Bridging Understandings

Over the summer, I read part of a book on medical ethnomusicology, the study of how music is used in healing across different cultures. One particular chapter discussed the role religion has in patient health and recovery from illness. The author stated that for many patients, their faith played an important part of their personal healing. Many patients found solace in speaking with a pastor while in a hospital, and some were thrilled to be asked about their faith by an attending physician. One comment from the author struck me in this chapter: when the subject of religion in medicine was brought up with other doctors, several dismissed the idea and would not acknowledge it further.

This remark reminds me now of a divide that I often sense between religion and science. The two so often seem incompatible with each other, and much controversy has erupted when they clash. One example is the contention over teaching students evolution or creationism in schools. I believe some of this conflict stems from the way they attempt to explain and understand the world. Religion is founded on belief, whereas science largely rests on evidence. These two things do not always coincide. However, both of these ideas attempt to unravel and explain what we do not know or understand.

For science and religion to coexist, I believe a mutual respect should be affirmed for the insights that each offers us. A few days ago, a friend asked me what I thought about the religious views (or lack thereof) of some scientists. His question touched on a deeper issue of this separation, one that needs to be addressed. Science and religion should communicate and appreciate each other’s perspective. One cannot value or trivialize what the other sees, because our sense of meaning builds on the knowledge of both.

To give an analogy for this: our knowledge of the brain has grown significantly in recent years. We are beginning to gain a greater understanding of how neurons communicate, which may eventually create a breakthrough in understanding how thoughts, emotions, even how our identity and personality work. Does that make these things be any less significant to us? I don’t believe it does. I realize that this analogy has roots in science. But isn’t it incredible that the human brain allows us to be self-aware, feel, and even contemplate the divine? I value the contributions science has made to our understanding, and I cannot help but think that there was some divine influence that allowed us to explore, question, discover, and think about those contributions.

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