Scientism and Big Pharma

A recent ad from Pfizer begins with this shocking assertion: "At a time when things are most uncertain, we turn to the most certain thing there is - science."  Now, is that true?

Pfizer should go back to school and read books like Science is a Sacred Cow which came out in 1950.  The author was Anthony Standen (d. 1993) who went to Oxford, studied Chemical Engineering at MIT and was an assistant editor of the Encyclopedia of Chemical Technology.  Standen starts off his work with this:

No one ever doubts what is said by a scientist.  Statesmen, industrialists, ministers of religion, civic leaders, philosophers, all are questioned and criticized, but scientists - never.  Scientists are exalted beings who stand at the very topmost pinnacle of popular prestige ... [1]

Standen goes on to say this, "The idea that science is infallible and beyond criticism, is a delusion, and even a dangerous one.  ... hardly anyone is able to recognize science for what it is, the great Sacred Cow of our time." [2]

Speaking of philosophers, Pfizer should also read Mortimer Adler's Truth in Religion:  The Plurality of Religions and the Unity of Truth (1990).  Mortimer Adler (d. 2001), who wrote the popular How to Read a Book, was the chairman of the board of editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica and was the man behind the Great Books series that came out in the early 1950's.  Adler's conclusion on faith was that truth must lie in one of the three dominant world religions: Judaism, Christianity or Islam. [3]  On Judgment Day the issue will be quite clear.  Although his family background was Jewish, Adler became a committed Christian in 1984 at the age of 82.  Let us follow his example and find the true identity of the Higher Power and worship Him, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Another excellent work Pfizer should get hold of is Sacred Cows in Science - No Objectivity Allowed edited by Norbert Smith (2011).  This book challenges Deep Time, Darwinism, Materialism, extreme environmentalism and animal rights, climate change and other critical worldview issues.  Musician Dennis Jernigan, and father of nine kids, wrote the chapter "No One is Born Gay."  Jernigan points out how Big Science has changed its mind on the gender controversy:

Until 1973, homosexuality was considered a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) ... after many years of protest by the pro-gay movement ... In 1973, the Board of Trustees of the APA voted to remove homosexuality as a disorder ... and thus began our slide down the slippery slope ... My belief (and experience) and my observance (having personally talked with HUNDREDS of men and women desiring to walk away from unwanted same sex attraction) is that the facts of truth do not bear witness to the current and popular conventional wisdom of this age concerning homosexuality. ... Sex is for procreation ... for making babies.  Of course, man is his wisdom, believes everything is about him and life is all about getting the most pleasure. ... We pervert our desires when we substitute something else to meet that need or when we go outside the boundaries God established for our own good. [4]  

Is true truth decided by a vote?  Let science make your waffle iron - trust Jesus and the Bible for your eternity.

... No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun.  Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning.  Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it. (Eccl. 8:17)

Notes:

1) Science is a Sacred Cow by Anthony Standen (E.P. Dutton, NYC, 1950), p. 13.

2) Standen, p. 34.

3) Truth in Religion: The Plurality of Religions and the Unity of Truth by Mortimer Adler (Macmillan, NYC, 1990), p. 108.

4) Sacred Cows in Science ed. by Norbert Smith (Create Space, 2011), p. 332, 333.