Source: The Huffington Post

By Rep. Rush Holt: U.S. Congressman from New Jersey’s 12th district

Posted: 02/12/2013 11:35 am

Today is the anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin. Like Galileo, Newton and Einstein in the physical sciences, Darwin in the life sciences provided a new framework for thinking that led to great new understanding and eventually greatly improved the quality of life for millions of people. I have proposed that this date be recognized officially as Darwin Day as a reminder of the need to promote scientific thinking throughout our society.

Although I am a research scientist and teacher by background, the world in which I live day to day — the world of politics and legislation — is a fairly constrained, unscientific world. The inhabitants of that world do not often break new ground. There are not many new ideas. The work of politicians is to find a balance of existing competing interests that will hold at least for a short time. Science is not like that; it is progressive. Scientists operate on the assumption that through better and better theories drawn from evidence one can have clearer and clearer understanding of how the world works.

Science is not primarily a compilation and refinement of what is known. Science is mostly a very clever technique for venturing into what is not known. Its currency is new ideas. The new ideas are not simply daydreams or unfounded conjectures. They are extrapolations from observation and evidence. The scientists we extol, like Darwin, could see more pathways into the unknown from the commonplace.

Read further in the Huffington Post

The Muslim Times’ Editor’s comments: The congressman has failed to make a distinction between different domains of knowledge in this article.  Study of nature is science, study pertaining to Transcendent God, Who is beyond time, space and matter is religion and co-relating these two domains of study, creates the third domain of metaphysics.

If we follow this simple model of boundaries, dialogue and discussion can proceed more smoothly and unnecessary science and religion conflict avoided.