I have discovered that many scientists have a very rich spirituality, and one   
   that in most cases does not conform with established religion. The reason is   
   that, the more they study the universe, the more they see of its richness and   
   complexity, and the    
   rational response to that is respect for and even awe before what they see. A   
   serious student of biology will have very high regard for what he sees,   
   whether it be the human body with its three trillion cells arranged in organ   
   systems and staying alive    
   for 100 years or the richness of an Amazonian rainforest. The reason is that   
   such things possess greater complexity than anything that people yet know how   
   to create, and understanding of this logically leads to respect for the   
   processes that made such    
   things possible.   
      
   Someone possessing in-depth knowledge of science would therefore have respect   
   for and even awe of the universe; but that does not necessarily mean that he   
   is going to agree with the concept of Biblical God. The reason is that   
   Christianity holds a    
   dismissive, even damning, attitude toward nature, seeing "flesh" (meaning the   
   human body and the rest of physical natural world) as being a creation of the   
   Satan or as being poisoned by sin. A serious student of biology would be   
   angered by attitudes of    
   this nature. The reason is that what's being damned or impugned here is   
   something possessing far greater complexity, richness and viability than   
   anything that the person possessing such attitudes knows how to create. And he   
   would likewise be angered by    
   brainless economic practices such as destroying the extraordinarily rich   
   environment that is Amazon to make ranches that become useless in two years,   
   when there are many other ways to feed Latin America, or flooding the   
   atmosphere and the oceans with CO2    
   from dirty coal and oil, when there are many other ways to provide energy that   
   are a lot less destructive.   
      
   That does not mean that the scientist is going to have no spiritual feelings;   
   indeed he may have very profound spiritual feelings - once again as a rational   
   consequence of what he sees. He may be more likely to agree with a creed such   
   as Deism, which was    
   practiced by America's founders Ben Franklin and Thomas Jefferson, that sees   
   divine truths as being found in nature and discovered through rational   
   inquiry. He may believe in some providence or some higher intelligence, but he   
   is not likely to agree with    
   the Biblical beliefs that damn the natural world or the human body. The reason   
   once again is that he will have respect for the natural world and the human   
   body as a rational reaction to what he finds out about these things.   
      
   Science and spirituality do not have to be opposed to one another; indeed   
   life-affirming spirituality is fully in conformance with scientific knowledge.   
   The more one studies natural life the more he values it and respects it. The   
   attitude of the romantic    
   is a natural outgrowth of the obvious implications of scientific inquiry: A   
   logical consummation of the respect for natural life that scientific study of   
   life engenders. And if one believes in some higher power, it becomes power   
   that is congruent with,    
   and not held opposite to, life.   
      
   The person involved in real scientific inquiry is likewise going to be in   
   disagreement with the people who deem themselves rational while they have   
   contempt for natural processes. Such contempt is an obvious mark of inadequate   
   cognition and inadequate    
   knowledge. Until one can create something as complex as human body or   
   Amazonian rainforest, one has no business having contempt for such things; and   
   a person who has such contempt either possesses inadequate understanding of   
   the preceding or does not    
   possess adequate reasoning faculties to understand the logical implications   
   thereof.   
      
   There are any number of scientists with very profound spiritual understanding,   
   and it is spiritual understanding that is driven by fact and logic. It is   
   driven by understanding just what it is that exists in nature and in the   
   universe and by grasping the    
   full complexity thereof. What the Native Americans referred to as the Great   
   Mystery, science makes explicable, and in the process instills respect for it.   
   The lack of such respect - whether it comes from Biblical attitudes or from   
   attitudes that falsely    
   claim themselves rational - is a mark that one does not know what one is   
   talking about and has no real knowledge of what it is that he holds in   
   disrespect.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)