On Wright’s Reconciliation of Religion and Science: An unseen order
By george wesley dannells on Aug 23, 2009 in All categories
Of course, religion doesn’t have a monopoly on awe and inspiration. The story that science tells, the story of nature, is awesome, and some people get plenty of inspiration from it, without needing the religious kind. What’s more, science has its own role to play in knitting the world together. The scientific enterprise has long been on the frontiers of international community, fostering an inclusive, cosmopolitan ethic — the kind of ethic that any religion worthy of this moment in history must also foster.
William James said that religious belief is “the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto.” Science has its own version of the unseen order, the laws of nature. In principle, the two kinds of order can themselves be put into harmony — and in that adjustment, too, may lie a supreme good.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/23/opinion/23wright.html?pagewanted=4&_r=2
Robert Wright’s writings are a source of great current interest. Note the Op-Ed in today’s Sunday New York Times. (Thanks Todd Brogan for calling this to my attention.)
Baha’i blogs have covered Wright’s contributions and Baha’is show up with regularity in the comment sections of articles devoted to his perspective. -gw
Baha’i Coherence: Ruminations on Robert Wright’s “Evolution of God”
Baha’i Coherence: “A Grand Bargain Over Evolution”
