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By fiat? Only if science and religion were impervious to refinement and development. Since they're not, there could be no such rigidity. By implication, science became obsolete the first time it discovered anything.This is completely backwards. Those who claim an immutable truth (and are then shown that truth to be wrong) lose all claim to reason and logic by fiat.
This applies equally to religious development.Those who work with best ideas, however, are not only allowed but actively encouraged to weed out the bad ideas by trying to invalidate them, leaving only the good ones behind to serve as the bases for even better ideas.
Rather leading use of terms, there. 'Invalidated' and 'improved'? Except science's previous baselines are also invalidated. Religion too is improved for the inclusion of this new and greater perspective.Here's the difference:
"The sun revolves around the earth."
The religious claim: Because God declared it so.
Follow on ideas from the religious claim: God loves us.
The scientific claim: Because it moves around in the sky.
Follow-on ideas from the scientific claim: geometry, three dimensional thinking
Breakthrough: better instruments
Effect on the religious claim: invalidated
Result: New religious claim; "God made us revolve around the sun... because he loves us."
Effect on the scientific claim: improved
Result: trigonometry, astronomy, glass grinding and lens technology (and, eventually, understanding of Relativity, demonstrated by lensing).
It never fails to surprise me how people can hold science and religion as being contradistinctive. Both progress and develop over time. Similarly, both may be subject to corruption and agenda. Look to the scientific quackery of biological determinism utilised to justify the transatlantic slave trade, for the proof of this.