Ojuice5001

You know, in high school it was once my dream to create a scientific religion. The thinking went like this: What does God do? He affects random events, and there are good reasons to think he might reward and punish people. So if you made scientific observations of people's luck (by interviewing the gamblers in a casino and finding correlations between their behavior and their winnings), you would find out what God rewards and punishes, and thus there would be a scientific religion.

I wouldn't say I feel confident in this experiment anymore, certainly not enough so to spend the money necessary to try it. But I don't really see where this reasoning is flawed.

Starboy

Ojuice5001, have you ever read Ringworld by Niven? I think he beat you to it.

Starboy

Ojuice5001

Interesting. I only wish I had known about this in high school. Yes, I will definitely read the book now that I know this.

galiel

The reasoning is flawed because it is self-contradictory. It presupposes that "luck" exists as anything other than random chance, even though scientific studies show that a so-called "streak of luck" is just a momentary "zig" in a large-scale, averaging-out zigzag.

In other words, your "religion" wouldn't apply its own core "rituals" (experimentation and statistical analysis) to its own fundamental premise. It is no more illogical than all other religions.

cydonia

Maybe Thomas Paine's form of deism?

When i read Age of Reason, i was really inspired by his version of God, even though i'm not sure i believe it. He suggested that the very fact that we can see stars is evidence of God trying to teach us science and allow us to gain knowledge

All the knowledge man has of science and of machinery, by the aid of which his existence is rendered comfortable upon earth, and without which he would be scarcely distinguishable in appearance and condition from a common animal, comes from the great machine and structure of the universe. The constant and unwearied observations of our ancestors upon the movements and revolutions of the heavenly bodies, in what are supposed to have been the early ages of the world, have brought this knowledge upon earth. It is not Moses and the prophets, nor Jesus Christ, nor his apostles, that have done it. The Almighty is the great mechanic of the creation, the first philosopher, and original teacher of all science. Let us then learn to reverence our master, and not forget the labours of our ancestors.

echidna

Many liberal Xians term themselves Christian agnostics for this reason. There are many such denominations both here and North America I gather.

trientalis

You might try this one:

<a href="http://www.pantheist.net" target="_blank">www.pantheist.net</a>

and click on "Scientific Pantheism"

and see what you think of it.

YMMV

Rusting Car Bumper

Science cannot tell me what I should eat for lunch and it cannot tell me how to treat my neighbors. Science merely tries to make sense of the things in the world.

Religions do more than than that. They provide a sense of community, they provide moral structure (for the people who believe them), and so on.

Thus in many respects a "scientific religion" cannot exist in a pure sense since religions cover part of the human experience outside of science.

DC

[ October 02, 2002: Message edited by: DigitalChicken ]</p>

garthoverman

In that same vein, you may want to check out Holism at:

<a href="http://holism.org" target="_blank">http://holism.org</a>

IMHO, its basically the same thing as Scientific Pantheism with a little more crystal-hugging thrown in.

Heathen Dawn

Secular Paganism is a scientific religion. A religion that doesn't hold to a single tenet that contradicts the findings of science.

Actually you'll never hear the practitioners of any religion saying they're unscientific. For example look here at <a href="http://www.it-is-truth.org" target="_blank">http://www.it-is-truth.org</a> for a fervent if lame attempt to show how Islam has all the science facts right.

(typos fixed, dammit)

[ October 02, 2002: Message edited by: Heathen Dawn ]</p>