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Topic: Religion in Science and Chemistry  (Read 6719 times)

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Offline Mitch

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Religion in Science and Chemistry
« on: January 29, 2007, 01:22:48 AM »
Milo and David have recently discussed God and spirituality in science, chemistry, and in the classroom. I am not religious or spiritual by any means. But, for those who believe in God and want a prayer, even I could endorse, see below.

The Prayer of the Scientist

God give me unclouded eyes and freedom from haste.
God give me a quiet and relentless anger against all
pretense and pretentious work and all work left slack
and unfinished. God give me a restlessness whereby
I may neither sleep nor accept praise till my observed
results equal my calculated results or in pious glee I
discover and assault my error. God give me strength
not to trust to God!

From ~ Sinclair Lewis' Arrowsmith

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« Last Edit: May 09, 2007, 12:22:50 AM by Mitch »
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Offline enahs

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Re: Religion in Science and Chemistry
« Reply #1 on: January 29, 2007, 11:55:03 PM »
I am not religious. And to not sound to much like a nerd, I think a quote from G'Kar in Babylon 5, written by JMS bets suits my philosophy.

Quote
If I take a lamp and shine it toward the wall, a bright spot will appear on the wall. The lamp is our search for truth... for understanding. Too often, we assume that the light on the wall is God, but the light is not the goal of the search, it is the result of the search. The more intense the search, the brighter the light on the wall. The brighter the light on the wall, the greater the sense of revelation upon seeing it. Similarly, someone who does not search - who does not bring a lantern - sees nothing. What we perceive as God is the by-product of our search for God. It may simply be an appreciation of the light... pure and unblemished... not understanding that it comes from us. Sometimes we stand in front of the light and assume that we are the center of the universe - God looks astonishingly like we do - or we turn to look at our shadow and assume that all is darkness. If we allow ourselves to get in the way, we defeat the purpose, which is to use the light of our search to illuminate the wall in all its beauty and in all its flaws; and in so doing, better understand the world around us.

Offline Ψ×Ψ

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Re: Religion in Science and Chemistry
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2007, 08:19:12 AM »
I'm so stealing your quote.  Thanks!

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