Religion Between Science and Theological Phenomena
Religion in the modern period is no longer entirely approachable and known only by theological-normative methods.
The advancement of technology and research, particularly the growth of human social sciences, has increasingly increased the gap between cultural gaps from one region and another.
This is something that has a huge influence on human understanding on theological phenomena.
Science has come to offer an answer by providing explanations that describe events that theology considers impossible to understand.
Yet although science explanations are evidence-based and can only describe the observable, the spiritual realm remains mysterious.
As a consequence, modern society tends to trust only what they can perceive, so to do that, they will use science rather than religion.
Religion on Past Ages
Religion has controlled past ages due to the reality that before science people did not comprehend complex things without having channeled their emotions through religious belief, and therefore by believing in superstition.
In other words, religion is no longer restricted merely to understanding the connection between humans and God, but it still has to describe the consciousness of life in communities (sociological), the knowledge of the quest for the root of faith (anthropological), and the fulfillment of the desire to create a solid human identity (psychological).
Technology, Human Beings and Innovation
The world tends to be controlled by technology and, as human beings, we are astounded with our own innovations, and many times we neglect that they are technological creations, so we consider them as our gods.
Most religions speak of normal and eternal principles and rules, and our society struggles from the opportunity to create lasting choices.
According to Zed (2014), this phenomenon comes from the selfish culture that seeks immediate grafitication.
Once faith is no longer considered relevant, human beings appreciate materialistic existence rather than spiritual existence, which is the essence of faith, permissive society spreads among human beings, the rise of individualistic behaviors, less productive educational systems, clashes in societal principles and political fragmentation.
Religions in The World
Islam for instance, this interconnected life is what keeps religion in the world, especially Islam, often cautious in the growth of modern society, which almost inevitably also contributes to individualistic and indifferent actions towards religion.
Other than that, Japan, the UK, Canada, South Korea, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, France and Uruguay are all countries where religious belief was significant only a century or so earlier, but which now has some of the lowest levels of belief in the world.
Yet most citizens will know that the Church does a lot of good: the care homes it operates, the humanitarian service it secretly performs, the gifts and care packages it delivers to other remote countries, and its members, who sometimes sound a voice of unity and tolerance in times of public and international crisis.
Means, it has nothing to do with what they believe and how to act to it.
All this does not mean that religion has to end in a limited way, even though it is possible that, when numbers decline, the faith would gradually be embedded in fewer communities, helping to enhance the intimate aspect of the faith.
If a higher number of individuals in modern society classify themselves as members of a religious religion, then the community is also religious.
Attributing the power to do positive things to faith is to enshrine the values of morality in order to grant religion a monopoly over all good things, for there is nothing that may be the source of everything good or bad.
Thus, people in the modern era still committed to the basic ideas and principles of their religion.
Science in Modern Era
However, modern people cannot easily believe in something they do not understand. The role of science brings them in the way they perceive something in the world.
For instance, science provides a more understandable description of the nature of any of the natural phenomena, such as floods , earthquakes and volcanoes that arise in the real universe.
A body without a soul is as perfect as a dead one.
Well there’s life without faith, the modern era may be defined by the decline in religion, however this does not mean that it has entirely lost its influence.
In the modern era, people might think that religion was created to abstractly explain what man could not understand.
Yet it has inadvertently caused much pain and suffering.
Moreover, in fact, religions are increasingly being managed as commercial enterprises filled with corporate controversies for instance current Catholic churches).
The appearance is that religions are asking us to keep sending them money; and to do as we speak, not as we do.
Hence, modern society tends to trust only what they can perceive, so to do that, they will use science rather than religion.
Penulis: Yogi Setiawan
(Student of Sampoerna University)
