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eligion and science both pose profound questions for mankind. Both are intrinsic to our lives, yet they have been cast in distinctly separate roles. Today, religion is
arbitrarily tied to certain specific rituals and customary beliefs, whereas science is restricted to material research and the superficial analysis of the universe. The limiting of thought processes pervades both spheres, with the result that they have become mutually antagonistic. Today's religious men say science is false, and in turn science is mercilessly decrying the beliefs and observances of religion.
The True Scope of Science and Religion I believe that the agitation and distress in the minds of the religious today, this flood of dissatisfaction and doubt about the scriptures, is caused by restrictions placed on their thinking. They cling to ageold orthodox ideas, and consider any compilation of an ancient language as scripture and therefore representative of religion. The devout are neither able to appropriately analyse these books intellectually, nor are they able to give up their attachment to them. They are bound by conventional beliefs and some oft-repeated traditions, and have become narrow-minded. It is this prejudice that causes all their doubts and discontent.
When talking of the scriptures, we must first understand that science and religion, unlike Rama and Ravana, are not rivals. Both are sciences; one of nature, the other of the soul. Religion, which is a spiritual science, involves the study of the pure and impure forms of the soul, its liberation and bondage, and the growth and decay of its sacred and sinful states. Natural science, as I feel it should be called, looks at nature and penetrates its secret processes. It also includes the
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