Neat Article

Hey everyone!  My mother actually sent me this link about how monks in exile are being encouraged by the Dalai Lama to pursue science as a part of their studies.  A very interesting read!


Many thoughts regarding the themes of previous posts regarding how to maintain 'tradition' and still be of the world.  A lot of folks seem to think that science and faith are two mutually exclusive ideas that somehow set the stage for conflict if a person pursues both as a realm of study. 


Reading the article, I immediately thought of the tradition of Jesuits as some of the greatest thinkers, philosophers, mathemeticians and physicists.  The motto for many Jesuits is to "pursue God in all things" - meaning that the priests were and are not encouraged to live lives of cloister, but are meant to be of the world, while not for the world.  In particular, I had to do a recent mini-presentation on Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, a colleague of Einstein's, who is credited with some of the original thought behind the Big Bang Theory. 


Given the recent push by the HH the Dalai Lama, I wonder why then is there still this continuing dialectic that sets up "science" or "facts" on one side, and religion and reflection on the other.  What makes people think that 'culture' will be driven awry by science or facts; and how come so many people feel that science challenges or cheapens deeper truths that many people hold close?  


A short post for today, but interested to hear if anyone is familiar with the Emory program mentioned in the article, or any other neat programs that seek to combine the 'hard sciences' with more religious studies.