Science in Iran; science in the West

Science journal ran an article on 21^st July 2006 by John Bohannon on science in Iran. There, the ayatollahs control everything including the science that can be done and the results that can be reported. Stepping out of line can be mortally dangerous. ‘Even the Iranian supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has issued a fatwa, or edict, calling on researchers to secure Iran's position as the "leader in science" in the Middle East over the next 20 years. But at the same time, discussing ideas that displease the religious elite can land you in jail. As Haddad-Adel told Science, "We do not allow our scientists to make propaganda against Islam." Exactly what might constitute such propaganda is unclear, and Haddad-Adel declined to specify…Religious constraints have consequences for academia, says an Iranian philosopher of science who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Censorship, and especially self-censorship, is everywhere," he says. "In my papers and presentations, I must often change the ending to include some religious aspects, even though I am agnostic, which of course I can never admit."’ This is reminiscent of the pre-Enlightenment Christian Europe in which Galileo lived and worked.

Meanwhile, in the West, we owe the triumph of Enlightenment values for the freedom from intellectual censorship and our ability to declare our belief or lack of it without fear of persecution. We are free to report scientific results that undermine religious superstition and cant, and the religious leaders hate it. So, Cardinal Schönborn, Archbishop of Vienna, leads the Church unashamedly away from good science and towards the dark shadows of Intelligent Design. Cardinal Trujillo proposes excommunication for those working in good conscience for cures for many devastating diseases. Here is more about Trujillo's proposal.

There is a new war brewing between reason and enlightenment on the one hand, and religious authority on the other hand. We can no longer rely on intellectual and reasonable believers within the Church to moderate the urge of the religious to control not just their own, but everyone’s life. The moderates have lost the battle within the church communities and the conservatives have the whole of society in their sights.

Six months ago, I was astonished that a Catholic cardinal would lend his credibility to the absurdities of Intelligent Design, but now I understand that the Catholic Church, the largest single religious community in the world, is moving to openly oppose the fundamental scientific principles of Darwinism, in particular the contingency and randomness of evolution. There is little doubt that Ratzinger approves this enterprise and might well be its architect.

Those of us who care about the freedom of the human intellect to reach conclusions that run counter to religious beliefs and religiously inspired dogma have a fight on our hands. The battle between reason and dogma is just beginning.