by Sanjay Khadka, Nepal
Is science ethical? It’s the hot debating issue for a long time. Fundamentalists or so called religious person claimed that there is no ethics in science. They accused science as unethical. They say science is without ethics and mankind. In fact, it’s not the fact. The fact is that science is ethical. Their strong view is that ethics underlies only in religion not in science. It’s due to the lack of understanding about science, what the science is in real? Science is the process of searching or seeking the truth on the basis of facts. If ethics is good Vs bad, right Vs wrong and true Vs false, then it must encompass the facts and evidences which is the only path leading to the truth. Whenever, whatever science claimed something it is based on facts. Unlike science, religion murmuring is fact less, illogical, irrational and orthodox. Religious view is just imaginary or hypothetical with no rational base where as science is theory. Unlike hypothesis, theory is one which has been tested, verified, proved and experimented. Religious imaginary world is not other than the delusive world.
There are three basic assumptions of science: – (1) The world is real. (2) Reality is objective. (3) World is comprehensive. Religious view is just opposite to science view. Unlike science, religious views are: – (1) World is virtual. It’s not real, it’s just the delusion. (2) Objective is not real. Objects are just the illusion of our eyes. (3) World is too mysterious that our mind and technology cannot explore anything or know nothing about the world. Out tracking from realities and facts, religion has become dealer of superstition. Religious leaders have become the peddlers of superstition. Science helps us to get rid of superstition. For e.g. leprosy was taken as the sin of the past life (particularly in Hindu religion) but science proved it as a disease caused by the bacteria which can be treated by the regular use of medicine. Thus science advocates on the basis of facts towards the path of truth and so is ethical.
If ethics is the merger or connector, then unethical is religion not the science. Religion has been institutionalized. They are advertising and manipulating the people through fear and greed for their power and false mission. For their power, innocent people are divided in the name of religion. There are lots of violence, conflicts and wars in the name of religion. And again they say that science is against humanity.
Science is the real connector. It does not discriminate or divide people with regard to religion, sex, caste, color etc. It has united the world through the development of advanced technology. As a result of which, the world has been changed into global village or even global family. Religion has provided nothing else than fear, greed, poverty, decisiveness, superstition & delusions. Science seems to be fulfilling the aim of humanity or the mankind by providing advanced technology, invention, medicine etc for people’s comfort ness and pleasure. In the eyes of the science, men are different but are not unequal. Gender and caste discrimination are the rising issues in the area of human rights and science views has been helping in promoting the equality among them.
If ethics is the way to treat other or serve other, then science can be claimed more ethical than religion. By opening orphanage in the name of religion, some so called religious leaders want to prove them as great social worker. They protest the contraceptive devices and claimed the children as the gift of the god. By then increasing unnecessary children and creating orphans. They themselves give birth to orphans and build up orphanage. It’s silly and shameful work. It’s not the social work but the social evil. It’s like treating someone after poisoning him. It’s true that science itself is not opening orphanage but it has made contraceptive devices to reduce the number of children. If there are no unnecessary children, there will be no orphans and of course, no need of orphanage. If god is taken as problem solver and devil as problem creator, then we can say that so called religious leaders are devil and scientists are god.
If ethics is to speak the truth, then science is ethical. In my eyes, religious persons are great liar. They are the greatest fraud I have ever seen. The reason behind it is that -they believe in God but they have neither seen it nor felt it. They don’t know the shape, size, color and taste of god. They know nothing about god but also they claim the existence of God. And the crowd blindly believes such liar and frauds. All present religions are simply based on faith either it is Christian or Muslim or others. Thus all these so called religions are blind faith. Without analysis and observation to have faith on something is blind faith. Blind faith can never be creative and productive.
