Before you judge, listen to Habilis' words... Society needs religion, as much as it needs science. Many think that science is next step, is higher stage of social progress. Science, people say, is inherently rational but religion is irrational. Religion uses faith to believe in things that cannot be seen, but science builds more knowledge only from things that can be seen, or seen indirectly. Science is rational, because it physical. Religion is irrational, because it metaphysical. Arguments boil down to what things can build our knowledge: observations? Or intuitions? People in modern society tend to choose observation of physical universe as only path to reasonable knowledge. Religion, they say, makes people irrational and ignorant. They say man who does bad things because he thinks bad thing pleases god, is worse than man who does bad things because it seemed like most rational choice. But Habilis argues that both men guilty: one man, for not questioning god, the other man, for not questioning science. [b][u]Habilis does not think science is religion.[/u][/b] But Habilis thinks many who reject religion replace their faith with science, because they failed to understand [i]both[/i] science and religion. When religion is very bad it is used as tool to control society. Science, when it is very bad is also used as tool to control society. Habilis is not advocating conspiracy theory or kooky ideas like Flatman. Habilis is simply stating social reality: society seeks to control individual people. The standards of society to not come from devious plans of one person or group of people; social standards come from all people thinking and expressing ideas at once. All people have opinions and ideas about reality, some ideas agree, some oppose, and some blend together in strange ways. Society is like big orchestra where each musician plays his own tune. But like a group of separate people talking randomly in restaurant: natural harmony emerges. Some times noise of people increases, sometimes decreases. It has rhythm. Social standards are like this rhythm: they emerge from many random forces all happening at once. In old days more voices supported religion, so religion became the tool that society used to control society. Then, many showed problems with the religion that people believed: they showed how science and reason made more sense than the religious ideas that controlled the people. Slowly, people saw that religion was flawed, and science seemed clear and sensible. Today, most people who live in Western society will say science is more "sensible" than religion. But remember what habilis said earlier? Social standards are random, like many voices in the noisy restaurant that find harmony without trying. As more and more people think science best, they will forget why science best. They will believe it like the old religions, but will not understand it. Just like religion became the tool that society used to control itself, it is possible that science will become the tool that society uses to control itself. If this happens, science will die. Rather than a path to truth, it will become the path that all men must follow, but do not know why. This is why society needs religion: it needs the good things religion can offer, just as it needs the good things science can offer. And before you say religion gives nothing good, ask yourself what gives people sense of community and sense of purpose? Religion can do those things best. Just read about ancient temple named Gobekli Tepe: [quote]We used to think agriculture gave rise to cities and later to writing, art, and religion. Now the world’s oldest temple suggests the urge to worship sparked civilization. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2011/06/gobekli-tepe/mann-text[/quote] We all know and remember bad things religion has done. Not hard to find. But habilis wants to remind offtopic of the bad things science has done. AGAIN, Habilis is not anti science, Habilis seeks fair truth and fair understanding. This is just to remember that science, when missunderstood, has potential for much evil. Sometimes the best things, like science and religion, become the worst weapons in the hands of ignorant people: [b][u]Pollution[/u][/b] http://www.boredpanda.com/environmental-pollution/ [b][u]Eugenics[/u][/b] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_sterilization [b][u]Human Experimentation[/u][/b] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuskegee_syphilis_experiment [b][u]Antimicrobial Resistance[/u][/b] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antimicrobial_resistance [b][u]Massacres[/u][/b] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeju_uprising