Science & Religion

1. Science & Religion Advanced Rhetorical Writing Matt Barton

2. The Conflict • Extremists on both sides of the debate claim that there is no common ground between science & religion. • Science is a cruel, ruthless enterprise that cares nothing about human values. • Religion is a silly collection of myths, fairy tales, and superstition that no rational person would believe.

3. Rhetoric & Religion • Theologians have long debated about the necessity of rhetoric. • Does a preacher need to study rhetoric, or will inspiration come directly from God? • Can theologians prove the existence of God empirically or rationally? • Is rhetoric a useful way for preachers to convince sinners to repent? • Is religion just a bunch of rhetrickery anyway?

4. Some Religious Thought • Ethical monotheism is concerned with the existence of a God who is • All powerful (omnipotent) • All knowing (omniscient) • All Good (benevolent) • Such a God must be worthy of being worshipped, and there can be no being or entity that is greater. • Problems: • How can we prove that such a being exists? • If such a being exists, why is there evil?

5. Rhetoric & Religion • If rhetoric is “an indispensable and universal path to escape misunderstanding,” • And religion is seen as the “expression of a universal human need for explaining the world and escaping its horrors—the pursuit of deeper understanding of what is to be worshipped and how…” • Then rhetoric & religion clearly belong together!

6. Science & Rhetoric • Many scientists have argued that all rhetoric is rhetrickery and that true scientists should avoid it. • Thomas Sprat claimed fine speaking was a “disease” and that scientists should "reject all amplifications, digressions, and swellings of style" and instead "return back to a primitive purity and shortness” – History of Royal Society

7. Logical Positivism • You should not believe anything that has not been confirmed by solid empirical evidence. • Empiricism: Provable by natural observation and experience. • No revelation, intuition, or non-experiential knowledge allowed.

8. Science and Religion Rhetoric • Science & Religion are not really divorced from rhetoric. • The conflict between science and religion is caused mostly by a neglect of rhetorical inquiry.

9. Shared Warrants • Science & Religion have “common ground.” • The world we as we experience it is somehow flawed. • The flaws are seen in the light of the Unflawed, some truth; standards of judgment of the problems exist somewhere. • There is some supreme order, cosmos, or reality. • All who are genuinely religious see themselves as part of the problem. • The cosmos wants us to do something about the problem. • I ought to help solve the problem, even if it brings hardship. • There are psychological and emotional feelings tied into all of this.

10. Talking Points • Can atheists and scientists really deny that there must be some power out there greater than ourselves? • Can religious folks really prove that God disapproves of scientific discoveries? • Can rheterology help religion and science work together for the benefit of everyone?

11. Concluding Thought • “I am certain that more attention to rhetoric might save many of us in many corners of the world.” • “Now is the time to start studying critically the floods of god rhetoric and rhetrickery that sweep over you daily.”