Science vs. Religion? Quit playing 'lets you and him fight.'

This Article struck a cord in me, as I read it.
More so, the usual cast of characters who show up in the comments section struck a nerve. There are the fundamentalist scientists who's religion is 'Science;' the fundamentalist religionists who's science is 'Religion;' and every stripe in between. The group I most agree with would be those who say that science is and should be looking for how God made the universe.

This leads me to a topic that has pestered me for a while: people who want to be spiritual, or religious depending on your vocabulary, without belonging to an organized religion.
I have met many people who have been trained by school, or by their parents or friends, or by their experience, or what have you, to reject organized religion in general and any of the prominent christian churches in particular. Some take this so far as rejecting anything they perceive as connected with these organizations. "Those organizations are corrupt and full of corrupt people." I could probably fill books with all the comments that go in that direction. My first thought, if i could get people to listen and be interested long enough would be to get people to understand the division between individual spirituality/religiosity and the organizations that have been set up to promote such in the world. Here is an article I found that discusses this idea from the perspective of one who has gone through that transformation process.

I applaud those who want to be spiritual and 'get religion' as it was once said. but I do not fully comprehend the rejection of organized religion.
As for Science: I see science as those disciplines set forth to discover and comprehend how and what God has done in creating the world; what laws and methods were used to put the stars and planets and life in motion.
Religion is to answer the harder questions: Why? What is my part? What is my value?

Several other threads come together in my mind about these ideas.
- Godel's Incompleteness says in so many words that no system can be completely known within itself.

- The second law of thermal dynamics says in so many words that every system must eventually break down into chaos, or entropy.

Other ideas can be brought to bare, but for this point, I simply ask, "If the universe cannot be comprehended within itself, and must eventually break down to entropy, what keeps it running?" Answer: something outside the limits of the universe as we know it. This something is god

Science shows that god, however god is defined, must exist. Thus the question leads to religion: how do I get to know about the nature of god, and god's reasoning? Why do I exist? What is my purpose? What happens when I die? And my ancestors and children?


God himself has answered these. But he is in a power struggle in spreading his message. Just as God exists, so also does the devil. This leads to the definitions of good and evil, but I will leave that tangent for another time.

For much of the next part, I presume that the reader has as a given a basic comprehension that Jesus of Nazareth set up a church with a body of ideas to be taught and adhered to by those associated with it, and appointed a group of men to lead it after his departure. That there were certain acts or 'ordinances' that were to be performed to enter into the society of this church, and then regularly performed by members of it. That means were put in place to see to the perpetuation of said organization.
That others have had churches or systems of philosophy set up that are followed, I also leave as given, and focus myself to the christian focus. There are more ideas that can be quibbled about, but for my purposes, this is sufficient.

To the question of organized religion: "But why does God have so many churches that claim to be his?"
Simple: the devil is the author of this confusion, and tempts men to drift away from and be confused about the truth of God. He tempts men with power, with doubt, with lusts, with pride, with any number of other tools in his arsenal.

- Second rule of bureaucracy: those who seek to maintain a bureaucracy will rise to power over those seeking to accomplish the bureaucracy's goals.
- Power corrupts
- Power attracts the corrupt

Without continual input from God, the bureaucracy of his church will drift to the goals of those who seek power for themselves.
Some call this Simony, after Simon Magus in the book of Acts. See also the Sons of Sceva. This leads to men creating churches to honor themselves, or whatever other noun they can set up to be worshiped. The biggest one I see forming today, is the church of the collectivist state: government is god.

So, how does God give continual input: through his duly authorized cadre - those holding the priesthood of god.
This leads to two questions, and I leave this for now.

1) Is priesthood authority necessary to perform ordinances?
If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, than the answer is that he did then, so he does now.
Those who say otherwise, are not in align with God.

2) Where is it/Who has it today?
Historically, most commonly understood, Jesus invested and left this authority in The Twelve and their duly appointed successors.

So if the secessionists are right that it is needed, and the reformists are right that the secessionists don't have it, where does the scripture say to look?

For a restoration of this authority, according to the pattern that God has used to communicate with man from the beginning. Angel's sent to the first man to open the channel of communication, and then continuing revelation once that channel is open.

I have an answer for myself which church to be in, taught me of the Holy Ghost, but without more investigation on your part, are you ready to receive it?