Bhikkhu Bodhi: Religion or Science?

Bhikkhu Bodhi, Two Paths to Knowledge (Buddhist Publication Society); Ed., Wisdom Quarterly

American (New York, California) Theravada scholar-monk Bhikkhu Bodhi (aka Jeffrey Block)

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Religion: OBEY, you meaningless speck of dust!

Many of the formidable social and cultural problems we face today are rooted in the sharp divide that has split Western civilization between science and religion.

Science claims invincible knowledge based on the empirical investigation of the natural world. Religion can do little more than call for faith in supernatural creeds and obedience to codes of ethics that require restraint, self-discipline, and self-sacrifice.

Since religion, as traditionally understood, often rests on little more than promises and pompous threats, its appeals to our allegiance seldom win. The ethical ideals it advocates stand hardly a fighting chance against what TV, radio, and billboards are telling us: Enjoy life to the hilt while you can!

As a result, a vast portion of humankind has become alienated from religion as a meaningful guide to life. We are left with no alternative but to plunge headlong into the secular "religion" of consumerism and hedonism. It's time to shop, and time to [get down and get funky].

Too often, those in the religious camp, sensing the threat secularism poses, feel driven toward an aggressive fundamentalism. This is a desperate bid to salvage traditional values and loyalties.

The quest to establish a sound basis for conduct in today's world has been made difficult because one consequence of the dominance of the scientific view of the world has been the banishment of values.

You're actually a small speck of dust, friend.

Many scientists, in their personal lives, are staunch advocates of such ideals as world peace, political justice, and economic equality. But the worldview modern science promotes grants values no objective grounding in the grand scheme of things.

From this perspective, their basis is purely subjective. They bring the qualities the notion of subjectivity suggests: being personal, private, relative, even arbitrary.

The overall effect of this divide, despite the best intentions of many responsible scientists, has been to give a green light to lifestyles founded on the quest for personal gratification.

It also supports a power drive aimed at the exploitation of others.

In contrast to the classical Western antithesis of religion and science, Buddhism shares with science a common commitment to uncover the truth about the world. More