I agree, there is something opportunistic in waxing enthusiastic about
science if and only if it agrees with us. However, a slight shift in focus
can make this attitude internally consistent:
As Michael pointed out, science is not concerned with truth. It is has
also been known to shift directions and even to uproot earlier theories.
Its raison d'etre is fundamentally different from religion: as he stated so
well:
>> Indeed, the question any scientist will (or at least should) ask, if told
>> that G-d caused it to happen is "How did G-d cause it to happen?".
>> Science (unlike religion) does not concern itself with truth. Its goal
>> is to provide an explanation (ie a theory) that accounts for the currently
>> known facts. [...] If new facts appear, the explanation has to be
>> revised - or in some cases even discarded.
The Torah, on the other hand, is Truth (with a capital 'T') - it grows, yet
is never revised. Its purpose is to explain why, not how, G-d acts.
Let's take the splitting of the Sea, for instance. If we ask Science what
happened, it will tell us of winds and earthquakes. If we ask Torah what
happened, it will tell us of showing once and for all that G-d has a hand
in history (a mighty hand, at that).
The winds and earthquakes are fascinating, but in the long run, irrelevant.
The scientific method is one of mankind's greatest inventions, and it has
given us many opportunities. It is also a way of experiencing genuine awe
of the Maker - "Mah rabu maaseha HaShem - how great are Your deeds". But
it adds nothing to our understanding of G-d, or to our relationship with
Him.
That is why we treat it as a poor relation, something to trot out to
company when it pleases us, and ignore the rest of the time.
And that is why it fundamentally doesn't bother me what the current theory
of Creation is. It'll change next year, anyway.
Kira Sirote
sirote@csnet.net
http://csbh.csnet.net/~sirote