Religion and Science: a brief commentary By: -

The marriage of science and religion has been one of dispute, conflict and quarrel but at the height of it all, the one thing that strings these giants together is harmony. 
A mess of oxymoronic and contradicting ideas that have infected the greatest minds in human history; this is a relationship like none other.

The rawest form of the yin and yang. 

Curiosity is what differentiates humans from our mammalian counterparts. It is the curiosity of man that led to us pondering the night time stars, contemplating the motion of celestial bodies, deliberating our own anatomical structures, and the most quintessential of all: reflecting on the nature of life itself and our purpose of existence in this vast cosmic realm. These are not merely musing for the passage of time, but we desperately seek answers. And through the aeons and generations since the genesis of mankind, we have decided that there is a higher power that governs these matters. 

I am humble enough to accept that I have not reached the intellectual caliber to comment on all religions - whether they may be pagan, Abrahamic, monotheistic, polytheistic - but I am compelled to say that the common denominator amongst all of them is the belief in a higher power. An entity that controls what is beyond our reach. But we are not such simplified creatures. We set out to discover the mechanisms of these miraculous events and thus was the birth of scientific thought. We expressed the planetary motions through the eloquent language of mathematics, deciphered the codes that govern the livelihood of organisms, and studied the most fundamental particles that dictate the element of a substance. But it is the differing nature of faith and method that forms a basis of the conflict between science and religion.

To those conflicted men of science who question the presence of a higher power, I must ask, do you not see the invisible connections throughout nature? The quantum entanglement of particles thousands of light-years apart, the simultaneous hatching of twin eggs on opposite ends of the globe, the unified movement of miles of jellyfish in the seas throbbing as if connected by one mind. If you accept these imperceptible relationships, then is it really so difficult to believe in the sacred connection between man and God? As a medical intern myself, when I see a patient enter the ER on the brink of life and death, I immediately set to resuscitating them because I am aware of pulmonary functions and mechanisms of the heart. Yet, even as I administer CPR, I mutter a prayer under my breath. Because even after decades of medical training it is the soul, my dear reader, that no doctor has any control over.

So as I stare into the starless night writing this lengthy analysis, I catch a glimpse of a celestial body. Perhaps Venus showing itself? And a thought crosses my mind: Gravity explains the motion of planets;

But it cannot explain who set the planets in motion.

Religion doesn't contradict science; it compliments it. 

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Ignorance begets bigotry By: -

Ignorance begets bigotry

The child asks the donkey for wine

The donkey grants the child water

Aggravated, the child runs away

Little did he know

That donkeys don't give wine

nor do they give water

A miracle in the passing 

Ignorance begets bigotry

Values that we have been brought up with often lead to the death of the best of us. If not literally, then on the fine line between the metaphoric and literal. Our fundamental presumed notions, when challenged, bring out the rawest form of animosity we posses.

                                          

Throughout our childhood and adolescent ages, we are surrounded by institutions that instill values and teach us the norms of our society. Key primary agents of socialization include the family, media, and education system. For the best part of our childhood years, these instilled values remain unchallenged and so you believe, comprehend, and accommodate them into your daily lives. Your religion, for instance, is now a part of you. And so you when you're released to the open fields of the big wide world; a dilapidated skyscraper in which you are merely a finite brick, you try to convince yourself that you lie at the base. The building wouldn't exist without you. Yes all bricks are the same, but because of the way you were molded, you are the cornerstone.

And what better way to reinforce this idea into your mind than simply expressing apathy to all other cultures. Because deep within your subconscious, you know that there is more substance in humankind than the skin seems to show.

So to be a bigot is perhaps the sanest way to live since that way you only tolerate people that truly understand and appreciate the way you think and act. It surely is the most logical solution, because knowledge breeds curiosity which breeds more knowledge and knowledge can be harmful for the ego.

Oh petty, petty man. The greatest minds think not of other men, but of ideas. The most remarkable of whom can coy with ideas without believing them. And if you can truly grasp the fullness of this ability, then oh what a wonderful life we would live.

You and I.

Clone bricks in an infinitely expanding wall.

Is man powerless to fix a broken world? By: -

Chaos.

Anarchy.

Destruction.

All are the products of mans actions; the results of our desires. And I daren't call these desires pitiful for there must be substance in them - these desires form an integral part of a mans characteristics. So how can we right the wrongs when the wrongs stem from within us?

