Ends and means

They say that money doesn't buy happiness. That saying is often dismissed as being obviously wrong, and it is, in a way. The intent of the saying, I think, is that money in and of itself is not happiness -- having piles of money does not inherently make you happy. This is true (hopefully obviously). But money can (also obviously) make acquiring life's material necessities (and pleasing unnecessities, if I may make up a word) easier -- which is the intent of those who scoff at the saying.

The point is that money is a means to an end, and not an end itself. This is what many people lose sight of when they waste their lives in pursuit of cash and forget to ever stop and enjoy it.

This, I think, is a well-known situation these days. But this issue also applies to other situations, such as science.

When science became "in" during the Enlightenment (also known as the "Age of Reason", after the more general term for science), it began to take away many of religion's established purposes -- explaining how things (like the creation of the earth) happened. Even religion's great monopoly on morality seemed threatened, as "rational" ethical systems like utilitarianism gained popular support. Many happily declared that science would soon make religion obsolete.

This, of course, did not happen. Whenever religion seemed about to fall off the edge, revivals occurred that pushed the balance back. (The last of these is still occurring, considering the current power of evangelical Christians in this country.)

As an atheist, of course, I am not a particular fan of religion. But some of my compatriots in the Atheist Nation (if you will) have taken their irreverence too far, echoing those earlier claims of religion's obsolescence in the face of science.

The truth is that, despite its flaws, religion is a very necessary part of our society. The domain of science is how; like money, it is simply a means to an end, of explaining the processes of the natural world so that we may control them and thus make our lives longer and easier. But science can never tell us why. It can never make our lives meaningful or happy.

And that's okay; there's nothing wrong with science, as long as we remember that it is a tool, with a specific purpose, and that purpose does not include giving us meaning. That responsibility lies solely on our own shoulders.