This theistic view, when it is widely accepted in society, also has large implications for Science. A general adherence in society to the theistic way of thinking is what makes communities of scientists doing Science possible. Consciously and individually, every scientist should value wisdom and freedom, for reasons that are uplifting, but even more because they are rational. Or rather, to be more exact, inspiring and rational, properly understood, are the same thing. Scientists know that figuring out how the events in reality work is personally gratifying. But more importantly, each scientist should see that this work is done most effectively in a free, interacting community of scientists functioning as one more integral species in a larger social ecosystem.

Most of us in the West have become emotionally attached to our belief in Science. We feel that attachment because we’ve been programmed to feel it. Tribally, we’ve learned that our modern wise men - our scientists – doing research and sharing findings with one another are vital to the survival of the human race.

Of all the subcultures within democracy that we might point to, none is more dependent on the moral realist values than is Science. Scientists have to have courage. Courage to think in unorthodox ways, to outlast derision and neglect, to work, sometimes for decades, with levels of determination and dedication that people in most walks of life would find difficult to believe. 

Scientists need the sincerest form of wisdom. Wisdom that counsels them to listen to analysis and criticism from their peers without allowing egos to become involved, and to sift through what is said for insights that may be used to refine their methods and try again. Scientists need freedom. Freedom to pursue truth where she leads, no matter whether the truths discovered are startling, unpopular, or threatening to the status quo. 

Finally, scientists must practice love. Yes, love. Love that causes them to treat every other human being as an individual whose experience and thought may prove valuable to their own.

Scientists recognize implicitly that no single human mind can hold more than a tiny fraction of all there is to know. They must share and peer-review ideas and research in order to grow, individually and collectively.

Scientists do their best work in a community of thinkers who value and respect one another, who love one another, so much as a matter of course that they cease to notice another person’s race, religion, sexual orientation, or gender. Under the cultural model of human evolution, one can even argue that creating a social environment in which Science can flourish is the goal toward which democracy has always been striving.

But these are just pleasant musings. The main implication of the theistic way of thinking is more general and profound, so let’s now to return to it.

The universe is coherent, aware, and compassionate. Belief in each of these qualities of reality is a choice, a separate, free choice in each case. Modern atheists insist that far more evidence and weight of argument exist for the first than for the second or third of these three traits. My contention is that this is no longer so. Once we see how values connect us to reality, the choice becomes an existential one. It defines who we are.

Therefore, belief in God emerges out of an epistemological choice, the same kind of choice we make when we choose to believe that the laws of the universe are consistent. Choosing to believe, first, in the laws of Science, second, in the findings of the various branches of Science, notably the self-aware universe implied by quantum theory, and third, in the realness of the moral values that enable democratic living (and Science itself) entails a further belief in a steadfast, aware, and compassionate universal consciousness. God.

Belief in God follows logically from my choosing a specific way of viewing this universe and my integral role in it: the scientific way. Scientism implies theism.

The problem for stubborn atheists who refuse to make this choice is that they, like every other human being, have to choose to believe in something. Each of us must have a set of foundational beliefs in place in order to function effectively enough to just move through the day and stay sane. The Bayesian model rules all that I claim to know. I have to gamble on some general set of axiomatic assumptions in order to move through life. The only real question is: “What shall I gamble on?” Reason points to the theistic gamble as being not the only choice, but the wisest, of the epistemological choices before us.

The best gamble in this gambling life is theism. Reaching that conclusion comes from analyzing the evidence. Following this realization up with the building of a personal relationship with God, one that makes sense to you as it also makes you a good, eternal friend—that, dear reader, is up to you.

Notes

1. Nicholas Maxwell, Is Science Neurotic? (London, UK: Imperial College Press, 2004).

2. “History of Science in Early Cultures,” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed May 2, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_science_in_early_cultures.

3. Mary Magoulick, “What Is Myth?” Folklore Connections, Georgia College & State University.  https://faculty.gcsu.edu/custom-website/mary-magoulick/defmyth.htm#Functionalism.

4. “Pawnee Mythology,” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed May 2, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pawnee_mythology.

5. “Quantum Entanglement,” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed May 2, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_entanglement.

6. Jonathan Allday, Quantum Reality: Theory and Philosophy (Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press, 2009), p. 376.

7. “Quantum Flapdoodle,” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed May 2, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantum_mysticism#.22Quantum_flapdoodle.22.

8. “Occam’s Razor,” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Accessed May 4, 2015. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occam%27s_razor.

9. “Isaac Newton,” Wikiquote, the Free Quote Compendium. Accessed May 4, 2015. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton.