Materialism vs. Science

It has come to my attention that I have been mistaking materialism for science. But now I realize that I have been giving science a bad rap.

Materialism is a metaphysical ideology that even most scientists confuse with science itself. To claim that something metaphysical is unscientific is to imply that materialism is not a metaphysical viewpoint. My own confusion, often refering to science as a neo-religion, has been the result of my mistaking materialism for science.

Materialism exhibits all of the dogmatic and irrational faith-based belief systems that has defined religion from the beginning (note, shammanism and buddhism are not religions by themselves, but are turned into religions by those who like most scientists today, tur the experiences expressed by the shammans and buddhas into dogmatic belief systems).

The book, Science and the Near-Death Experience, by Chris Carter (see Fifthnail book list), has an excellent chapter that addresses just this confusion (chapter 16, p. 235). It opened my eyes, but note, that does not mean that my views have changed, only the words and terms I use to express those views have changed.