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Science and Morality. Science (as understood in the 21st C) examines how the physical world behaves. There is no doubt that the physical world exists and the study of it is legitimate. However studying how it behaves and how it ought to behave are different things. Morality and ethics studies, try to ascertain how we who have physical bodies ought to behave in this physical world. We cannot fully understand the behaviour of the physical world unless we take into account the non-physical world and vice-versa because the two obviously interact. Most people recognise that certain actions (like wanton cruelty) are wrong no matter what an individual or society may think. Also most people realise that 'love' sums up real goodness. These things are real not just a matter of opinion. Morality seeks to understand one aspect of reality which must not be ignored if we are seeking to understand the world. Yet this second aspect of reality is forgotten in our schools. Children are given the impression that morality should not be taught because it smacks of religion which should only be (or so we are told) a matter of personal choice. So one aspect of reality is ignored and the other given prominence. No wonder society is breaking down! There are many religions in the world. Only Christianity (for all its faults) teaches us that the Divine became part of our human life and therefore it gives supreme value to human life. Only on such a belief can a real morality be founded.
Howard Taylor (March
2009) If any of the above
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