Seduced by Science : How American Religion Has Lost Its Way

by Goldberg, Steven

• ISBN13: 9780814731048
• ISBN10: 081473104X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-03-01
• Publisher: New York University Press

Summary

Provides the reader with a lucid and accessible entre to the contentious issues surrounding the role of religion in American public life. -- Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies A readable book that will be a valuable addition to university libraries and useful reading in courses on science and values.--Religious Studies ReviewInsightful and penetrating.--Science Goldberg's expertise in the legal system, science, and contemporary social issues allows him to frame public debates in their proper perspectives. His presentations of the relations between law and religion offer insights that tend to be ignored and he convincingly shows that religious values have a central place in today's controversies.--Journal of Church and StateThis interesting book makes a strong demand on religiously inclined readers... warning not to justify things of the spirit by signs material.... Goldberg's warning is one to take seriously.--The Christian Science MonitorAn original, forthright argument that American religion has sold its soul to science.... A well-reasoned counterweight to recent science-worshipping titles.--Kirkus ReviewsAmerican religion, Steven Goldberg claims, has fallen into a trap. Just at the moment when it has amassed the political strength and won the legal right to participate effectively in public debate, it has lost its distinctive voice. Instead of speaking of human values, goals, and limits, it speaks in the language of science.In the United States, science has extraordinary influence and respect. American religious leaders seeking prestige for their point of view regularly couch their responses to technological developments, or defend their faith, in scientific terms. They claim, for instance, that medical studies demonstrate the power of prayer, that science validates the Bible, including its account of creation, and that patenting the genetic code is dangerous because genes are the essence of who we are.But when ministers, priests, and rabbis expound on double-blind studies and the genetic causes of behavior, they do not elevate religion, Goldberg maintains, they trivialize it. Seduced by Science examines how, by allowing scientific discourse to set the terms of the debate, American religious leaders facilitate religion's move away from its more appropriate and important concerns of values, morality, and humility. Science can tell us a lot about what is but precious little about what ought to be and our religious leaders often miss the chance to add an important voice from a faith-based perspective to the public debate that follows scientific advances.Discussing the most recent and pressing collisions between science and religion-such as the medicinal benefits of prayer, the human genome project, and cloning-Goldberg raises the timely question of what the appropriate role of religion might be in public life today. Tackling the legal aspects of religious debate, Goldberg suggests ways that religious leaders might confront new scientific developments in a more meaningful fashion.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction	1	(8)
Gene Patents and the Soul	9	(16)
Setting the Stage: Religion Enters the Public Square	10	(1)
Patenting Life: The Legal Background	11	(4)
Religion, Genes, and the Death of Dualism	15	(7)
Cloning Dolly and Cloning Humans	22	(3)
Using the Bible as a Science Text	25	(15)
Early Religious Reactions to Evolution	26	(4)
Modern Creation Science	30	(3)
The Legacy of Creation Science	33	(4)
Alternative Approaches to Evolution	37	(3)
The Medical Power of Prayer	40	(13)
Scientific Studies of Prayer	40	(3)
Grouping Prayer with Other Therapies	43	(4)
The Distinctive Power of Prayer	47	(2)
The Threat to Prayer's Traditional Role	49	(4)
How Free Speech and Due Process Protect Religion	53	(15)
Depicting Religion as a Victim in the Courts	53	(2)
The Constitutional Framework for American Religion	55	(2)
Free Speech and Religion in the Public Square	57	(5)
Due Process and the Right to Attend Religious Schools	62	(4)
The Ultimate Safety Valve: Religious Schools Today	66	(2)
How the Free Exercise of Religion Clause Works Today	68	(16)
Protecting Religious Belief and Practice from Political Attacks	68	(3)
Reconciling Free Exercise with Neutral Laws	71	(7)
The Rise and Fall of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act	78	(2)
The Legislative Role in Protecting Free Exercise	80	(4)
Banning Established Religion in Public Schools and Public Places	84	(18)
Government Support for Science	85	(1)
Prayer in the Schools	86	(4)
The Lure of Watered-Down Religion	90	(2)
The Unhappy Fate of Christmas, Hanukkah, and Good Friday	92	(5)
Government and Religious Schools: The Danger of Vouchers	97	(5)
The Overlap between Religious Values and Law	102	(15)
Justifying Sunday Closing Laws	103	(4)
Striking Down Solely Religious Statutes	107	(2)
Religious Involvement in the Abortion Debate	109	(3)
A Christian Nation?	112	(5)
Hearing Religion's Distinctive Voice	117	(19)
The Central Message of Humility, Values, and Faith	118	(9)
The Places Where Religion Should Be Heard	127	(5)
A Personal Observation	132	(4)
Alternative Perspectives on Religion and Science	136	(12)
Other Places, Other Times	136	(2)
Secular Limits on Science	138	(2)
Using Science to Find God	140	(8)
Conclusion	148	(5)
Notes	153	(44)
Bibliography	197	(18)
Index	215	(5)
About the Author	220