Religion and The Most Outstanding Fact About the Universe

Almost all religions tell us to be kind, in one form or another. They strive to awaken our kinder, more generous selves. They provide a medium for a community to be born and flourish. In this community, religions encourage us to view the individuals around as with more than just the labels assigned to them in our social class. They teach us to see each other as humans and not abstract entities and in doing so give us a sense of being part of something bigger than ourselves; to feel “connected and relevant”. Not so surprisingly, those exact two words were used by the astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson whilst he described, what to him was the Most Astounding Fact in the universe. His perspective was that looking out in space, the wider universe,
“many people feel small because they’re small and the universe is big — but I feel big”
The fact that the atoms that comprise us were in-effect made in the furnaces of supernovas and stars meant to him that he too was part of this universe and not a separate entity looking into it. He argues as humans:
“what you want in life is you want to feel connected, you want to feel relevant, you want to feel like you’re a participant in the goings-on of activities and events around you”
And to the astrophysicist that is Neil deGrasse, the universe provides that for him.
Deeply religious individuals claim they feel a sense of heightened enlightenment when they claim to have met God or similar. If science really can invoke that same sort of connectedness and enlightenment.. wouldn’t that be the most astounding fact.
