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A hopeful approach for the future of international relations.

Redirect teen rebellion towards idealism and self improvement.

Read excerpts from unpublished book: Science, Religion and the Search for God —Bridging the Gap.

Poems of society, the human condition, and spiritual discovery.

Our student activities and curriculum materials instill an environmental, cultural, and global perspective, and integrate various academic disciplines.

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Archives 2002:
Vol. 1, Numbers 1-12

Read past articles including:
Hope for the Future
Six Part Series on Science and Religion
First Three Parts of the Series on Leadership
Archives 2003:
Vol. 2, Numbers 1-12

Read past articles including:
Series on Leadership continued
Avoiding Dictatorship in a Free Society

Art and Politics
Living the Good Life
Teaching Teens
World Peace in Less Than a Month?
Archives 2004:
Vol. 3, Numbers 1-12

Read past articles including:
Seven Part Series on Global Consciousness
Is "Liberal" a Dirty Word?
Can Idealism Solve Problems?
Peace on Earth, Goodwill to All

Archives 2005:
Vol. 4, Numbers 1-12

Read past articles including:
Standing up for Humanity
Unity in Diversity

Thought and Imagination
Imagination and Healing
Lessons of Katrina
Intelligent Design or Evolution

Archives 2006:
Vol. 5, Numbers 1-12

Read past articles including:
Human Programming and Conflict
Non-Violent Political Change
Sustainable Development
Legalizing Torture
Living Without an Enemy
"Fast Food" is really "Slow Food"

 

 

April, 2002
Vol. 1, number 4

 

Chapter I
The Search for God

Part 1

from the unpublished book
Science, Religion, and the Search for God: Bridging the Gap

by Richard Sidy

In every culture on earth human beings have sought to know God. It has been a natural impulse since the beginning of human existence. People have sought to define God in order to define themselves. The names and forms of God have always been in terms they could understand, based upon their needs, their aspirations, and their fears. God has usually been defined by the natural phenomena and human qualities most demonstrative of Godlike power. In defining God, societies have developed guidelines for relating with nature and with other human beings. It has been in defining God and one's relationship to God that culture and civilization have been created.

The very earliest definitions were achieved by elementary "scientific" reasoning. Science is making assumptions based upon observations. Thus, when early beings saw superhuman phenomena they ascribed them to God. People can breathe, but God makes the wind. People can create fire, but God makes lightning burst from the heavens and lava boil from the earth. Woman brings forth and nourishes children, but God brings forth and nourishes all things. In addition, certain behaviors or relationships with nature and others were deemed "Godlike." Behaviors which enhanced survival and happiness or which punished wrongdoing were also characteristics of God. These behaviors were deemed desirable and became the basis for social values and norms. One can "know" God depending upon the perceptive faculties one uses to perceive. Thus, there are different ways to "know" God, and hence many forms or perceptions of "God" were created.

The search for God is the search for the invisible causes beyond visible phenomena. Pure science is a branch of this search. Science has created instruments to view microscopic worlds and to view galactic worlds. It has invented sensitive tools to register electrical and magnetic energy waves. Science continues to push beyond the limits of human knowledge.

Because scriptures have been written, many followers of religion have stopped their search for God. Religious worship for many has become an isolated compartment of life, delegated to time slots and to special days. In a way, religion is treated like medicine. If you use the right formulas, you get the right pill to save your soul. Take only as prescribed. Others have become obsessed by a religious viewpoint and have thereby limited the potential of their human perfection. In limiting human potential they have limited the concept of God.

Neither science nor religion have succeeded in solving the moral and material problems in the world. Neither have succeeded in creating more brotherhood, cooperation, or hope. By rejecting spirit on one hand and matter on the other, science and religion respectively have thrust human consciousness into a limbo isolating it from the spiritual balance of life. The threats to culture and civilization in current world events, barbaric behavior (often in the name of religion), horrible weapons (often the pride of scientific "genius"), and the neglect and harm to the environment indicate that many in the fields of science and religion no longer search for "God."

The search for God is the search for one's true Self, or one's purpose in life. Many instinctively feel that they are more than just an isolated bundle of matter and that they must discover themselves in order to be a service to society and be fulfilled.

(Continued in Part 2, May)

Read Other Selections
March: Preface

April: Chapter 1, Part 1

May: Chapter 1, Part 2
June: Chapter 1, Part 3
July: Chapter 1, Part 4
August: Chapter 1, Conclusion

 

 

 

 

 

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Science and Religion

 

Archives 2005
Volumn 4
January: "Standing up for Humanity"
February: "The Wake of Disaster" – a poem
March: "Unity in Diversity
April: "Life is Calling"
May: "Entertainment" – a poem
June: "Thought and Imagination" part 1
July: "Thought and Imagination" part 2
August: "Imagination and Healing"
September: "Malice or Neglect? – Lessons of Katrina"
October: "Protecting Children"
November: "Intelligent Design or Evolution?"
December: "Building with one hand, destroying with the other"
Archives 2006
Volumn 5

January: "Conflict, Harmony, and Integrity"
February: "Satyagraha or Soul-force and Political Change"
March: "I Know I'm Not Alone - Wisdom of Michael Franti"
April: "Human Programming and Conflict Part I"
May: "Human Programming and Conflict Part II"
June: "Soccer Diplomacy"
July: "Sustainable Development is Nature's Way
August: "Parallel Universes"
September: "The News is not New"
October: "Legalizing Torture"
November: "Living Without an Enemy"
December: "Fast Food is really Slow Food"

Archives 2007
Volumn 6

January: "State of Fear"
February: Criminal Justice - "The Powerful Over the Weak"
March: "Culture Shock: The Good Life and Survival"
April: "March Madness"
May: "No Child Left Behind" Leaves Many Teachers Behind
June: "Personal Ecology"
July: Criminal Justice - "The Ethic of Custodianship"
August: "Exploring the Mind - part 1"
September: "Exploring the Mind - part 2: The Poetic Mind
October: "How Much Pain Can We Stand?"
November: "When Languages Disappear"
December: "Is it Enough to be Tolerant?"

Archives 2008
Volumn 7

January: "Beyond Ideology: Politics of the Future "
February: "Beyond the Bush Years"
March: "The Imaginary Economy - Part I
April: "The Imaginary Economy - Part II
May: Questions from Prison
June: "iGods and Connectivity"
July: "Energy Independence"
August: "Tribalism and the 2008 Elections
September: "Guilt, Shame and U.S. Justice"
October: "Have We Been Willing Slaves?"
November: "Are We Ready for the Future?"
December: "Are we done learning from pain?"

Archives 2009
Volumn 8

January: "Awakening"
February: "When Sacrifice is no Sacrifice"
March: "The Good New Days"
April: "The Power of Metaphor"
May: "The Conflict of Mythologies"
June: "The Time is Right"
July: "The New Anarchy"
August: "The Art of Living"
September: "Outrage"
October: "Are Women Becoming More Unhappy?

November: "Effect of the manufacturing culture on the American Psyche"
December: Who are the Real Game Changers?

Archives 2010
Volumn 9

January: The Music of Place
February: Earthquakes and Other Awakenings
March: Sense of Place, Sense of Self, Sense of Humanity
April: Why Do People Serve?
May: Decentralizing Food and Energy
June: Beyond Reading and Writing — Ecological literacy
July: Organization or Organism?
August: Fear and Cynicism = “Inter-fear-ance”
September: Are we afraid of our "Better Angels?"
October: Choosing Our Battles
November: Meeting the Need
December: A Living Canvas

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