Science, Religion and COVID-19

If a man will not work, he shall not eat. A sensible person will gather the crops when it is ready, it is a disgrace to sleep through the time of harvest. A reminder to all of us to keep up our industriousness, increase our skill and knowledge. Kudos to the workers who are labouring on to keep our world running. The doctors, nurses, medical officers, food workers, grab food drivers, police and government policy makers. But do be mindful of mother earth, or we have another problem to add to our woes.

It is a global emergency that has already killed on a mass scale and threatens to send millions more to early graves. As its effects spread, it could destabilise entire economies and overwhelm poorer countries lacking resources and infrastructure. But this is the climate crisis, not the coronavirus. Governments are not assembling emergency national plans and you’re not getting push notifications transmitted to your phone breathlessly alerting you to dramatic twists and developments from South Korea to Italy.

More than 3,000 people have succumbed to coronavirus yet, according to the World Health Organization, air pollution alone – just one aspect of our central planetary crisis – kills seven million people every year. There have been no Cobra meetings for the climate crisis, no sombre prime ministerial statements detailing the emergency action being taken to reassure the public. In time, we’ll overcome any coronavirus pandemic. With the climate crisis, we are already out of time, and are now left mitigating the inevitably disastrous consequences hurtling towards us.

Rest of the story here.

1. Professor Christian Anfinsen* (Nobel Prize for Chemistry, biochemistry of RNA, Johns Hopkins University): “I think that only an idiot can be an atheist! We must admit that there exists an incomprehensible power or force with limitless foresight and knowledge that started the whole universe going in the first place.”
2. Professor Werner Archer (Nobel Prize for Physiology/Medicine, restriction enzymes and molecular genetics, University of Basel): “I do not think our civilization has succeeded in discovering and explaining all the principles acting in the universe.  I include the concept of God among these principles. I am happy to accept the concept without trying to define it precisely.  I know that the concept of God helped me to master many questions in life; it guides me in critical situations and I see it confirmed in many deep insights into the beauty of the functioning of the living world.”
3. Professor D.H.R. Barton*** (Nobel Prize for Chemistry, conformational analysis in organic chemistry, Texas A&M University): “God is Truth. There is no incompatibility between science and religion. Both are seeking the same truth.”
4. Professor Ulrich Becker** (High energy particle physics, MIT): “How can I exist without a creator? I am not aware of any answer ever given.”
5. Professor Steven Bernasek (Solid state chemistry, Princeton University): “I believe in the existence of God. His existence is apparent to me in everything around me, especially in my work as a scientist. On the other hand I cannot prove the existence of God the way I might prove or disprove a (scientific) hypothesis.”

See the full list here.

For the past 15 years, I have been studying the interactions between religious and scientific communities. While we may regard religion and science as at odds in our culture, the fact is that many Americans rely on their religious leaders to guide their attitudes about scientific findings. In my forthcoming book, Why Science and Faith Need Each Other: Eight Shared Values That Move Us Beyond Fear, I show that 34% of evangelical Protestants and about 17% of all Americans say they would consult their religious leader with a question about science, especially science that seems to have moral implications.

The role that faith leaders can play in getting the word out about public health measures is considerable. As the director of Rice University’s Religion and Public Life program, I host a monthly meeting at my home of 30 to 50 Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders as well civic leaders from around Houston. The constituents of these leaders alone number well over 300,000.

Congregants are more likely to trust not only their leaders, but those who share their faith, particularly people from their own tradition. One of the best things religious leaders can do, then, is partner with those in their congregations who are scientists, physicians or have other expertise on how viruses spread.

Rest of the story here.

C.S Lewis quoted “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems rather to make man a more clever devil”. True meaning of education @Dignity for Children Foundation

Dignity has been providing education and care to underprivileged children for the past 20 years. From a classroom of just 20 students, we have educated more than 8,000 students, with 1,700 enrolled this year. Dignity is the largest and most comprehensive learning centre for the underprivileged in West Malaysia.

Dignity is internationally recognized. We hosted the 44th President of the United States, Mr. Barack Obama in 2015 and received the Sharjah International Award for Refugee Advocacy and Support in 2018.

Visit their website here.

Doing our part to support Dignity for Children Foundation‘s work in educating a morally sound and scientific future generation. Once XTRA reopens its showroom at Gardens Mall, please visit our showroom. For each purchase of products listed in our FB Shop https://facebook.com/pg/XTRAfurniture/shop/, we pledge a 5% donation to Dignity for Children Foundation.

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