“The science” has become a religion.

Case in point — I saw a Facebook ad recently asserting that “Joe Biden believes in science. Donald Trump does not.”

“He believes.” That’s a faith statement. It’s no different than saying I believe in God. Thus, my conclusion that science has become a religion for a lot of people. This is more rational, so we’re told, because, well, it’s science!

When we hear statements like the one in the Biden ad, we are supposed to understand that Biden “believes” in a certain set of facts known as “the science” that Trump rejects. That means Trump is dumb. I mean, what kind of simpleton rejects scientific facts?

The problem is science isn’t a set of facts. Science is a process.

The Science Council defines science as “the pursuit and application of knowledge and understanding of the natural and social world following a systematic methodology based on evidence.” It goes on to list the vital components of scientific methodology.

• Objective observation: Measurement and data (possibly although not necessarily using mathematics as a tool)
• Evidence
• Experiment and/or observation as benchmarks for testing hypotheses
• Induction: reasoning to establish general rules or conclusions drawn from facts or examples
• Repetition
• Critical analysis
• Verification and testing: critical exposure to scrutiny, peer review and assessment

Through scientific methodology, we can draw certain conclusions about the world, but not with any certainty. Science isn’t ever absolutely conclusive.

Through the 18th century, blood-letting was a common medical practice. To use today’s parlance, it was “the science.” Now granted, the science wasn’t particularly good. As we learned more about anatomy, physiology and medicine, the practice was eventually abandoned (although it is still used today for a few specific conditions.) Now imagine for a moment somebody in 1639 challenging the procedure. I’m pretty certain they would be branded as “science-deniers” and canceled on Twitter.

Or to use a different example, “the science” once told us that the sun revolved around the earth.

The point is “the science” changes. As we learn more, experiment more, develop better technology, and discover new things, our understanding of the world around us evolves.

It’s also important to note that “the science” isn’t some homogeneous list of facts. Very few things generate a true scientific consensus. There are credible scientists with impressive credentials who disagree about  coronavirus, global warming and pretty much any contentious issue that drives partisans to start screaming about “the science.”

Science isn’t certainty. It can’t ever reveal absolute truth. In fact, questioning current views of the world drives science forward.

Science has been poisoned by politics. It’s no longer a process to help us better understand the world. It’s dogma used to badger and bully people into submission. In the same way that some misguided souls used scripture to justify violence against heretics, politicians and government officials use the holy writ of “science” to prop up their policies, which inevitably involve pointing guns at some people and forcing them to submit to their will.

On a final note – science provides valuable insights into the world around us. But it can’t replace religion. It can only tell us about things that are measurable and observable. It can’t tell us anything about God, or love, or ethics, or morality. It does a fantastic job illuminating the world around us but it makes for a crappy religion and dangerous dogma.