When religious people challenge science, they are out of their knowledge area, and they look foolish. Worse, they drive reasonable people out of churches because reasonable people are repelled by calls to believe magical nonsense. How ironic it is that religious extremists drive people away from religion, when religion should be a saving spiritual grounding amidst life’s confusions and tumult.
The Bible says the sun crosses the sky daily. Any third grader knows it just looks that way because the earth is spinning. We don’t turn to religion for scientific descriptions of the universe.
Leave that to science. Religion deals in matters of faith, which are never provable. That’s why it’s called “faith.”
The Rev. Steve Kern and state Rep. Sally Kern hurt their own cause by endeavoring to get the biblical creation story taught in science classes. Churches will attract more reasonable people by teaching religion instead of challenging science. I’ll bet America has more churches per capita than any other industrialized nation. More people would go if religious leaders would stick to the saving possibilities of faith.
—Nathaniel Batchelder
Oklahoma City
