“Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality. When we recognize our place in an immensity of light‐years and in the passage of ages, when we grasp the intricacy, beauty, and subtlety of life, then that soaring feeling, that sense of elation and humility combined, is surely spiritual. So are our emotions in the presence of great art or music or literature, or acts of exemplary selfless courage such as those of Mohandas Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr. The notion that science and spirituality are somehow mutually exclusive does a disservice to both."
-- Carl Sagan
It is a very peculiar thing that a characteristic of religious Christian culture is to automatically reject any type of scientific discovery that ever-so-slightly offends the strict view of God maintained by this section of humanity. While almost all of humanity benefits from the progression of scientific knowledge and innovation, we are taught that we must reject this movement in order to truly connect with God. I assert that there is no better way to discover the reality and significance of spirituality than to embrace the incredible capacity that humans have to discover more about this universe through scientific inquiry.
While a lot of the scientific oppression taking place is very subtle and sometimes hard to notice, you do not have to go far to find this type of conflict at all. In fact, the most popular depiction of this constant battle between religion and science is illustrated very well by the Republican party of American politics. The fact that it is characteristic of an entire section of the government to reject science because of their "spiritual convictions" is only one example of how political polarization can lead to a false sense of spirituality that denies any type of logic and prevents the actual growth of spiritual understanding. The party that claims to live by religious conviction is the very party leading the fight against science. If this is any indication of the falsity of the anti-science mindset perpetuated by a power-hungry political entity using religion to gain support for otherwise unethical practices, it is easy to say that the idea of spirituality that is currently accepted as mainstream thought is disgustingly flawed. While I do realize that there is another side of this war between science and spirituality that aims to undermine spiritual thought altogether, I also know that to reject all of science because it contradicts your view of God is illogical and irresponsible.
"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind."
-- Albert Einstein
You do not have to reject science in order to draw yourself closer to the God that gave humans the ability to use science as a way of understanding the universe. Knowing that God is not literally floating in the sky does not affect the spiritual impact that he has. Rejecting the fact that God is not literally floating in the sky does affect our ability to develop a deeper connection to the universe he created, because maintaining a mindset so far from reality prevents us from further understanding the very nature of the universe. If Galileo would have rejected his strides toward truth (his understanding of a non-geocentric universe) for the sake of maintaining the false sense of truth perpetuated by the Roman Catholic church at the time, we would arguably still believe that we are the center of the universe. To reject the furthering of our understanding of the world we've been put into is to deny the reality of God.
"Science simply forces us to revise what is sensible to accommodate the universe, rather than vice versa."
-- Lawrence M. Krauss
If you cannot find a sense of spiritual joy in the discovery of the reality of the universe, you are not really chasing spiritual truth, you are accepting the man-made ideas of truth that are forced upon you by an imperfect society. To say that the universe is incomprehensible is to assume that the God who created it resides in it, which seems to be very contradictory to many teachings in the Bible and other fundamental religious texts. Being able to quantify the immensity of the universe should not be synonymous with taking away the spirituality of it. The more we understand the universe, the more we understand the God that created it. To be afraid of scientific inquiry is to refuse the analyzation of the view of God maintained by religious institutions. If your view of God contradicts the reality of the universe, you simply have the wrong view of God!
Science is a beautiful and awe-inspiring experience that allows us to understand the world around us. If we aim to inspire the world to chase after the same sense of spirituality we claim to know, we must be willing to understand that world. The current denial of science by the religious community does not have to continue. Seek truth and knowledge, for they are much in the same. Take advantage of the ability of knowing that we have been given, for there is not much sense in denying it.
