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THE statement

THE LIST

COVER BY RUBY WALLAU AND JAKE WELLINS

VIDEO: TIME CAPSULE

BUZZFEED, BUT BETTER

HOW TO SPEND GALENTINE’S DAY

Wednesday, February 11, 2015 // The Statement

L

ast week I closed the pages 
to the first Marilynne Rob-
inson book I’ve ever read, 

Gilead.

This book is highly religious, 

philosophical and spiritual but pri-
marily a reflective and meditative 
book. Its narrator is a seventy-six 
year old Congregationalist pastor 
living in the town of Gilead, Iowa in 
the 1950s. He is writing a letter to 
his seven-year-old son reflecting on 
his life as he is dying from coronary 
heart disease.

Robinson herself was raised 

Presbyterian but later became 
Congregationalist 
and 
believes 

strongly in the theology of John 
Calvin, as she has stated in many 
interviews.

At first I resisted the book, 

expecting the narrator to shove 
religious beliefs down the reader’s 
throats. But quickly, I began to 
realize the genius behind Robin-
son’s characters. They evaluated 
universal struggles and put a spiri-
tual and self-reflective perspective 
to problem solving. They were not 
aggressive, overbearing or all-
knowing.

In an interview on “The Daily 

Show with John Stewart,” Rob-
inson discusses the similarities 
between science and religion, a 
topic she centers around in her 
book Absence of the Mind.

I so often absorbed and did not 

question this idea that there is sci-

ence and then there is religion, and 
the two are pitted against each 
other. Robinson argues differently, 
that the discrepancies are not so 
black and white.

“I think that people on side of 

the argument have declared the 
authority of science but they have 
not construed an argument that 
actually satisfied the standards of 
science,” Robinson said.

In a recent online TED discus-

sion, one commenter, Richard 
Krooman, argued that people con-

fuse science as fact, when 
in reality even if you can 
measure a concept that 
does not mean you fully 
understand it.

“The foundation of sci-

ence, however, is that we 
believe what we perceive 
and we assume that when 
our description of it is cor-
rect the physics behind it 
is too,” Krooman wrote. 
“We must never forget 
that all we (scientists) do 
is describe the events in 
such a way that our math 
explanation of it can 
insanely closely (up to the 
point where we have full 
belief in it) show what will 
happen.”

When considering this 

nuance of science, I have 
come to realize science is 
making an argument that 

discounts faith, but in reality, much 
like religion, science relies in faith.

For example, I think of the natu-

ral phenomenon of gravity. Though 
there are equations that prove this 
scientific concept, it would be hard 
to believe gravity existed if you 
didn’t experience being held down 
to the ground you are walking on 
each day.

This is the same for religious 

experiences. You may not believe in 
God or a higher guiding spirit until 
you are in a position in life where 
you are tested, struggle, and expe-
rience the support. Without this 
tangible experience, you would not 
have faith.

Science is a system of explaining 

why things happen in the world and 
so, in a way, science is its own reli-
gious sect.

Religion breaks through and 

expands human’s understandings 
of the world, just as science does. 
Religion pushes at the barriers of 
human language, just as science 
does. Religion has been created 
from and is limited by the human 
mind, just as science has.

In our society, political groups 

have alienated religion and science 
into two separate lines of thinking, 
but this division is not always nec-
essary. Religion and science should 
work together to better understand 
each other and the reasons explain-
ing our complicated world.

From the Pews: The Science of Faith

ILLUSTRATIONS BY MEGAN MULHOLLAND

B Y C L A I R E B R YA N

Made famous by the ever-chipper Leslie Knope of “Parks and 
Rec,” Galentine’s Day takes place Feb. 13 and celebrates female 
friendship instead of stupid boys 
— here’s how you can ring it in.

1. 50 SHADES OF NO
Jamie Dornan’s Christian Grey is undeniably foxy. But let’s not spend 
money on a franchise that fetishizes sexual assault, yes? If you really 
need to see it, download it illegally online like regular porn. 

2. GILMORE GIRLS MARATHON
What better way to spend a day with your girls than watching the 
Girls? Arguing over Rory’s boyfriends is a best-friendship rite of 
passage. (Older, put-together writer Jess for the win.)

3. CREPES AND MIMOSAS
We all can be classy if we really try. Ring Galentine’s in with a 
homemade brunch 
— if you are really adventurous, give it a theme, 

like Badass Literary Ladies or “Magic Mike 2.”

4. PLATONIC LOVE LETTERS
Yup, shamelessly piling on the cheese. Write a note telling your gal 
pal why you are glad she’s in your life. These are the things we will 
treasure in forty years when paper is obsolete.

5. GET SHIT DONE 
Strong, independent, ambitious women don’t have time to sit 
around. Do your homework, save the world, but do it with your 
girlfriends at your side. Who run the world?

