These days, in many places around the world, it is impossible to use the justification “God says…” in any way shape or form to demand or coerce people (especially citizens of a nation) to do what one wishes or not. Separation of State and Religion seems to have gained popularity after many centuries of “God is The Law” governments.

It used to be, albeit in some distant lands, that if “God says you should not fornicate or commit adultery,” you could and would be stoned to death if you did. Anything “God says…” you had to obey else there were dire consequences. In Christian History, for instance, Jesus Christ gained popularity for defending a prostitute because he defied the “God’s Law” mantra when he said to her attackers: “He who is without sin cast the first stone?”

You defied “God says…” and one was punished. The Consequences for defying “God says…” did abound. Jesus Christ was crucified (murdered) for not obeying the demands of God. These Consequences were not actually coming down from God Himself; these consequences were not left to God Himself to dish out; these consequences were actually enacted by human beings—”judges for God on Earth.” In the case of Jesus Christ consequences from the Sadducees and Pharisees, and a Roman Emperor. Not from God. Often such “judges” claimed they represented God on Earth. The whole idea was bizarre and still in some nations remains uncanny.

Fast forward to the Age of Science, where “The Science” operates in a canny yet easy to grasp manner. Science enjoys the place of God in many highly technological nations. When “The Science says…” is held at any argument, when it is invoked in any discussion one cannot challenge what “The Science says!” The Science is now God. “The Science is The Law.” There’s no separation between “The Science” and State.

If one disobeys “The Science” one is punished. Not by “The Science,” per se; not by the direct consequences of The Nature that “The Science” claims it is a representative. No. If “The Science” is disobeyed, people are punished by judges of nature—men who feel they know “The Science” and the rest of us incapable of such understanding. Men who hold that  “The Science” is so complicated that only those with PhDs in a subject have authority over the subject matter. These men are the Prophets, the Pastors and the Preachers of Science. And the PhD, or the advanced degree conferred upon them by colleague-Pastors of “The Science,” which they brandish everywhere they go, is now the rite de passage to priesthood—the right to the pulpit.

Take for instance the idea that “The Science says wearing seat belts while driving is safer than not.” In some states in the USA, a driver will get a ticket, i.e. a fine, or even go to jail should he be unable to foot the bill. “The Science is The Law.” In the same way that “God was The Law” in many religious kingdoms of the past. In the same way that “God is The Law” in many Islamic States still.

In this manner, many so-called secular states in the West and many developing nations—which follow adhoc what the West dictates—are no different from Islamic States. In these nations “The Science is The Law.” In most parts of Africa “Western Science is The Law.”

The consequences of not obeying “The Science” then are dire. Take for another instance: “The Science says Thalidomide is good for pregnant women.” Any mother pregnant with an actual human being who refused the “thing of science” was labelled “putting the unborn at risk.” And in America, this was punishable. In Africa some of these mothers were labelled witches!

But it is not true that “The Science” is actually [always] correct or even practical. In many cases “The Science” was wrong. In many cases the choices it afforded people were not pragmatic  choices.

It turned out, in the Thalidomide instance above, that “The Science” was actually terribly wrong. It maimed and even killed babies. Few preachers of “The Science” recognize that mistake today. Worse, the preachers of “The Science” are so adamant about their peculiar wisdom—which no one who is not ordained by them is incapable of understanding. These pastors of “The Science” are so stubborn that they actually export their nonsense from one nation to the next through military conquest. When The Russian Federation, for example, banned Thalidomide, it faced international sanctions that the Russian government put Russian babies and their mothers at risk. (As if the Pharmaceutical companies of the West actually cared about Russian babies and their mothers!)

