Religion as a Method of Explanation

Where did fire come from? If you ask a Hindu,once understand, science has destroyed the
they will say that the god Agni produces fire. Ifsuperstition and provided a real answer that was
you ask an Roman religionist, they will say thatbacked up with evidence, logic, and reason. The
the god Prometheus brought fire down to earth.sun does not cross the sky because the god
If you ask a physicist, they will give you theApollo pulls it across in his chariot, nor is the sun a
truthful answer: fire is produced by atomsgod - the sun is a mass of hydrogen atoms that
vibrating at high velocities.the earth revolves around. So, surely, if we are
Where do metals come from? If you ask ato discover the truths of the Universe, if we are
Roman religionist, they will say that the god Plutoto understand the world and its workings - the
placed them in the earth. If you ask a chemist,physics, the mathematics, the chemistry - we
they will give you the truthful answer: metals arebest not dabble in the dogmatic scripture of past
caused by the fusion of atoms in suns. Where doreligions (the Bible, the Qur'an, the Vedas, the
women come from? If you ask a Christian, theyTalmud), yet we must examine the world.
will say that god created woman from the ribSurely, then, if a man is wrong in saying that fire
bone of man. If you ask a biologist, they will givecame from Prometheous, how right can another
you the truthful answer: men and women evolvedman be when he claims that an ill individual's health
from asexual species as a means of diversifyingimproving can be a miracle of the gods? Primitive
the gene pool. What of the winds, lightning,man thought that the rainbow was a miracle from
animals, medicine, warriors, the flute, and - ingod, a sign from the divine. Today, however, the
general - the world and its workings? Where didrainbow is recognized as a chemical reaction that
they come from? Religion has already given itscan be reproduced with the right circumstances.
answers. The answers that satisfied primitive manAs man enters the realm of science - a world of
who believed the world to be flat and diseasesunderstanding, order, and general knowledge, - he
caused by demons are not answers that scienceinevitably leaves the realm of religion - a world of
has verified. In fact, the very opposite hasshortcut explanations, feasible attempts at ethics,
happened: where religion made a shortcutand superstition.
explanation of something that individuals could not