As a scientist that is also of the Christian faith, this talk was very comforting learning that science and religion can go hand and hand. Before this lecture, I honestly did not know that scholars like Copernicus were asked by the church to further their understanding. Nowadays it feels that people in Christianity have some confusion with how evolution and the teachings from the Bible can coexist. In my personal experience, the fear and/or ignorance of science by some members of my community has lead to apprehension when it comes to expanding capacity for knowledge. I have been recently been discouraged from studying and embracing the teachings of evolution, the creation of the universe and even the age of the Earth. The fact that people still assume there is a conflict between Church and science has really hindered progress and the relationship between the two. I think that if that current mindset continues into the future, the rate of paradigm shifts will decrease or not be as high as it could be.
I sincerely hope that this mindset that the fields of science and church are not compatible can be dispelled in the future. This could potentially lead to another boom in innovations and ideas.
I agree with you, Darria, that this conflict can be overblown. It does seem like a shame that resistance to new ideas will be held back by people’s reluctance to accept ideas that conflict with traditional beliefs.