Science, Sacred, Spiritual: What Is In A Word?

"Spiritual But Not Religious" is the way many people describe themselves these days. It's a term that drives a lot of others crazy. For those who happily describe themselves as religious, "Spiritual But Not Religious" can imply a dilution of faith and a rejection of the creed and doctrine which, for them, is an essential aspect of spiritual life.

Yet for people who happily describe themselves as atheist, "Spiritual But Not Religious" is a dodge — an attempt to get "the warm cozy feeling" of religious life without making the intellectual commitment to what they see as the central question: Does God exist?

Where should science lie on this spectrum of debate? Can someone still call themselves "spiritual" and hold fast to the principles of science?

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The reflexive rejection of words like sacred by many who reject institutional religion is misguided. The great and real danger we face is the rejection of science by religious literalism. To ignore the essential aspect of being human in these experiences — called sacred by some and spiritual by others — is to miss the ancient resonance in these words. They are, in their essence, atoms of a poetry to which we have always responded.

In this remarkable historical moment we face existential challenges that demand an informed deployment of science. In response, the question before us becomes how to marshal the resonance in words like "sacred." We will, without doubt, need its poetics as we build the next version of culture our evolution now demands.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2011/06/17/137219683/science-sacred-spiritual-what-is-in-a-word?ps=cprs

it only refers and, yet, upon such mistakes the great horrors of history are predicated.