Conflict of Science with Theocracy

The question whether science can survive in a theocratic environment had been gnawing at my mind for a long time. This question had arisen from another one: why has scientific research not flourished in the Islamic world? Although all the various governments in the Muslim countries are not constitutionally theocratic in structure, all of them do indeed have constitutional provisions forbidding divergence from the fundamental beliefs based on religious tradition and the Holy Scriptures. Any deviation is punishable severely. In controversial situations, the benefit of doubt invariably goes to the religious tradition.

The more I pondered over this question, the more convinced I became that the two, i.e. science and theocracy, do not fit with each other. If one is a circular hole, the other is square peg. The reason that the two cannot coexist amicably is that they are fundamentally different from each other in concept and practice. The cornerstone of theocracy is belief in the existence of supernatural God(s) who has designed the whole universe according to a preconceived intelligent plan and has preordained what the humans have to believe uncritically and how they have to live their life. On the other hand, science is founded on the precept that there are certain fundamental laws of nature according to which the universe is operating. These laws are universal and do not change with time, or at least they have not changed in as much as is known to us. There is no evidence that God ever fiddled with them to suit His whims. Science continually keeps on verifying its laws, hypotheses, and concepts according to the empirical evidence that becomes available from observations and measurements. Thus science keeps on correcting itself.

The thesis that “it happens like that because it’s the will of God” is not scientific and hence it’s not credible in science. It’s quite acceptable however from religious viewpoint. The foundations of religious belief are immutable; there is no change or variation in them. The ‘Word of God’ is eternal and not susceptible to change. Science does not believe in such presumptions.

The first head-on clash between science and theocracy, which is well documented in the history of science, was between Galileo and the Holy Inquisition which had been set up by the Roman Catholic Church, in the seventeenth century. This incident has been reported so frequently that even those who do not care much for its details are aware of it. A little repetition will do no harm and in fact is quite appropriate in the present context.

According to Ptolemaic conception of movements of the planets, Earth was believed to be the center of the universe and stationary. This concept somehow found its way into the Holy Bible and became an article of Christian faith. Ptolemaic concept is called the ‘geocentric theory’. In due time it was determined that the geocentric theory was unwieldy and not amenable for easy and accurate astronomical computations. The ‘heliocentric’ theory, which had Sun at the center of the solar system, yielded better results. With this in view, Copernicus formally propounded the heliocentric theory in his book De revolutionibus orbium coelestium, but did not publish it until late in his life for fear of retribution of the Roman Church. He is said “… to have received a copy of the printed book for the first time on his deathbed,” (3).

His theory became widely known to the researchers after the publication of the book. Many renowned astronomers including Galileo and Kepler accepted the heliocentric theory but Tacho Brahe, another notable astronomer, did not accept that Earth was not stationary. Copernicus’s theory was formally validated by Newton’s theory of gravitation about 150 years later.

Galileo supported heliocentric theory and was confronted by the Holy Inquisition, which compelled him to recant his heliocentric thesis. See the text of his abjuration in n.1. He was confined to the house arrest in which he finally died. The Church rescinded its position in 1992 (n.2), after more than 300 years, and recognized the heliocentric system as valid.

Galileo had other issues also with the Roman Church besides revolving Earth. It was also believed by the clergy that God had created the heavenly bodies without any flaws. Galileo, using his telescope, found spots on the Sun and mounds and craters on the moon surface. Galileo used to persuade people to peek through his telescope to see those flaws for themselves. Many of them refused to do so and many others believed that the inherent reality of the material objects changed when viewed through the telescope.

There was no serious conflict again of the same gravity as that of Galileo, in the Christian world. Science and religion had quietly resolved to come to terms and live in peace although there were still arguments and heated debates on issues on which science conflicted with religion.