A long time ago, when human evolution had only begun its six-million-year journey, the homo-erectus roamed the vast plains of Africa. To assert dominance was not only a preferable characteristic, it was an essential attribute to sustain life and therefore reproduce. Our ancestors learned to take over land, to intellectually manipulate and to sustain this dominance. Modern humans are the same when it comes down to this intrinsic and instinctive level. Our need to rule is just as ever-present as our involuntary reflexes.

But it has changed form.

The pursuit to dominance has caused the creation of social classes where the proletariat serve the bourgeoisie. Turbulence and friction between these layers of social hierarchy is what causes cracks in our world; figuratively and literally.

But is it a bad thing? Think about it. Without these embedded characteristics, our ancestors would never have survived and so in a hypothetically "fixed" world, you wouldn't exist. So in response to RK Summers poem:

The many faces of Gaia are tainted with despair
What happened to our world? 
Did we break it? 
Have we lost the chance to fix it?                    

My dear, we never had a chance.

Also, there isn't a static and set ideal of perfection. It is in the nature of man to want more and so we never reach perfection. If, in a hypothetical scenario we were living in what we now consider to be a "non-broken world", the ideal of a better world would still exist and so we would still be in a broken land. And so therefore it is not just unlikely and improbable, but it is impossible to live in a non-broken, utopian land.

The best we can do is seek perfection from our imperfections. A fixed world would be pretty boring, anyway.

I would respect feminists if... By: -

This clicked in my head as I sat staring blankly at the projector screen in my biology class...

The mitochondria is often described as the powerhouse of the cell since it is the only place where cellular respiration takes place. This chemical process releases ATP - which is used in active processes within the body, thus can be dubbed as the "energy" you need and the generator of this energy is the mitochondria hence it is the powerhouse. 

But what does any of this have to do with the title of this post? Have I finally gone made?

No. Not yet.

A very long time ago, before any multicellular life existed, mitochondria (which is an organelle) used to be a tiny cell that existed by itself. But throughout the course of evolution, by means of endosymbiosis (like the pacman effect, where the host cell eats up the smaller cell, and then reproduces) the larger modern day animal cells "ate" the mitochondria and reproduced to create animals and humans.*

Again you might be wondering, this man has gone insane. I should stop reading. I urge you to continue, as I am just about to make my point.

The interesting thing with mitochondria is, during fertilisation, when the male and female gametes fuse, the mitochondria in the sperm is all used up. What with all the traveling and breaking. So the mitochondria instilled into the zygote and subsequently the baby itself is the same mitochondria present in the ovum of the female. 

Now since the mitochondria is symbolic of the power of the cell; since the beginning of mankind, power has only been passed from the feminine - whether it be man or woman, black or white, tall or short. Not only are we birthed from their essence, but our very intrinsic strength is granted from their core. We are all a manifestation of strength that can only be granted by the feminine.

So, I would respect feminists if they grasped and accepted the symbolic power of my biology class philosophical meanders. 

But hey, what do I know? I'm just a man.

Brexit and what it means By: -

I'm a little late to the scene but the points I'm about to make remain accurate notwithstanding.

The very act of UK leaving the EU is a magnificent portrayal of democracy at play. The masses voted to leave and alas, that decision is ultimate. This is the very democracy the world aspires to, a country without democracy is indeed a repressed and conservative nation which has no consideration of the voice of its people.

There seems to be a general consensus - amongst investigative reporters, economists, and politicians - that Brexit didn't lie in the favour of UK, or the EU for that matter. But slightly over half the population still voted for it. Not only does this reflect on the uninformed nature of the general populace, it also portrays the current mood of the people which goes beyond simply this decision.

Allow me to expand;

The outcome of this poll shows that the lower middle class and working class casted their votes simply as an act of oppression and rebellion against the elite. David Cameroon and other tories publicly announced their desire for voting against Brexit. To prove and emphasize the point that they too have the power, there seemed to be an agreement amongst the masses that their voice will be heard. Cut the NHS funds, downsize schooling staff, but this: the power of the vote is still with us. We have brought change through this piece of paper, and we can bring change on the streets as well. Brexit itself didn't hold as much weight for them as the meaning behind the true message.

For as long as democracy prevails, the people will have the power. They cannot be shunned.