by Whenever science makes a discovery, the devil grabs it while the angels are debating the best way to use it. ~ Alan Valentine
For countless years, unexplained occurrences and strange phenomena, large and small, have puzzled people wherever they go. Perhaps it is their lack of understanding of the world; or perhaps it is people’s judgment to ignore what they can’t comprehend. Humans are instinctively scared of the unknown, thus they have attempted to give reason to these occurrences in order to make sense of the world. By giving things meaning, whether it’s rain for crops, shooting stars or why ice melts in the hot sun, while these unknown phenomena may not be completely understood, they become comprehensible to people, thus alleviating some of their fears of things they can’t understand and giving a sense of trust in what they think they can. Religion is a prominent example that commonly gives people a sense of trust in their surroundings and purpose in life by giving its followers a set of beliefs to follow, perhaps explaining why many civilizations throughout history are founded on the principles of one religion or another. However, as technology progresses and as well as the world expands, religion has become less and less prominent in the affairs of people and nations. The decreasing influence of religion on the world, coupled with the advancement and wide acceptance of technology and science in recent centuries could mean that the two may not be mutually exclusive, but actually interconnected.
Valentine’s quote references both scientific discoveries and how they may interact with specific religious figures. The author states that the devil, a common symbol for negativity and malice, “grabs” the new scientific discovery. Due to the vagueness of “discovery”, Valentine may be insinuating that a scientific discovery, whatever it may be, is a bad thing, either for the Catholic church, or for the people, depending on the audience. The angel reference, and their “debating how to use it” could describe members of Catholicism, either its followers or higher members of the clergy, and how they might try to fit a scientific discovery into their own understanding of the world. Valentine may also mean that the devil “grabs” this new scientific discovery, withholding it from the said angels, and giving it a strictly negative connotation. Regardless, the author describes a clash between science and religion and how they interact by painting scientific discovery in a negative light.
There have also been numerous examples of the clash between religions; mainly Catholicism because of it having one of the largest following is the world, and science. In the 16th and 17th century, Galileo Galilei found that the Earth was not the center of the universe, but instead, rotated along with other planets, around the sun. Due to his discovery, the Catholic Church labeled him a heretic and attempted to persecute him. However, after over a decade, he wouldn’t admit this discovery as a “lie” and would serve a short prison sentence. Today, it has been proven with tremendous evidence that Galileo’s discovery was genuine. Another scientific discovery that clashes with many religious beliefs is that of the creation of the universe. There are many differing beliefs in how the universe and man were created. According to scientists, the Big Bang created our solar system and we later evolved from single celled organisms. However, many religions have their own beliefs on how it was created; some are very similar, some are very different. Nevertheless, scientific discoveries and religious understanding have clashed in the past.
With our technologically advanced time, coupled with our generations being very adept at using technology, the percentage of religious individuals in each consecutive generation continues to decrease. Perhaps this trend will continue with each new scientific discovery; or perhaps there will be a new religious awakening in the future.
References:
Jessica Wolf. “The truth about Galileo and his conflict with the Catholic Church.” Accessed August 29, 2020. https://newsroom.ucla.edu/releases/the-truth-about-galileo-and-his-conflict-with-the-catholic-church.