Chapter 8 Functional Spirituality-The Zeitgeist Movement

People want answers, so through time we have invented explanations for phenomena. As our
societies have grown, our tools for analyzing the world and its attributes have improved and thus our
understandings have changed based on newer discoveries. Knowledge is an evolutionary
phenomenon just like everything else in nature. Therefore, it is critical that we all be mentally and
emotionally prepared for our traditional beliefs to lose relevance. For some, this is a very difficult
process due to the emotional attachments that have been created around certain beliefs. Religion is a
powerful example of this ideological attachment.
Establishment Religion, in many ways, seems to be rooted in a perceptual misunderstanding about
life's processes. For instance, it presents a worldview that often puts the human on a different level
than other elements of nature. This 'spiritual ego' has led to dramatic conflicts for generations, not
only between human beings, but inadvertently between us and the environment itself. However, as
time has moved forward, Science has shown how human beings are subject to the exact same forces
of nature as everything else. We have learned that we all share the same atomic substructure as trees,
birds and all other forms of life. We have learned that we cannot live without nature's elements... we
need clean air to breathe, food to eat, energy from the sun, etc. When we understand this symbiotic
relationship of life, we begin to see that as far as 'relationships' are concerned, our relationship to the
planet and nature is the most profound and important. The medium by which this is expressed, is
Science , for The Scientific Method has allowed us insight into these natural processes, so we can
better understand how we 'fit' into this life system as a whole.
The Religious Ideal:
Nearly all religions of the world talk about certain ideal values for humanity.
Christianity:
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Buddhism:
”Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.”
Confucianism:
”Never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.”
Hinduism:
”One should never do that to another which one regards as injurious to one’s own self.”
Islam:
”Hurt no one so that no one may hurt you.”
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Judaism:
”The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as
yourself.”
Taoism:
”Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss.”
Regardless of these notions, one glance at society today makes one wonder why the ideal of
universally valuing and respecting your fellow human being has never taken root. It was the Jesus
character who said: “Love thy neighbor as thy self”. But how? How can we have a society where
people live together in harmony, working for the common good , as the religious ideals promote?
The answer is that it is up to us to design a system that allows for those humane ideals to flourish.
Today’s self interested, money oriented society creates an environment that refuses to allow for the
universal caring of another. This system is based on the perpetuation of oneself, at the expense of
others , and therefore it can never allow for a world of balance and harmony.
The fact is, it is time to stop praying, stop wishing and stop blindly talking about our supposed
humanistic and religious ideals and actually work to make them happen!
Talk is Cheap:
A Resource-Based Economy puts into practice everything the great religious and philosophic teachers
have always talked about since time began in regard to humans embracing each other as their own,
and working together in mutual respect and harmony. The use of science and The Scientific Method,
while often deemed cold and heartless, actually presents one of the most profound spiritual
unfoldings we have ever known. Unlike those who endlessly talk about peace, love and harmony
among the peoples of the earth, science can actually work to make it happen. There is nothing more
caring than The Scientific Method, for the results have proven to be cataclysmically beneficial to the
whole of humanity. While many people look upon Mother Teresa’s selfless nature with great awe and
respect, few tend to see Alexander Fleming, the man who discovered Penicillin, in the same
romanticized way. Penicillin has saved countless more lives today than any charitable idea or
organization. The point is that science and technology are divinity in action .
Summary of Chapter 8:
It is time we stop pontificating and providing lip service to those spiritual values which religious and
secular philosophers have been discussing for millennia and finally put them into practice. While
there are endless scientific and superstitious opinions about who we are and where we have come
from, the most important issue at hand exists in the here and now. In view of the terrible suffering
and questionable future of the human race, worrying about if god created the universe…or if we were
created by extraterrestrials…or even if we are a product of evolution and celestial matter, is
meaningless . Big Bang or no Big Bang it doesn’t change the problems we have now.
We cannot wait for some divine revelation or some “great man” to guide us. We must realize that we
are on our own on this planet and it is up to us to change the world for the better. Science is the tool
for this functional spirituality and if we work to apply its method for the betterment of civilization
itself, we can reach the spiritual goals we have sought since antiquity.