Betwixt the Sea and Sky

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All religions, arts and sciences are branches of the same tree.
All these aspirations are directed toward ennobling man's life,
lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence and
leading the individual towards freedom.

(Albert Einstein)

In many ways, I guess you could call me a universalist. To me, the divine is the divine and it doesn't matter what name, face, or sex you put on it, or how you choose to worship it. So I totally agree with this statement. In the Middle Ages, what we call science would have been called magic. To this day, there are people that believe there is little difference between magic and miracles. To me, 'religions' are what different people in different areas, with different cultures, created to explain and demonstrate their faith and beliefs. If someone were to save my life or is donating goods to the local shelter, whatever, then it doesn't matter if they are Heathen, Asatru, Wiccan, Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, etc. Lol, of course, I know what I believe, but it is a very different thing to try to put all that I believe into words. I'm still working on that because I've had people ask me about my faith and my beliefs and it gets very interesting and confusing for them sometimes. But the basic tenet of my faith is acceptance; to accept that there is more out there than I will ever know or experience, and my lack does not invalidate someone else's faith, knowledge or experiance. To quote from Star Trek Vulcan philosophy: "Infinite diversity in infinate combinations." Besides, who am I to question the Divine? :)

Hmmm,

I think initially this is probably a true statement. I think religion and science are related in methods that religion began as oral stories, or mythologies, to explain intangible occurrences. The why/how questions that arose as people grasped with the first languages. Things such as what is lightning, why are there storms, why do the seasons change, and why does the rest of animal world seem to know (adapt) except us. The rudimentary science practices were concerned with when things happened, not so much why. When do the seasons change, when do the herds move, when do crops grow best. These studies lead to deeper investigation. The why questions were easily answered by the mythos of gods/goddesses. Things like us, in our form, but obviously with much greater strength and powers. The people that figured out the when questions, became the shamans and priest that explained the why questions to the general population. Eventually, the rudimentary scientist became the magicians when they gained enough insight into specialized areas. Then as time went by, the scientist realized the why questions could also be answered without the need for superhuman gods and goddesses that never made an appearance. Science and Religion then followed their separate paths. Religion then chose to do the foolhardy, that is, "ennobling man's life, lifting it from the sphere of mere physical existence". This is when some men decided to separate themselves, elevate themselves above the rest of the animal kingdom leading inevitably to believing that man holds dominion over every other species, and can do with the world whatever it feels like.

Art began, tied in with religion as far as we know I think. The earliest art known are the animal cave drawings being found, and those are believed to be related to tribal hunter rituals to appease the gods and transcend boys into men.

But, artistic expression can be found in almost anything that man has made from ancient time to present. Artistic expression, seems to be almost as natural as breathing to man. In some form or aspect all humans can express artistic ability. It may have been tied to the religion tree early on, but is more likely a byproduct of consciousness and an extension of the evolution of the animal instinct to separate themselves from other animals for the purpose of breeding (such as bird plumages and animal dances etc.)

At any rate, we are born free. Two out of three isn't too bad. Science teaches us and so frees us to think clearly, and Art frees our expressions. Religions though..... enslave us.

Most religions and sciences seem to be blind to what truely is. What truely is, well the previous Star Trek Vulcan qoute says it all. Amazing where the trurh can be found, in inspiration.

I think that religions, arts and sciences are too often used as social engineering. I prefer religions that are centered around Nature. Organized religions that focus on dogma and anti-natural thinking are the cause of much of humanity's social problems in my opinion.

Science should be factual, yet not divorced from a spiritual awe and appreciation of Mother Nature's grandeur...

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