I write in reference to a well written letter by Mr. Harold K. Jamesson in the Guyana Chronicle of July 16th (The ancient religions do not conflict with science.) I agree with the premise laid out by Mr. Jamesson and wish to point out that I have, on many occasions, advanced the view that Eastern religious thoughts do not necessarily contradict modern scientific principles.

In a previous letter I wrote, “Religion has been around from time immemorial with Hinduism being the oldest known to mankind. Coincidentally, many of the principles of Hinduism coincide with the discoveries of science. Hinduism recognises the wisdom of uncertainty because devotees know they cannot ever fully comprehend the mind of an omniscient God.”

Mr. Jamesson explains that “religious people use the language of the natural sciences to try to explain their positions since many of their modern readers easier relate to the metaphor of natural sciences than the usual language of religion.”

While this is true it is not applicable to the argument Mr. Permaul was making. He had detailed the workings of the empirical Scientific Method and then insisted that this same methodology be applied to his religious beliefs. Mr. Permaul had moved beyond co-opting language; he had, rather arrogantly I thought, moved his faith into a scientific laboratory.

While Eastern belief systems are all-encompassing and mostly do not conflict with science, it does not necessarily mean that the practice of empirical science should be applied to all aspects of Eastern faiths.

My position is that religious belief, by its very nature, does not require the kind of testable/provable/repeatable evidence that empirical science demands. The two, as Stephen Jay Gould once said, are “Non-overlapping Magisteria”. But very often, religious people do not content themselves dealing with matters of the human spirit; they cross over and attempt to distort factual reality with non-testable ideas of supernaturalism. (See the Creationism VS Evolution debate for instance.)

“Mr. de Freitas’ comment on Lord Krishna’s blue colour shows that he needs to be exposed to the study of iconography,” Mr. Jamesson says.