When Science Becomes an Engine of Hate

Why Anti-Christian Bigotry in STEM Should Concern Us.

Let me tell you, I love STEM. That is an acronym for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Well, maybe not math so much, but I’m good with the rest of it. Expressing my appreciation for STEM is not a disclaimer. It is the simple truth. As a Bible-believing Christian, I believe God created the Heavens and the Earth (Genesis 1:1), and it is fascinating to explore his creation.

For example, you are probably reading this on a computer. God created sand, and silicon makes computers possible. You are using the internet. We could not have near-instantaneous communication if they did not travel at the speed of light. And we know God created light. Humans have been able to unravel the mystery of light to use as a signaling device, and that’s good.

We must remember that all scientific discovery is morally neutral. It is how humans use discoveries that make the difference. The same airplane that takes a missionary to a distant land to spread the Gospel can also be used to bomb innocent people.

Christianity and Science: The Good, Bad, and Ugly

Christians were at the forefront of scientific discovery, and that continues to this day. Wikipedia even keeps a list of notable scientists who have placed Jesus as the Lord of their lives. Sadly, Wikipedia places them in a denominational context and downplays their spirituality, and we are forced to suffer that.

Sure, Christians have done some lunkheaded scientific things, like fighting Darwinism, which some over-simplified to mean that humans evolved from apes. Christians misidentified the issue as being a matter of science (evolution), not educational policy (as it was), and Christians sadly gained a reputation for being anti-science as a result.

Meanwhile, we Christians totally ignored the real issue, which was Social Darwinism. That was the seed of the Marxist-Progressive “wokeism” that is wreaking havoc in our culture today. We threw the baby out with the bath water on that one.

Scientists are not immune to horrible gaffes either. My favorite has always been Phrenology. It was the science of discovering the mysteries of the personality and character of an individual by studying the bumps on their skulls. It was all the rage into the 1900s but was finally discredited as medical quackery.

Science is an inexact science

Medical science quackery continues to this day. COVID Czar Dr. Anthony Fauci recently told a congressional committee that the six-foot rule “sort of just appeared” and had little or no scientific basis. Mask mandates and the capacity limitations at businesses, schools, and churches sprang from that six-foot rule, shut everything down, and changed our lives in destructive ways. We all suffered by being misled by this manipulative pseudo-science.

The Antipathy of Science Toward Christianity

People who purport to be scientific often attack Christians on a purely emotional basis. Yet, even expensive research becomes junk science, and thinking Christians must resist that.

Micro-Aggression by Science

There are untold micro-aggressions by scientists against people of faith. At the moment, scientists are supporting governments allowing the mutilation of children with an apparent gender dysphoria disorder, which is described in the official Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). Christians know that treatment can be helpful, but butchery of the young in the name of “gender-affirming care” is irrational and a desecration of human bodies, which are sacred to people of all faiths.

Christians should question whether the American Psychiatric Association is a scientific group or a socio-political organization that alters “science” to the whims of the mob. Homosexuality was listed as a treatable malady in the previous editions of the DSM but was excised through internal political machinations, not credible science.

Another example of micro-aggression against people by faith and their allies in movement is found in the case of California’s Grace Community Church, headed by John MacArthur. The church refused to close based on the pandemic science, which we now know was seriously flawed. A lawsuit ensued, finally settled by the US Supreme Court in 2021. They ruled that science and government had, in effect, conspired against Grace Community Church to deprive them of their Constitutional right of freedom of religious expression.

The result? Science: $0 – People of faith: an $800,000 settlement. We can only conclude that science is an inexact science and is filled with prejudices.

Science Alters Time

A macro-aggression is found in how scientists in different fields date the epoch of time. The BC (Before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini) were devised in 525 AD by Dionysius Exiguus, a monk who sought to determine the correct date for Easter. His system was to count years from the estimated birth of Jesus Christ. AD stands for “In the Year of the Lord.” Dionysius set the birth of Jesus in the Roman year 753. His system gained popularity in the 8th century through the Venerable Bede, an English monk, who used it in his historical works.

BC/AD has been in use in the Western world, and indeed the entire world, for about 1,400 years. Then came the scientists. The term BCE (Before Common Era) replaced BC, and CE (Common Era) replaced AD. Academic, historical, and scientific communities began adopting the new terms widely in the 1970s, and now the terms are ubiquitous.

Scientists and others say they adopted BCE and CE to be inclusive of non-Christian cultures and beliefs. Yet, scientists and academics driving the change are predominantly atheists, so why should they care? They said the change was necessary in a globalized, secular world. The change was aimed at denying or diminishing the historical role of Christianity and surrendering the dominance of the Western culture it represents.

Yes, the BC/AD – BCE/CE terminology does matter. After 1,400 years, they wanted to obliterate the name of Christ from their brave new world in a significant manner. That’s why the change looks a lot like scientific anti-Christian bigotry. They apparently felt they needed to reshape our epoch to fit their particular bias. No organization or institution voted for the change; it represents the creeping prejudice and intolerance against Christians by scientific and academic communities.

Why Christians Should Not Be At War with Science

The study of God’s creation, which is called science, should be welcomed by all Christians. Also, we should applaud the scientific method, which includes defining a question to investigate, making predictions about possible outcomes, gathering and analyzing data, and drawing conclusions.

But we cannot allow so-called scientists in any field to denigrate people of faith. We especially cannot allow them to dictate public policy when their theories are inadequately tested, whether they deal with health, the environment, gender issues, or a host of other topics. Their too-common bias and bigotry have already betrayed them.

They cannot be allowed to trash people of faith for their alleged scientific notions. Honest science does not need to disparage anyone or capitulate to contemporary social and political fads with its findings if it expects to be heard.

At the same time, we Christians must cease our infatuation with issues like the date of creation, evolution, a flat Earth, and so forth. No one ever said, “Okay, you’ve convinced me the Earth is flat, so now I will give my life to Jesus Christ.”

Scientists have built a wall between faith and reason. I had the joy of studying under Diogenes Allen, PhD as part of my theological degree at Princeton, and he thought that was a false and dangerous dichotomy. Here is what he said in his book, The Reasonableness of Faith:

Were religious beliefs truth-claims which simply met our need for information or satisfied a merely intellectual desire to understand, then it would be proper to require that an adherence to them be backed up by reasons which count toward establishing that truth. But religious truth-claims, even though they offer explanations which satisfy the intellect, are not reducible to any type of proposition. They are directed toward the redemption of broken and ensnarled lives. (p. 85).

Science is said to be based on reason, and so faith is often slandered because of that. Yet, scientists should understand there is more than one way of knowing. Bible-believing Christians must understand that too.

Scientists know the electromagnetic spectrum comprises radio waves, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays, and gamma rays. Some can be seen, and some are invisible unless they have special equipment to perceive them. Therefore, no true scientist should be biased or bigoted towards people of faith simply because the scientist does not have the right equipment to detect it.

You're always welcome at FaithBiscuit.org

Sources cited: Unless otherwise noted, Bible quotations are from the English Standard Version (ESV).

Wikipedia list of notable Christians in science

Social Darwin is a big topic, and it has sadly undergone revisionism by race-based interpreters in recent years. Start exploring this topic by reading the older (1992), more ethically balanced book Social Darwinism in American Thought by Richard Hofstadter.

Dr. Anthony Fauci gets honest with a Congressional Committee.

The US National Institute of Health (NIH) recounts how homosexual activists made a scientific group ignore science to accommodate their sexual predilections.

Christianity Today magazine did a good job of documenting the MacArthur Grace Community Church COVID case.

The Reasonableness of Faith by Diogenes Allen, PhD.