For instance, when Darwin propounded his theory of evolution by natural selection in the 1850’s, the clergy rose in rage against it, piling all kinds of ridicule and vituperation on the evolutionists. The tug of war is still continuing but with the passage of time, science is gaining ground on the basis of empirical evidence that has been gathered by the scientists. Religion is again on the retreat and losing ground rapidly. Creation story told in the Genesis in the Holy Bible is not going to survive and will need to be revised. Whether the Christian faith and other faiths, which believe in creation of the universe by an act of God (Be, and it is), can recover, remains to be seen. The conflict is so grievous and fundamental that Arthur Peacocke who is a priest and Canon in the Church of England and until recently was Director of the Ramsay Center for the Study of Science and Religion at Oxford University (also winner of the Templeton Prize for Progress in Religion), found it hopelessly difficult to defend the Biblical Genesis and has formulated a new ‘Genesis for the third millennium’ as follows (4):

There was God, And God was All-That Was. God’s Love overflowed and God said, ‘Let Other be. And let it have the capacity to become what it might be, making it make itself – and let it explore its potentialities.’

And there was Other in God, a field of energy, vibrating energy – but no matter, space, time or form. Obeying its given laws and with one intensely hot surge of energy – a hot big bang – this Other exploded as the Universe from a point twelve or so billion years ago in our time, thereby making space.
Vibrating fundamental particles appeared, expanded and expanded, and cooled into clouds of gas, bathed into swirling whirlpools of matter and light – a billion galaxies.

Five billion years ago, one star in one galaxy – our Sun – became surrounded by matter as planets. One of them was our Earth. On Earth, the assembly of atoms and the temperature became just right to allow water and solid rock to form. Continents and mountains grew and in some deep wet crevice, or pool, or deep in the sea, just over three billion years ago some molecules became large and complex enough to make copies of themselves and became the first specks of life.

Life multiplied in the seas, diversifying and becoming more and more complex. Five hundred million years ago, creatures with solid skeletons – the vertebrates – appeared. Algae in the sea and green plants on land changed the atmosphere by making oxygen. Then three hundred million years ago, certain fish learned to crawl from the sea and live on the edge of land, breathing that oxygen from the air.

Now life burst into many forms – reptiles, mammals (and dinosaurs) on land – reptiles and birds in the air. Over millions of years the mammals developed complex brains that enabled them to learn. Among these were creatures who lived in trees. From these our first ancestors derived and then, only forty thousand years ago, the first men and women appeared. They began to know about themselves and what they were doing – they were not only conscious but also self-conscious. The first word, the first laugh were heard. The first paintings were made. The first sense of a destiny beyond – with the first signs of hope, for these people buried their dead with ritual. The first prayers were made to the One who made All-That Is and All-That-Is-Becoming – the first experiences of goodness, beauty and truth – but also of their opposites, for human beings were free.

Apart from the inclusion of God and the One at the outset, the new Genesis is indeed an epitome of Theory of Evolution. It seems only a matter of time when theory of evolution, like heliocentric theory, will find universal recognition. Many theologians of Christian faith with scientific back-ground, like Rev. Canon Peacocke, are already seeking accommodation with theory of evolution despite the ongoing vendetta waged by the creationist scientists, as evidenced by Peacocke’s formulation. Whether the theory is vindicated in every detail or not, Biblical Genesis according to which God created the universe in six days and He rested on the seventh, is not going to hold water. Earth is also not recent as the creationists tenaciously believe; majority of the Christians already believe Earth to be several billion years old.

However, the situation is more serious in the extremely conservative Muslim world. In the face of orthodox beliefs and continued insistence on rejecting everything that does not seem to conform to the traditional beliefs, it is easy to understand why a Muslim scientist did not propound theory of evolution. The very idea is repugnant to traditional belief and the propounder would surely have been killed under ‘blasphemy law’. This also is the reason that no substantive contribution was made to science by any Muslim scientist for the last seven to eight hundred years. The Muslim world has factually isolated itself from the mainstream scientific community.