To speak truth, experience is inevitable. Traditional or simply heard things or blind faith doesn’t reveal the truth. Experience is the source of truth. Unlike religion, science is based on experience or experiment
In my view, scientists are real ethical person. At first, they do the experiment and then only they believe. They experiment more than thousand times and come into the conclusion. Unlike the fundamentalists or so called religious persons, scientist only say that under the present available facts and information, we come into this conclusion which is not the ultimate truth and can be changed tomorrow on getting more facts and information. Hence scientists are more honest. Scientists pass their whole life to invent new things in the welfare of the people and society. So, they are more ethical.
Is science destructive?
So called religious persons accused science as destructive. In fact, it’s not the fact. The fact is that science is constructive. It’s science not religion that changed Stone Age into modern age of 21st century. It’s retrogressive religion, which want to protest progressive science and retrace the modern age into Stone Age. All the inventions and discoveries of the science are for the welfare of the people. It’s all activities are man centered .unlike science, so called religion is God centered. It hates existing people and loves no existing God. It pays no attention towards live people but worship the dead god. Is this ethical? Ethics is not related to god. It is related to man & the existing world not the imaginary world. Albert Einstein once said,” I have a faith in science not in the foolish man”. So, the science is always constructive and ethical. It’s foolish people not the science, who make it destructive & unethical. Science is neutral neither constructive nor destructive. Science is innocent like a child who cannot do anything in itself. So, the question is not whether science is constructive or destructive? The answer is whether we man are constructive or destructive?
Do we need god or religion to be ethical?
Religious persons accused science as unethical claimed that without religion or being theist, one cannot be ethical. To be moral or ethical, there is no necessary of god. Instead god/s is obstacles in the path of our liberal life. If we put god above us then we will become slave. Slavery mind is fearful mind which leads us to wrong and unproductive path. We should not be slave of anyone. We should be the master of ourselves and work according to our will. Only the free and master mind is creative mind not the limited, fearful & slavery mind. Until and unless we are free from `God and Devil`, we cannot live with dignity and freedom. If ethics encompasses the moral values like do not steal, lie, hurt or betray others, then no god is needed to put into practice. These values arise from our conscience, which represents the values our parents put in us or environment in which we are brought up. To carry out the noble virtues like empathy, generosity, forgiveness, humanity, kindness, gracefulness, fearlessness etc. no imaginary idols is required. If we violate these moral values or noble virtues, we feel guilty which the function of conscience is. If we follow it, we feel good about ourselves. If one makes a list of these moral values and noble virtues and practices them in his daily life, s/he does not need religion, god, tradition, rituals, fasting, meditation, praying, Swamis, Babas, Gurus and other nonsensical stuff. Ethics is not for god, it’s for the man and man is responsible for man. We should be good not for the sake of god but for the sake of goodness.
Religion is the enterprises of answer which has no logical base. Science is the enterprises of question and question is the only source of answer. It is because when question or any curiosity arises, it is followed by research or investigation which gives out the result near to the truth. Science focuses on questioning or being critical because it help us to free from blind faith. To have scientific life stance, we should follow the points as stated by Buddha, which are also the core theme of science.
Do not believe in anything (simply) because you have heard it.
Do not believe in tradition because they have been handed down for many generations.
Do not believe in anything because it is spoken by many people.
Do not believe in anything because it is written in your religious books.
Do observe and analyze and when you find that anything agrees with reason and conductive to the good and benefit of one and all, them accept it.
Religion doesn’t give choice to choose the options rather it is doctrine. It insists other to believe blindly as they have believed traditionally from the time immemorial time. There is no liberty or self determination in religion. But science doesn’t force anyone to follow anything. Despite, it believes in open mindedness and gives freedom to analyze every option critically and then only believe on the basis of rationally and facts. From the view point of liberty or autonomy or self determination, science can be argued as ethical.
Science has become the inevitable part of our life. No doubt, science must be for the protection and welfare of the man and the nature. Unless the superstition is kicked out from the earth, world cannot turned into a humanist world. It is simply because for the better world, development and union should go together hand by hand. For it, there is no alternate to science. So we all the humanist should unite together and should kick out the superstition and brought in the science.
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