Well, I am a "scientist" of sorts and I also consider myself to be very spiritual. I don't have a personal contradiction. I am often confused by other's tying to separate them. What is the purpose? There is not necessarily an "either/or".

I am not a scientist, but I do believe there is great mystery/beauty in the universe and it is difficult for me to believe that a scientist wouldn't see that and be awed by it..I think they are not mutually exclusive..I think they go hand-in-hand. Happy Wednesday! :)

I haven't checked the link yet, but here's my view: Both offer explanations of the world we live in. How things work, how they came about, why, etc. They are NOT exclusive with respect to this. My opinion is this: regardless of HOW or WHY the universe we live in came into being, the fact remains that it exists. Regardless of how and why it came into existance, everything exists and interacts according to some set of physical laws. It HAS to, or things wouldn't work the way we see them. If some of the observed naturally occuring phenomena didn't behave consistently, like the speed of light in a vacuum or gravitational attraction, then planets wouldn't exist the way we understand them, stars wouldn't form or wouldn't last as long as they do, and so forth. So, if there is God or supreme being who created everything, he did it with all the laws and processes we can see and measure. If the universe came into existance without the help of God or supreme being, then those same laws and processess STILL exist for us to see and measure. Regardless of the source, the laws MUST be consistent for our very existance, therefore we can see and measure them. And this only applies to the physical universe anyway, at least for now. Our 'souls', 'spirits', or 'eternal Heavenly bodies' are not part of the physical universe, according to most theologies anyway. If God or a supreme being exists which created everything, then pursuit of how and why everything exists through a scientific means can only ultimately lead to him OR will eventually reach a dead end with no final resolution or proof of existance anyway. And since most theologies are based upon FAITH (belief in the absence of proof) because the very existance of God cannot be proven by any Earthly means, it shouldn't matter if we should explore the universe around us scientifically anyway. Belief in the existance of God, a supreme being, an afterlife, or whatever other theologically unprovable things is all FAITH based, because we don't or cannot see it by it'e very nature. Science and scientific exploration will not alter or change this in any possible way, shape or form: Either it will eventually prove it, or it will all go on as a matter of faith.

I'm not a scientist, but I play one on answerbag! NO, they are completely contradictory. Science is fact based provable/disprovable testable theories. What is thought to be true can later be proven untrue. Spirituality (known as faith) is the opposite and is set on unprovable untestable fact-less grandiose idealogical wannabes.

i think they can be quite complimentary. but i don't think organized religions, if taken literally, are compatible at all. i believe there's a huge difference between religion and spirituality ;)