A World Beyond Science and Religion

Today we live in a world divided.  A world divided by national boundaries, government systems, political parties, race, skin color, language, age, cuisine, clothing, accent, height, sex, sense of humor and on and on. Some of these differences preserve our individual identities and make us who we are.  They create the diversity of life. But others carve a deep chasm that leads to conflict, wars, and destruction.

The subject that most deeply divides us, however, is religion.

And the subject that can most easily unite us is science.

Religion divides us because they tend to follow different ancient texts, each interpreted as offering the final word of God. When the texts and the corresponding belief systems conflict, religious followers find themselves at odds with each other, even though they all may pray to the same Eternal Spirit.  As shown throughout history and to the present day, the conflicts between religions have led to brutality and horrifying wars, with the combatants never stopping to ask themselves whether the God they pray to would condone the unchecked killing of innocent people.

Science, however, in its current form, is unable to be a uniting force.  Science does not see itself as fit for this task. This is because today’s version of science is based upon a paradigm (or worldview) known as materialism.  Materialism holds that the entire universe, from the human mind to the farthest galaxies, consists of nothing but mindless particles in motion.  The universe, according to this view, arose from a Big Bang far out in the blackness of outer space; life arose from a primordial soup, and human consciousness from neurons in the brain.  To the materialist, God is dead, life has no meaning, our futures are doomed, and you are naïve if you believe otherwise.

No wonder the world is in such turmoil when our leading thinkers adopt materialism as their guiding principle.

Today, materialists are busily searching for a theory not to explain the full range of human experience, but instead to explain the infinitely complex movements of their mindless particles.  Materialists seek a “Grand Unified Theory” that would unite the particles and forces of the physical world but leave humanity out of the solution.

Materialism separates us because it focuses on individual achievement in a world guided not by morality but by selfishness.  After all, if there is no God or moral foundation to the world why should I care about someone else?

At the core of all religions — beneath the ancient texts — is the deep, unexpressed belief that life rests on a divine foundation; that underlying all the conflicts and divisions present in the physical world exists a united field of energy, giving life to the living and hope for humanity. In the end, the religious sentiment is the quest for something better; something worth striving for; driving this urge is the quiet hope that this is all real; that there really is a divine grounding to our divided world.  A quiet hope, deep in our souls; it rests there, always present; and we hope, we pray, that it is real.

We hope that someday our prayers will be answered.

This is the foundation of all religions.

Yet, in our current world, we tear each other apart to get in front of the line to worship the same God.

Something is wrong here and it must be fixed.

It can be fixed in only way: by going beyond our current concepts of science and religion to a world where the two fields can unite.

We must go beyond science and religion to unite humanity.

An unlikely thought, an impossible goal, and one we must head toward now.

________________________________________________

The objective of this website is to provide a forum to discuss how we can go beyond science and religion to find a common ground for humanity. The first step in this process is to dismantle the flawed worldview of scientific materialism.  Most of the attention will be focused on this initial task because materialism is deeply entrenched into our current mind-set, and it will take some effort—and time – to uproot it.

Interestingly, and this is important, when we shed ourselves of the outmoded worldview of scientific materialism, we will find emerging a new perspective that redefines the religious experience naturally.  Both the “true” religion and the “true” science arise from the downfall of materialism.  This should tell us we are on the right track and that we should not give up this quest, despite the naysayers lining up to block the way,

Now let’s get started.