Why it's okay for religion to mock science

Recently, US President Obama spoke to the US National Acadeny of Sciences. Against a backdrop of health and energy crises, he said:

At such a difficult moment, there are those who say we cannot afford to invest in science. That support for research is somehow a luxury at a moment defined by necessities. I fundamentally disagree. Science is more essential for our prosperity, our security, our health, our environment, and our quality of life than it has ever been. And if there was ever a day that reminded us of our shared stake in science and research, it’s today. (via Genomicron)

Who the heck would argue with that? Actually, some would. Believers. Religionists. They mock scientific evidence of global warming as false because... well, just because. They charge that fossil evidence of an old earth and evolutionary development is a conspiracy of lies to foster scientists' agenda of... er, okay, it's not at all clear what scientists would gain from this conspiracy, but those eggheads must be up to something. Believers deride the scientific method with ill-intended words like "materialism" and "empiricism". They even come right out and paint scientists as Nazis, charging "science leads you to killing people"!

It's astoundingly hypocritical, of course. These people apply basic principles of the scientific method – such as reason, observation, and evidence – in most other areas of their lives; even the most Jesus-praising televangelist will demand pecuniary reason in the ministry's charitable expenses, will engage in eager observation of its income flow, and will cry for a show of evidence when investigators charge a mismatch. Moreover, the science-belittling believers take full advantage of the benefits of science. Ben Stein is a man who fully enjoys the modern medicine, the air-conditioned housing, the transportation miracles, the safe abundant food, the digital media distribution, and the overall lifestyle of wealth and comfort that science and technology have birthed, as he heads to a studio to proclaim that "science leads you to killing people".

Why would anybody bite the hand that literally feeds him? Because it'll keep feeding him anyway. If you've got no morals or shame to begin with, why not kick science in order to score points with your political or religious extremist backers? The hypocrites know that scientists will grumble and complain, maybe even pretty strenuously these days, but will go right on thinking, testing, and learning. They'll keep doing so under the self-imposed, rigorous conditions of proof, peer review, and proper experimental procedures. And they'll keep on generating the discoveries that make life easier for us all, as they've been doing since the birth of science.

After millenia of existence, religion can't point to a single discovery that improves the human condition. Diseases cured by religion? None – but that's okay, the believers know that medical researchers will keep plugging away at those nasty viruses. Natural disasters mitigated, or at least better understood, by priests? None, but no matter; the Poindexters will keep chasing tornadoes and poking thingamajigs into volcanic fissures. Agricultural yields improved by churches? Well, why bother, when the agronomists and entomologists seem plenty willing to get their hands dirty? (But hey, if we need more mouths to quickly devour any grain increases, this Pope guy has some good ideas...)

Believers also know that there's no practical way to limit the fruits of science only to those who supported the research; like it or not, a vaccine or a new fuel source benefits everyone, even a Ben Stein. There's not even reason to think that scientists would limit their discoveries to supporters if they could. Rather than out of fealty to a church or hope of divine afterlife, researchers seem primarily motivated to roll up their sleeves out of intellectual curiosity and genuine desire to help humanity. (Seems there should be a word for that desire... maybe morality?)

So what's the point? Simply this: If you're a believer, go ahead and take swipes at science and scientists! You know those researchers will keep on working, even for you, because they're just big nerds like that. And while they labor in the lab or sweat in the jungle, you can just sit back, take it easy, and demand equal status all the same, just by invoking your old friends Tradition and Respect for Beliefs.

After all, that scam's been the ticket to easy street for so long, what's the chance of it ever failing to work? About the same as that of the earth's average atmospheric temperature rising a degree, I say! Like that'll ever happen! Right, believers?