Reason

We are no longer an agrarian society that prays to deities for rain, safe returns, or plagues upon enemies. The backbones of our society—technology, infrastructure, communications, agriculture, and medicine—are all based on provable, repeatable, scientific facts. If our endeavors were not grounded in science, they would not work in the first place.

One's beliefs should always conform to our best scientific understanding of the world. This does not mean one cannot have beliefs that are not scientifically provable. It is perfectly valid to believe in an almighty God who created the universe with rules for humans to discover, that humans (or all beings) have souls, or that there is life after death. Reason and science do not preclude spirituality.

Science is the law of the universe. It transcends cultures, languages, peoples, and species. If all of human civilization were instantly erased and rebooted, there would be many differences due to chaos theory. We might have different numerical systems, measurement units, countries, wars, religions, fiction, and events, but scientific fact would remain. E=mc² will still be E=mc².

It is not valid to distort or discard scientific fact to fit a belief. Doing so insults the work of countless individuals throughout history who have worked to discover, define, and refine the facts that form the basis of our society today. Failing to incorporate these facts into our worldview hinders our ability to communicate as one people and slows down progress towards a better tomorrow.

This does not mean we should not question science or scientific fact. A critical aspect of the scientific process relies on peer-reviewed studies, data, and research by members of the scientific community familiar with the knowledge area. Verifying the ability to reproduce results is a core component of this process. If you question the validity of a given fact, you have every right, and are even encouraged, to disprove it. If you are able to disprove a fact that is peer-reviewed and repeatable, then congratulations—you've contributed to our shared understanding of the universe!