Consider Dr. Aghajari’s (a Ph.D. in History) plight in Iran. He was sentenced to death in Iran last year for criticizing the practice of taqlid (blind imitation). The actual charge filed against him was “insulting and weakening clerics in the name of intellectualism and reform,” (1). In Pakistan, people have been victimized and properties vandalized on such trivial charge as disrespecting beard. Al-Ghazali had condemned to death, Al-Farabi and Ibn-e- Sina posthumously, and all other philosophers who dared to believe that dead bodies would not be physically resurrected in their original earthly forms on the Day of Judgment (2). He barely tolerated the study of mathematics because he thought pursuit of such knowledge would lead the faithful astray. Symbiosis of science and theocracy is impossible under such extreme conditions. Religion needs to accommodate, or else become extinct in due time, scientific research, free thought, and pursuit of liberal arts (philosophy, etc.), if the Muslim world is to develop materially and hold its own against other developed nations of the world.

Notes

n.1. Galileo’s Abjuration

Following is the text of Galileo’s abjuration in front of the Holy Tribunal. The text was presented to Galileo by the Holy Tribunal and he read it. Dressed in the white robe of the penitent, the accused then knelt and abjured as ordered (5):

I, Galileo, son of the late Vincenzio Galiei, Florentine, aged 70 years, arraigned personally before this tribunal, and kneeling before You, Most Eminent and Reverend Lord Cardinals, Inqisitors-General against heretical depravity throughout the Christian commonwealth, having before my eyes and touching with my hands the Holy Gospels, swear that I have always believed, I believe now, and with God’’ help I will in future believe all that is held, preached, and taught by the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. But whereas – after having been admonished by this Holy Office entirely to abandon the false opinion that the Sun is the center of the world and immovable, and the Earth is not the center of the same and that it moves, and that I must not hold, defend, nor teach in any manner whatever, either orally or in writing, the said false doctrine, and after it had been notified to me that the said doctrine was contrary to Holy Writ – I wrote and caused to be printed a book in which I treat of the already condemned doctrine, and adduced arguments of much efficacy in its favor, without arriving at any solution: I have been judged vehemently suspected of heresy, that is of having held and believed that the Sun is the center of the world and immovable, and that the Earth is not the center and moves.

Therefore, wishing to remove from the minds of your Eminences and all faithful Christians this vehement suspicion justly conceived against me, I abjure with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, I curse and detest the said errors and heresies, and generally all and every error and sect contrary to the Holy Catholic Church. And I swear that for the future I will never again say nor assert in speaking or writing such things as may bring upon me similar suspicion: and if I know any heretic, or person suspected of heresy, I will denounce him to this Holy Office, or to the Inquisitor or Ordinary of the place where I may be. I also swear and promise to adopt and observe entirely all the penances which have been or may be imposed on me by this Holy Office. And if I contravene any of these said promises, protests, or oaths (which God forbid!), I submit myself to all the pains and penalities imposed and promulgated by the sacred Canons and other Decrees, general and particular, against such offenders. So help me God and these His Holy Gospels, which I touch with my own hands.

I, the said Galileo Galilei, have abjured, sworn, promised, and bound myself as above; and in witness of the truth, with my own hand have subscribed the present document of my abjuration, and have recited it word by word in Rome, at the Convent of the Minerva, this 22nd day of June 1633.

I, Galileo Galilei, have abjured as above, with my own hand.

n.2. Pope John Paul II’s Statement

According to Sobel (5), “Pope John Paull II (in 1992) publicly endorses Galileo’s philosophy, noting how ‘intelligibility, attested to by the marvelous discoveries of science and technology, leads us, in the last analysis, to that transcendent and primordial thought imprinted on all things.”



References

1. Gill, Mohammad, Religious Conservatism and Modernity Again on Collision Course in Iran, www.pakistanlink.com/Opinion/2002/Nov/29/05.html
2. Gill, Mohammad, Skeptical and Counter Skeptical Trends in Medieval Islam, www.chowk.com, November 28, 2002.
3. O’Connor, J.J., Nicolaus Copernicus, http://www.gap.dcs.st-and. ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Copernicus.html
4. Peacocke, A., Paths From Science Towards God, One world, Oxford, 2001, pp. 1, 2.
5. Sobel, D., Galileo’s Daughter, Walker & Company, New York, 1999,
pp. 275-77, 374.