A science exhibition is meant to showcase scientific ideas – be it physics, chemistry, biology, or technology. But in Karnataka’s Chamarajanagar, a private school reportedly decided to push the boundaries of absurdity by displaying your fate in the afterlife as part of a science fair.
A nine-year-old student’s exhibit showed two dolls: one clad in a Muslim burqa and the other in a frock, standing in front of two coffins. One coffin is strewn with flowers, the other has images of a scorpion and a snake, implying the girl in burqa is ensured a place in heaven and the one in a frock is condemned to hell. The justification? ‘It’s the science of life.’
If this is science, then astrology should be quantum mechanics, and alchemy should replace chemistry.
As the video went viral, the school’s principal took the standard escape route: deny, deny, deny. ‘No such exhibition was held,’ he claimed. Meanwhile, the Block Education Officer, Hanumanth Shetty, dismissed the uproar, saying, ‘We investigated the viral video. Prima facie, we found nothing wrong.’ Nothing wrong? When religious indoctrination is passed off as science in a school? Fortunately, the District Education Officer promised a probe into the January 5 incident. But will anything come of it?
Science fairs or religious propaganda?
This is not an isolated case. Across the world, some religious leaders and institutions actively distort science to fit their beliefs. Take the case of a mullah in a Pakistani madrasa. When a student pointed out that they had been taught in school that the Earth is spherical and revolves around the Sun, the teacher ‘corrected’ him, saying this was wrong. Citing religious texts, he claimed the Earth is static and spread out like a blanket – essentially rejecting centuries of astronomical evidence. If this is their science, one wonders what they teach in geography.
Here’s another gem: A Pakistani mullah claims that writing ‘Zam Zam’ on your electricity meter every fortnight will magically reduce your power bill. If only power companies accepted calligraphy as a legitimate payment method!
The Big Bang, the Moon, and misplaced claims
This distortion doesn’t stop in classrooms. It extends to online debates where self-proclaimed defenders of faith try to force-fit modern scientific discoveries into centuries-old religious texts.
During live YouTube debates by Ex-Muslims in India and across the world, callers repeatedly claim that the Big Bang theory was already mentioned in their holy book. Some even argue that the Moon was split in half in ancient times. If this were true, astronauts landing on the Moon should have seen a fault line running across it. NASA, ISRO, and every space agency on the planet would have confirmed this. They haven’t – because it never happened.
Vedic texts, Hindu epics, and ancient knowledge
It’s not just one religion that tries to mix faith with science. Many Indians insist that the Vedas, Hindu epics, and ancient texts contained knowledge about aeronautics, advanced weaponry, and surgical techniques long before modern science.
For instance, the Pushpaka Vimana in the Ramayana is often cited as proof that ancient Indians had flying machines. Deadly weapons like the Brahmastra are believed to be powerful missiles capable of mass destruction. However, despite these descriptions, modern science books and school curricula have not included these claims because there is no tangible, reproducible evidence for them.
That said, some aspects of ancient Indian knowledge have stood the test of time. Ayurveda, which originates from the Vedas, continues to be practiced globally. The pioneering work of Sushruta, known as the father of surgery, included detailed studies of anatomy and complex surgical procedures, many of which influenced modern medicine. Unlike unverified religious claims, Ayurveda and Sushruta’s surgical techniques have been scientifically studied and documented.
Who gave Mathematics to the world?
Another recent claim came from India’s Congress spokesperson, Dr. Shama Mohamed, who confidently declared that Islam gave Mathematics to the world. While it is true that Islamic scholars contributed significantly to fields like algebra and astronomy, saying that Islam invented Mathematics is an outright falsehood.
Mathematics predates Islam by thousands of years. The Babylonians, Egyptians, Greeks, and Indians had already developed advanced mathematical systems long before Islam emerged. The concept of zero, without which modern Mathematics would not exist, originated in India, and Greek scholars like Euclid and Pythagoras laid the foundations of geometry long before the Islamic era.
Yes, Islamic scholars preserved and expanded mathematical knowledge, especially during the Golden Age of Islam, but they were not its originators. Just as Newton did not invent gravity (he merely explained it) the Islamic world contributed to Mathematics, but it certainly did not give it to the world.
Science is about evidence, not belief
Science is not about what you want to believe; it is about what can be tested, observed, and proven. Religion, on the other hand, is a matter of faith. Both have their place. But when religion starts masquerading as science, we are in dangerous territory.
A science fair should showcase scientific achievements, not push religious ideologies or try to convert people of other faiths. Schools should be teaching critical thinking, not blind belief. If we don’t stop this dangerous trend, we might soon have ‘scientific’ exhibitions claiming that the Earth rests on the back of a turtle or that eclipses happen because of mythical demons swallowing the Sun.
For God’s sake, keep science and religion separate.