no body created the actual solar system? Now the observer who observed the craftsman make the replica may tell you about how it was created - how he designed the whole system to run on electricity and that there are x number of motors each running under a pattern to enable the planets to rotate under the sun at different rates. However, what that observer may not tell you is that somebody thought of making a replica and then created it. The scientist is like the observer who is figuring out how the replica was created: the magnitude of power in the motors, the orbits etc. but science stops short of identifying the creator or the cause of creation. In that way, religion complements science by speaking about the cause of creation - God's will.