[MD] Theocracy, Secularism, and Democracy

[MarshaV]

     "A theoretical physicist is walking in the woods one day. The giant trees are swaying in the breeze and changing patterns of sunlight dance across the forest floor. The beauty and maj- esty of it all overcomes him. He thinks, “How amazing that all of this comes from the early big bang when the four forces of nature were unified. The universe cools, the four forces differenti- ate, galaxies form, planets evolve, and this extraordinarily beautiful woods develops.” In the midst of these pleasant reflections, he hears a great crashing in the brush behind him and turns to find a huge grizzly bear charging upon him. He runs in panic. His heart is pounding, the bear is gaining on him, and he can even smell its bad breath. As the bear closes in on him, he trips on a root of one of those majestic trees. Falling to the ground, he cries, “Oh God!”
      Suddenly, out of a profound stillness a deep resonant voice booms from the sky and says, “So, when you’re in trouble you cry out to me and want help like the good Christians who pray fervently to me everyday. But when lecturing at the university, you deny my existence, telling people it’s all an expression of the four forces in nature.” The physicist, being well trained in the importance of logical consistency, replies, “Yes, I admit that would be inconsistent. But how about making the bear more like a good Christian?” God says, “Yes, I can do that.”
The grizzly bear stands upon his hind legs, bows deeply before the physicist, puts his forepaws together in front of his chest and says, “We give thanks for these gifts we are about to receive.” He then extends his claws, opens his huge maw, and devours the fallen man."

   (Mansfield, Vic,'Einstein and Quantum Nonlocality: A Doorway to Emptiness and Compassion',2007)
 



 
___