Dylan Smith wrote in
:

Well, you just sort of proved you really don't understand what the
scientific method is, or indeed what a scientific theory is, and you
also made a false assumption about me.

A hint. Scientific theories aren't something you believe in. In fact,
the scientific method spends most of its time trying not to "believe"
theories, but instead disprove them. A big part of a scientist's job is
to poke holes in theories.

We've spent way too much time arguing about semantics.

Science is based on empirical evidence. But most science is based on
studies that were performed by someone else, in some lab with very
specifically managed conditions that often cannot be duplicated by you or I
in our homes.

The results of an experiment might be documented in some journal or
textbook, but at the end of the day, because the typical layman cannot
really duplicate the environment, there is an element of faith that the
experiment and related controls were not corrupted by some unseen element.

As you yourself have said, in many cases scientific theories are disproven,
even after they have been "proven" using experiments with controls, etc.
This can happen for any number of reasons - bad assumptions, lack of
control of variables that were perceived to be irrelevant to the
experiment, or even bias on the part of the experimenter.

The bottom line is that while some science is certainly observable by the
layman and therefore perhaps indisputable, other science is founded in an
element of faith or trust in the people who have performed the experiments
and provided the results.

To religious people, there are empirical, observable situations that lend
themselves to a theory that the "natural order of things" is controlled by
something other than randomness. Some people call this "God". Personally,
I'm not sure that the visions evoked in most people by the word "God" are
accurate, but I do believe that it is likely that things like evolution,
gravity, childbirth, Shakespeare, etc. all happen as a result of something
other than randomness, even if the mechanisms can often be duplicated in a
lab.

Most people either believe that the world is governed by Science or God,
and take very adverse positions against anyone who might believe the two
can co-exist. But the bottom line is that ultimately, any time you put your
trust in something that you've been told, other than having observed it
personally, it requires a little bit of faith...