Can Science Be Just as Oppressive as Religion

Religion is well-known to bring about oppression. It describes the world in "old ways", using "god language". Such "god language" is "theology speak". Natural real world experiences are interpreted by rational explainations about theodicity. God is present, just not understood. Faith is trust irregardless of pain and suffering, as "God is in control". Such thinking leaves one cold from the "rational". There is "no heart" there.

On the other hand, science can be just as heartless. Science is useful to bring about new discoveries and create new realities that help humankind. But, science is just as blind as religion sometimes in its universalizing what can't be understood readily without experimentation. But, even with experimentation, who is to know how to gauge whether a particular human being will respond as all human beings given particular stimuli? How does one understand a "human universal", even when experience is common?

Sciene seeks to describe reality in uniform and monistic ways, as this helps science to formulate "natural laws". But, when human persons are put within a framework of uniformity, conformity and monistic understanding of reality, then, science has become just as oppressive as religion.

Somewhere between absolute scientific materialism and religious idealism is a new understanding for the "human". I think our Founders came close to granting that in our form of government, where individual liberty is appreciated within the boundaries of an ordered society and leaders being accountable to the people they are to serve. Then, there is no empowered "vision" for mankind through uniformity,  that is granted primary status over society, either through scienctific investigation and technological advances, or religious idealism/abolutism and confomity.

What Questions Do You Ask?

I like to ask questions. Sometimes I try to connect answers to different questions, but this is not my subject today. The subject is do you ask questions? If so, what kind of questions? Questions reveal something about how we think and what we think is important.

What questions are factual and practical questions. What happened.? What can be done? What purpose does it serve?

How questions are investigative questions. How did this happen? How do we understand this? How do we fix this?

Why questions are causal/motivational questions. Why do you think this happened? Why do you think this is important? Why are you pursuing this course of action? These questions are questions of value and they reveal sometimes how a person thinks about 'life" and its overall "frame".

A naturalist frame understands what happened as a matter of course. But, sometimes "the course" is not completely understood, yet. This is where scientists, social scientists, help us to understand. This framing's "cause' is nature (man and his environment). These subjects help man to understand what is 'fact" about nature, but it doesn't address what to do with nature. It only reveals "what nature is" or how "nature works".

But, what of the humanities? Where do these fit into the questions abuot life? They fit by helping us to understand the "human", and "life", and "value". The answers to "life" is found in literature and other artistic expression. These are valuable to enlarge man's heart, reveal man's common experience, and suggest alternative views about "life".

I almost never read novels. I much prefer philosophical, thematic themes...possibly because it helps me answer questions.
Questions are important, as they help us to formulate our understanding and help us to frame our lives with the values that are most important to us.

Universal Healthcare Is Universalized Medicine....

I heard an interesting discussion on NPR yesterday on our way home from S.C. The guest was a health specialist of sorts, believing that the body's innate nature is to heal itself given the proper nutrients and environment. His view was "preventative medicine", but what was more interesting was his analysis of the drug companies, healthcare, and special interests...

He thinks that the special interests of the lobbyists for the pharmecudical companies were committed to drugging as many Americans as possible. Every ailment would and has been taken care of by a drug. Many of these drugs have dire side effects. But, the drug companies are happy as long as they can buy off governmental agencies, Congressmen and doctors.

I started thinkiing that maybe this was the reason for universal healthcare, as universalizing healthcare takes care of any "lone ranger" doctors that can't be paid off by freebies. Now, they can just use government force to prescribe the drug of choice. Is this how and why our economy is being pilfered through corporate excess? The common person sits by to pay his dues to those in seats of power that undermine his interests to support "Big Interests".

All I can say is that we need another revolution to take back the country from those who assume too much about and for the American people. Little businessmen are going to go out of business or be forces to choose a public option to meet any profit margin whatsoever in today's economy. Is this the intent?

The poor are being a useful tool in the hands of the rhetorticians for the "common good". Morality is in the eyes of the beholder, I guess...