Issue topic:

Science is meaningless without religion.

Write a response in which you discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement and explain your reasoning for the position you take. In developing and supporting your position, you should consider ways in which the statement might or might not hold true and explain how these considerations shape your position.

Response:

Age old accepted religious myths and customs have persuaded ingenious minds, to explore and test the validity of these beliefs. As a consequence of this, we got to know the actual theories behind actions and occurrences that earlier was explained with religion. But even so, the influence of religion on science is qualitatively limited and counter-intuitively one might find that religion could even have detrimental effects on the progress and development of science.

Foremostly, science is a concept that has evolved from logical and coherent thinking. The beauty of science is that every concept in it, is substantiated by either, theoretical or practical evidences. Religion on the other hand, consists mainly of ideas that border the realms of fantasy. It is virtually impossible to prove the theories and doctrines dictated by religion. So science is, by itself, a self-substantiating idea that doesn't need the crutches of religion for it to thrive. One need not go far away to find validations for science than science itself, as every concept could be proven or disproven with the help of other pre-existing valid ideas.

To add to the above, since religion is mostly made up of imaginary ideas and fantasies, it can sometime hamper the progress of science. There were times when religion had proved to be a dangerous threat. These were situations when blind faith transcended rational thinking in the minds of the masses. To illustrate, centuries ago earth was believed to be in the center of the solar system. When maverick scientists and physicists brought in evidences to prove the contrary, they were burned alive on the accounts of practising sorcery! Religion is powerful enough to steer ignorant minds away from the truth. The reason why we get to live the lives we live today is because we, human beings, as a species chose science over religion and this decision changed the progress of our development for good.

However, one could argue that religion has incited mass debates and intellectual wars that has, in fact, contributed to the creation of many much needed theories and technologies. But still the fact remains that such pursuits incepted from fundamental human curiosities rather religion itself. So one could positively say that science would continue to thrive even long after religion becomes non-existent since human curiosity will forever be insatiable.

In summary, even though religion has kindled minds to question and explore various accepted norms and beliefs, the actual influence that it has is very limited. As a matter of fact, for science to burgeon in it's progress, it should first get rid of the shackles of religion and use the wings of creativity and curiosity to fly to the immeasurable heights that it is capable of actually reaching.