...And the point is not to discount science in any way. It is simply to state that there are other means of exploration that are worthy of pursuit. Shimrod asid it all: My experience strongly suggests that the rational and the subjective can easily co-exist.

Steve Shaw, on the other hand, says: And Joe Offer, stop making scientists who dare to stick their noses into the realms of religion into Mr Spocks. Once you put things "beyond scientific understanding" you make a fool of yourself. You make the application of "the scientific process" into such a sinister-sounding thing instead of what it really is, the way that rational humans think about and interpret what they perceive with their senses. The only bit of the scientific process I wish to apply to religion is to ask you for evidence for what you tell your children. So far, none has been forthcoming, though there's been plenty of evasiveness. I don't want to hear about how myths that children can't unentangle (like most of the contents of the Bible which, in turn, informs all your doctrine) can instil deeper truth than actually telling them the truth, that there might not be a Father in heaven, there might not even be a heaven, and there's a very good chance that there was no Jesus, and even if there was, he almost certainly didn't swan around working miracles and coming back from the dead. My challenge to you is to tell children the unvarnished truth about the stuff you are hoping will shape their lives. It's just as intriguing as the pack of lies that they currently have to endure.

I had a friend who was a silviculturalist. He taught me a lot about forestry, and we always had a great time in the woods together. Once I told him, "Ken, the difference between you and me is that when I go into the forest I see Beauty, and you can't help seeing board feet."
He laughed. I knew he could also see the beauty, but he couldn't help seeing how this timber could be marketed.

Sometimes, it's valuable to drop everything else and just see the Beauty...and then go back to figuring how to put food on the table.

-Joe-