Does Religion or Science Have All the Answers?

There have been numerous debates raging here on Xomba over the past several weeks attempting to prove or disprove the existence of God. Agnostics, atheists, and Christians alike have made valid points as to their system of beliefs based on what each person holds to be true. I am not disputing any of it.

My question is: does religion or science have all the answers? Based on what I've seen here and my own life experience, the answer is a resounding "No!".

The Bible, while said to be the Word of God, does not give specific details into the actual creation of the "Heavens and the Earth". If a believer in Creationism were to only examine the King James Version (read: English, non-literal adaptation of original Greek text), then current biases and understandings may cloud the actual meanings of what was written by the ancients. For instance, the word "day", as in everything was created in six days and on the seventh day, God rested, comes from a Greek word meaning "period of time". In other words, not 24 hours. Is it so hard to believe that the non-specific "period of time" can mean millions of years? So, many things the scientific community holds true in anthropology and paleontology but which are disputed by Creationists for not being found in the Bible, can still be true.

I also believe science cannot claim a monopoly on the truth. There is so much that science is only beginning to understand about the nature of the Universe. If any of you have seen What the Bleep do we Know? or its sequel, you would understand that only recently scientists are understanding that thoughts are things and that they can control particles on the subatomic level. Furthermore, there is such a subtle Grand Design to all living things that could not have happened purely by accident, if we are to believe that Man began as a single-cell organism floating in the ocean somewhere.

Because our comparatively simplistic human brains cannot fathom anything beyond the 3rd dimension, we are really doomed to not know the true nature of God without either leaving our earthly bodies temporarily (OBE) or just dying. There is no coming back from the latter. There is enough evidence that supports something more and those who have witnessed it are forever changed.

If we are to continue to evolve as a species and get past this pettiness that has marked our history, then we must learn that no side has a monopoly on the truth and that we should learn to work with what we have in common rather than stay divided over our differences.