A science is not a religion, in the sense it has a dogma or specific ideology that is dependent upon a degree of faith in the unknown and/or faith belief in a Leader. You could say that any belief is technically a religion but that would be wrong.
Science is not a philosophy, as it is not so much interested in the ‘ why ‘ as it is the ‘ how ‘. Even though philosophy was one of our first sciences before ethics and morality was introduced into it by Socrates.
Modern science is ‘ primarily ‘ the study of the ‘ how ‘…the mechanics…the way things work…’ how ‘ can we use this…’ how ‘ can we manipulate this …eg. it is not interested so much in ‘ why ‘ we live, as it’s interested in ‘ how ‘ we live.
That being said we will use a very liberal definition of science here…and ignore the basic rules…because we want to include those ‘ other ‘ sciences ‘ that border and/or cross-over many platforms.
We’ll call them here the Sciences of Thought.
Sciences of Thought include modern science, Deism, Atheism, Creationism, Evolutionism, Agnosticism, Shinto, Rastafarianism, Ku Klux Klan, Nazism, Egalitarianism, Libertarianism, Humanitarianism, etc…
let’s look at Rastafarianism first as it is probably the one that seems to not fit in the most…
Rastafarianism
Rastafarianism began as a ‘ Back to Africa ‘ movement…a political movement…that later developed various beliefs. As there is no Official Creed these beliefs vary from one group to another but they all basically follow the 1977 book The Rastafarians, The Dreadlocks of Jamaica by Leonard Barrett who lists what he regards as the six basic principles of Rastafari.
- Haile Selassie I is the Living God
- The Black person is the reincarnation of ancient Israel, who, at the hand of the White person, has been in exile in Jamaica
- The White person is inferior to the Black person
- Jamaica is hell; Ethiopia is heaven
- The Invincible Emperor of Ethiopia is now arranging for expatriated persons of African origin to return to Ethiopia
- In the near future Blacks shall rule the world
The preacher Leonard Howell also lists basic tenets of early Rastafari such as ( I will only bother listing those that aren’t listed already above ):
- Hatred of Whites
- Whites will become the servants of Blacks
- The persecution and humiliation of the government and legal bodies of Jamaica
- Blacks are God’s chosen people
- Revenge on Whites for their wickedness
- Repatriation: Haile Selassie will lead Blacks back to Africa
Most modern Rastafarians follow a much more liberal and less racist view, and many of the beliefs have changed over the years as well.
In 1991 Michael N. Jagessar devised his own systematic approach to Rastafari theology and provided insight into the changes in the group’s beliefs.
What exactly does this have to do with science?
Well…it really doesn’t…but I did say that we were going to take a very liberal view of science…and so we have included racist organizations into the mix. Technically, even though racism is primarily a social issue the study of a person’s race falls into the area of science. Through science we evaluate if there really are any significant differences from one race to another…and it is through science and education that we can one day rid ourselves of these organizations.
