Suchergebnisse

Are religion and spirituality in conflict? The prevailing opinion in today's world seems to be that they are. But a careful examination of ontological, epistemological, and teleological factors may lead to a surprising answer: there need not be a conflict if we clearly define our terms and understand the pivotal importance of metaphor in human thought. If science and spirituality (or religion) are carelessly defined with claims of absolute truth, and if the unsupportable assumption is made that reality consists only of matter-energy, a dramatic conflict will result between science and spirituality. But these logical flaws invalidate much of what we think we know in the fields of science and spirituality themselves. If we examine Kuhn's work on paradigms, the revelations of Quantum Mechanics, and consider the topic in the light of Process Philosophy and Transpersonal Process Philosophy, we will be prepared to evaluate the philosophical ideas that underpin the work of Goswami's "Science within Consciousness" and also the groundbreaking thought of Ken Wilber, Rupert Sheldrake, Owen Barfield, and Eric Weiss. We will discover that essentially all human thought depends upon metaphor, though usually not recognized as such. While necessary, metaphors must not be confused with absolute truth. Comprehension of the nature and proper role of metaphor will clarify our thinking about religion, spirituality, and many other essential matters. The egregious error that is fundamentalism in religion or science will be revealed and can then be avoided. The resulting dawn of understanding can lead us into a new meta paradigm that can eradicate almost all the supposed war between science and spirituality.

Throughout the history and even prehistory of humankind, efforts have been made to improve health, including the treatment and cure of disease and wounds. These efforts have led to a variety of beliefs and approaches to healthcare, involving a variety of different paradigms. If we examine a representative sampling of these approaches, we can see radical differences in theory and practice. Perhaps inevitably, practitioners of one school of thought have disagreed—sometimes in the extreme—with each other. Scientists, and especially their cheerleaders, have often been guilty of worshiping their own limited views of "science", an attitude that harms both science and society. Remembering the history of healthcare gives us some background against which to view the current social antipathy among groups having different opinions concerning the Covid pandemic. Greater understanding coupled with humility offers us an opportunity to end the antipathy.

The concept of human rights is over three millennia old. The oldest document listed three specific rights: physical liberty, shelter, and life. By the present time, many more have been added through various countries' legal systems and important historical documents. Probably the most comprehensive such document is the United Nations' Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Although not all-inclusive in terms of incorporating all the human rights proposed by previous documents, the broad acceptance of the Declaration as a model for human rights observance has constituted a hopeful sign. Unfortunately, the protection of human rights has been in a decline for some recent years. Examples and social forces leading to this decline are examined.