Science and This Holiday
Photo source (Sculpture at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Center in Atlanta, Georgia)
by Miss Baker
From Martin Luther King, Jr.’s book Strength to Love pg. 15-16:
Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power; religion gives man wisdom which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary.
Science keeps religion from sinking into the valley of crippling irrationalism and paralyzing obscurantism. Religion prevents science from falling into the marsh of obsolete materialism and moral nihilism.
I have a giant book that includes some of King’s most famous and lesser known writings and speeches. I like to pull it out each year on this day and read one of them. The one I excerpted above is very special to me and is one of my favorites. The entire book can be read online if you click on the link. The excerpt above is found within the first chapter.My favorite speech that was recorded on video will always be his last speech given before his assassination. I’ve posted the final minute of that speech here. We should all honor Martin Luther King Jr. today. Not because we have a day off from school, but because he is a reminder of all the wondrous things that can be accomplished by the strength of the human spirit.
January 21st, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I did a little background research on Martin Luther King Jr. He was born on January 15, 1929 and he died on April 4, 1968. His name at birth was Michael Luther King Jr but then he later changed his name. His grandfather and father were pastors at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. Martin attended segregated public schools graduating from high school at the age of fifteen. He received the B. A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta. In 1954, Martin Luther King accepted the pastorale of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama. In 1957 he was elected president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization formed to provide new leadership for the now burgeoning civil rights movement. At the age of thirty-five, Martin Luther King, Jr., was the youngest man to have received the Nobel Peace Prize. He wrote many books. Three were The Measure of a Man (religion), I Have a Dream (political science), and Why We Can’t Wait (social science). Her is a link to my information:
http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html
January 21st, 2008 at 6:13 pm
Good research Billy- I did a paper on MLK recently and never knew all the facinating things he accomplished until then. I did some research and found some really interesting quotes at this website: http://www.mlkonline.net/quotes.html
I found a famous quote that most people have heard before “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” This quote was said by MLK at a speech in Detroit, Michigan on June 23, 1963. Some interesting facts about MLK are that he was greatly influenced by a previous nonviolent Indian leader named Ghandi. Also, his efforts weren’t only on civil rights; he spoke out about the Vietnam war and against poverty.
http://encarta.msn.com/media_461577133_761557424_-1_1/Martin_Luther_King_Jr_Quick_Facts.html
January 21st, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Billy: That is some great information. In addition to that, one of the most influential people in Martin Luther King Jr.’s life was Mohandas Gandhi. Martin Luther King Jr. got his idea for non-violent protest partially from Gandhi who protested non-violently in India.
http://www.time.com/time/time100/leaders/profile/gandhi.html
This really brings up a great point that many people disagree upon, which is whether or not science and religion can coexist. Many people say that science denounces religion as false and many say that religion proves that science must be false. This is not the case however. If something has been proven scientifically to work, then it must work. By saying that this can’t be true just because it doesn’t specifically mention it somewhere in the Bible is absurd. God could have made it to work this way, we will never know everything though. One thing I wish people would do sometimes is at least listen to everything with an open mind and try to decide for yourself what is true and what is not. You can’t come into learning about something thinking already that it is wrong, because then even if there is proof that should persuade you otherwise, you will just block that out. With evolution, I don’t yet know if I entirely believe everything that is included in it, but I do not think that it proves that God is not real. I think God is all-powerful and if he wanted creatures to evolve to where they are today then I know that he could do that. This might have seemed a little off-subject but it all goes back to Martin Luther King Jr. comparing science and religion in the excerpt in Miss Baker’s post.
January 22nd, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Billy- Good research. I did not know the majority of that information. Earlier this year we did a paper in history relating Dr.King to Ghandi and tying them together with the concept of ahimsa, which is basically avoiding violence. Until that paper, I just knew the basics of his life and somewhat what he accomplished. I learned he actually went to study Ghandi and used the concept of ahimsa to influence him, like Maryclaire said.
Maryclaire- I really like that quote. It makes you think about finding something you are truly passionate about.
Grant- I definently agree I like the quote Ms.Baker picked out because it also incorporates what we had been talking about with evolution and religion coexisting.
Dr.King’s quote brings some perspective of a very influential man into the picture. I think it is very difficult for a lot of people to have an open mind much less admit to be wrong. I haven’t really developed my position on evolution yet but I definently believe that science and relgion can and should be able to peacefully coexist if people allow them to.
January 24th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Wow Billy, thats was some incredible research about MLK which I never even knew before thanks for the information!
I also did a reaserch paper on MLK just as Maryclaire did, and was in awe of all the acomplishments that he made, I had know idea how brave and courageous he actually was until I wrote the paper!
Garant, I completely agree with your thoughts about how people should learn all of the information on each side of an argument before making a decsion on who you agree with! Before these last couple of weeks I thought that the word evolution was just another term thrown around by people who did not believe in God. Now that I have actually listened the evolution theory I have come to realize that it actually makes a lot of sense!
I also agree with Taylor because many people do not think that science and religion can coexist and while that is their own opinion, which they are entitled to I believe that they can absolutely coexist without any problems! Just as MLK said, in their own little way they kind of keep each other in snyc with the world. Science covers the facts and religion tends to cover the morals and spiritual aspect of life. They do not interfere with each other at all!
January 24th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
I just recently visited the Martin Luther King JR. museum over the Christmas break, and I would recommend you visit it when you have the time. He truly was an amazing man and without his efforts, the country would not be where it is today. One of my favorite quotes of his was this, ” An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” I think this is one of his greatest quotes that can be applied to our everyday lives and the topic of science and religion not being able to co-exist. They should be able to co-exist, because science and religion are dealing with two very different thins. Science is the study of the natural world and religion deals with things that are supernatural, which means that it cannot disprove science and science cannot disprove religion. But either way it does not matter, because if you look at the quote, that can be applied here. Does it really matter if an individual thinks that evolution happened or not? No, it doesn’t matter, that is just a personal issue. There are broader concerns and they need to be dealt with. Problems that could be solved quicker if people weren’t busy debating the truth of evolution. It does not matter whether evolution occurs or not.
January 24th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
I understand what you’re saying Alex and you make some great, valid points. However, I disagree with your argument that whether or not evolution matters or not is of little importance. If evolution occurs, then we can make a lot of predictions about nature based on evolutionary theory. For example, if we understand how evolution works then we can understand how certain diseases evolved. If we understand how certain diseases evolved, then we can figure out how to treat/cure them.
This is a great website entitled, “How does evolution impact my life?”
http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/search/topicbrowse2.php?topic_id=47