Scientific Answers to the Four Main Questions of Religion:
Every religion in the world answers the same basic questions for its followers, which people began asking tens of thousands of years ago, so it is clear to see that evolutionary science will never be able to compete against religion as the foundation for a cultural ideology unless it can give satisfactory answers to the same questions. Evolutionary science will be even more successful at “competing” against religion if it doesn’t try to compete against religion directly, but instead complements religion in helping people find the answers to life they’re looking for. Furthermore, by answering the main questions of religion in scientific terms, evolutionary science would be able to fulfill those functions for anyone who bases their perception of the world primarily on science.
“What makes the universe work?” Lots and lots of scientific principles, some of which are understood, and many of which aren’t.
Every religion shares the concept of a single force that unites the universe, so that the followers of that religion can feel like the universe makes sense somehow, even if they can’t see it for themselves. Every religion also offers its followers some way to feel connected to that unifying force, so they can feel like they have some control over their lives.
With the notable exceptions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, it is a widespread, if not universal, belief among religions that people are inherent parts of the universe and that science itself is an inherent part of the universe. Every religion has its own term for the oneness of the universe. The scientific term for the oneness of the universe is “uni-verse”.
Many religions, if not most or all, conceive the soul or spirit to be a form of energy, which is severed from the physical body upon a person’s death. Also, many, most, or all religions perceive the highest level of being to be an incorporeal spirit, disembodied consciousness, beam of light, or other such form of energy freed of the physical body. Such religions believe that in order to reach the highest level of being—energy—a person must free himself of the bonds that confine him to his physical body—whose survival is governed by energy efficiency.
Many, most, or all non-organized religions already perceive energy to be the most fundamental unit of life, the universe, and everything (as Fritjof Capra illustrates in his comparisons between Eastern religions and quantum physics in The Tao of Physics, and as Fiona Horne indicates of modern Paganism in her book Witch—A Magickal Journey). By now it is well understood by scientists that energy is the fundamental unit of astrophysics and quantum physics. If anything, such non-organized religions would welcome an official scientific announcement that energy was the fundamental unit of life.
Those two basic ideas also exist in the three major organized religions of the world, with their belief that their god is the unifying force of the universe, and that he exists in everything. Since they perceive their god to be a wielder of energy rather than a form of energy, these religions are not as compatible with the Theory of Evolutionary Relativity. However, among members of these religions it is still basic common sense that humans require energy to live. That means the parallels between the Theory of Evolutionary Relativity and their perception of the world still exist, albeit at a more mundane level.
Most importantly, by specifying that science has discovered some principles that govern the universe but not all of them, science doesn’t threaten to disprove anyone’s religion. It is inconceivable that scientists could ever understand the universe completely, and certainly not within the foreseeable future, so it leaves plenty of room for religious answers to questions that are otherwise unanswerable. That’s important for the same reasons it has always been important—so that people can feel like the universe makes sense somehow, and that they have some connection to the unifying force of the universe.
By acknowledging that metaphysical effects are possible despite the fact that they can’t yet be observed directly (as was the case for the Law of Gravity and the roundness of the Earth at other times) scientists leave people free to believe in their own explanations for the scientifically unanswerable while adopting the answers science has discovered so far. Even in strictly Christian terms, the metaphysical corollary of the Theory of Evolutionary Relativity still applies, because “the intentional focus of faith in an all-powerful, all-loving deity” is synonymous with “the intentional focus of the energy that guides humans’ decision-making to connect them with the force that keeps humans alive”.
“What happens to people when they die?” Science can’t answer that, because it can only measure the cessation of biological activity in the body. Two things that can be observed intellectually are the person’s development as an individual over the course of his life, and the effects he has on the world over the course of his life.
Here is one important example of science leaving people on their own to find their own answers to the scientifically unanswerable. The two things that can be observed intellectually are valued by most or all religions in the world: people improving themselves over the courses of their lives, and having beneficial effects on the world over the courses of their lives. As one saying puts it, which many religions agree with, “Life isn’t a question of what you take with you when you leave, but of what you leave behind.” Scientifically that’s true also, because the empirical effects that a person’s life had upon the world remain after the person is gone.
“How can people make themselves happy?” By working toward fulfillment of self-fulfillment.
By satisfying all of their instincts, people eliminate conflict from their lives, which frees up energy they can put to productive use. By feeling their lives to be complete, by eliminating conflict from their lives, and by freeing up energy to devote to activities of their choice, people can eliminate many, most, or all obstacles to happiness. All religions value these basic things, and for many energy-based religions, fulfillment of self-fulfillment is the highest level of being. Again, this definition leaves everyone free to define their own path to happiness.
“How can people work together to build a civilization?” By basing that civilization on a foundation that all of its members are guaranteed to have in common, and not on the misperception that one traditional culture is better than all the others.
In the 21st century, this question refers to the global civilization, so it refers to a civilization made up of the entire human race. The one most important thing that all humans are guaranteed to have in common is human evolution.
The laws of environmental science and physics in general also affect people everywhere, regardless of whether or not the people understand those scientific laws. Whether people understand the scientific laws affecting them or not, a civilization can’t be expected to function as long as scientific laws have disproportionally harmful effects on some of its members. That is, evolutionarily equal members of our species who get stuck at the losing end of scientific laws of can be expected to fight back just as hard as anyone else, regardless of how much they understand about science.