Take yet another instance on breastfeeding. A few decades ago, “The Science” demanded that lactating mothers supplement breastfeeding or replace it with infant formula. In fact, the preachers of “The Science,” namely doctors, nurses, scientists, etc. were so adamant about the inherent benefits to children of infant formula—an artificial sauce manufactured by Western Pharmaceutical Companies. So widespread was the ejaculation for Infant Formula that mothers were castigated and even fined. Some mothers were reported by their doctors to Government Child Services and these mothers were threatened by the United States Federal and State Governments for putting their babies at risk. If these mothers refused to choke their babies with formula they were not parents enough. “The Science says…”

All over the world, the prophets of “The Science says…” now march on to their missions much like soldiers at war with those who refuse to accept “The Science.” These soldiers will not call what they do to innocent people who refuse “The Science” a jihad. But, for all intents and purposes, the soldiers of science carry out a carefully orchestrated “Jihad For Science” in the name of Modernization.

Today, there is in modern society a kind of pervasive silence about “The Science” as “God,” which is deeply troubling and debilitating. It makes sighting the putrid “Jihad For Science” difficult to uncover. Challenge “The Science” and you are not a scientist enough. Challenge “The Science” and you cannot possibly know anything with a Bachelors Degree. Challenge “The Science” and you cannot call yourself an expert with only a Masters Degree. And so on until you get to the High Priests—highly ranked professors at elite colleges with seats on every board of a Pharmaceutical Company.

Our ordinary lives have become susceptible to the ungodliness of the “Jihad for Science.” Refuse “The Science” and you can be fined, or go to jail. Refuse to wear seat-belts because you differ on “The Science” and you must be planning to kill your spouse and children—you are labelled a witch.

“The Science” is not a choice! Refuse to take Thalidomide, it is not a choice! Refuse to give your baby Cerelac, or Similac, or Gerber’s Infant Formula, and you are witch! Refuse, to put your four-year-old in a car seat and you are a bad parent, and you will be fined for hundreds of dollars—forgetting that those hundreds of dollars were just earned to provide a balanced diet for the same child. But oh refuse, and you can be shot by American cops [if you are Black] and your child incarcerated in foster care.

The world needs a separation of “The Science” and State.

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~ Success is a horrible teacher. It seduces the ignorant into thinking that he can’t lose. It seduces the intellectual into thinking that he must win. Success corrupts; Only usefulness exalts. ~ WP. Narmer Amenuti (which names translate: Dances With Lions), was born by The River, deep within the heartlands of Ghana, in Ntoaboma. He is a public intellectual from the Sankoré School of Critical Theory, where he trained and was awarded the highest degree of Warrior Philosopher at the Temple of Narmer. As a Culture Critic and a Guan Rhythmmaker, he is a dilettante, a dissident and a gadfly, and he eschews promotional intellectualism. He maintains strict anonymity and invites intellectuals and lay people alike to honest debate. He reads every comment. If you enjoyed this essay and would like to support more content like this one, please pour the Ancestors some Libation in support of my next essay, or you can go bold, very bold and invoke them. Here's my CashApp: $TheRealNarmer

3 COMMENTS

  1. “If one disobeys “The Science” one is punished. Not by “The Science,” per se; not by the direct consequences of The Nature that “The Science” claims it is a representative. No. If “The Science” is disobeyed, people are punished by judges of nature—men who feel they know “The Science” and the rest of us incapable of such understanding. Men who hold that that “The Science” is so complicated that only those with PhDs in a subject have authority over the subject matter. These men are the Prophets, the Pastors and the Preachers of Science. And the PhD, or the advanced degree conferred upon them by colleague-Pastors of “The Science,” which they brandish everywhere they go, is now the rite de passage to priesthood—the right to the pulpit.”

    Classic. Enough said!

  2. Thanks for writing this, Narmer Amenuti. I agree with you. Jacqueline Antwi-Danso This communicates much of what I was saying yesterday. If science evolves in much the same way as other ways of knowing the world, and if it is as fallible as other ways, why should we accord it the status it currently enjoys?

  3. A splendid piece! Could science be the new religion? One that has created a handful of radical adherents? Could it be the new tool to be used by the elite against the ignorant, gullible masses?

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