the beginning

At one time, now past, I would have written this blog with no intention of revealing myself - I would have taken the "neutral" perspective. I would've done my best to simply share thoughts, facts, perspectives - not as a scientist - not as a person of faith - as nothing other than an observer.

However, at this point, I see no reason to write from the perspective of a neutral observer. I am not one. I have vested interests in these topics of faith and science, and you may as well know that I do.

That said, it doesn't matter to me if you agree with my opinions on either, and I understand that some may embrace what I offer here, while others may reject it. That is your choice, and it is yours to make. All I ask is that you respect my words, as I will respect any words you offer in turn, whether I agree with them or not.

I am a Christian - a Catholic, to be precise. To establish some technical credibility, I am also a scientist, educated at the graduate level, and actively working in science and engineering. My specialty is applied spectroscopy (more on that in a later post), but my interests in science span chemistry, physics, and mathematics. Biology has never been at the top of my list of interests (unless it's biochemistry!), but I have studied biology previously, and I'm sure that, thanks to the theory of evolution, biology will inevitably enter the discussions here. I also find the philosophy and history of science to be quite fascinating.

If you look at my bookshelves, you'll find Feynman and Ratzinger, Sagan and Weigel, relativity and theology, quantum chemistry and biblical exegesis, all living in harmony together. Thus it has become in my life, as well, although it has not always been so.

I'm here to write about faith and religion (if you haven't given it much thought before, these are two VERY different things), science and reason, the history of all these good things, and how they come together in my mind... in addition to my own personal experiences with all of the above,  I'm here to write because, well, I need somewhere to write this all down, and journaling isn't that satisfying - and because I feel that these things should be shared. I am increasingly bothered by the lack of basic scientific literacy I see among those who don't deal with scientific concepts on a day-to-day basis, but who should have at least basic knowledge of these things as they bring to bear on daily life.

I am also increasingly bothered by the lack of basic theological literacy I see among those who don't deal with theological/religious concepts on a day-to-day basis, but again, who (in my opinion) should have at least basic knowledge of these things as they bring to bear on daily life.

I believe that in order to have a true dialogue between these two supposedly disparate areas, we must all have at least basic knowledge of concepts in both realms - irrespective of our own beliefs - so that we can, at minimum, develop a balanced perspective, and be able to respect one another even when we don't agree.

And I believe it's always a good thing to be a part of something bigger than us - to dialogue with those who think like we do - and those who don't think like we do. It's all part of learning to be a better human.

I hope you'll stick around for the journey. Peace and all good, friends.