Sure why not.  They aren't mutually exclusive.  As far as science is concerned it doesn't deal with the metaphysical because the heart and the soul just don't exist that way.  Art and beauty have very little place in the practical mindset of science.  Those things are not quantifyable and if they were quantified they would not be what they are merely data.

Science isn't a philosophy or a lifestyle.  It merely is a way of examining and looking at the physical universe and understanding it intellectually not metaphysically or humanistically.  Any honest scientist (hard or soft science--I'm soft science with Rhetoric and Composition) will have to admit it is not a philosophy or theology.  Generally, true scientists are agnostics or true atheists that adopt personal philosopy aside from science. 

But that certainly does NOT exclude being able to have faith in God or be in a religion.  It just makes us more wary of religious nuts and simple minded people that go around screaming about absolute truth their way or the high way.  Those people are tiresome and are about as bad as the God hating people--yes God hating, as much as they scream they're atheists or agnostic or "scientists" for that matter--that use science (most of the time fuzzy pseudo-science) as an excuse to well--hate God and people that love and worship Him.

Science allows us to explore the universe emperically, methodically, and intellectually.  Religion and TRUE faith allows us to sense and percieve the universe through our human experience and the metaphysical lense that exists, however unquantifiyable and unproveable, within our consciousness.  Neither are exclusive. 

Frankly, we really don't know enough about the universe or about God to cancel the other one out.  All other arguments about origins and endings and dinasours or whatever are, honestly, irrelevant.  Not to mention on a personal note--boring and worn out.  All that is knowable (even still, only in part) is the here and now, what we do or say, what we see and feel--scientifically and religously.

Call me existentialist, but life is too short to be wasting it away talking about the origins of the universe to convince the other hard-headed side of your point of view.  In the end, I think, rhetorically it's just a smoke screen from either side to avoid addressing the real issue--what to do now, what to be now.  They're just frittering away the time to sidestep it.

As a Christian, I believe in God and believe in imitating Him.  Last time I checked, he was the one that said, "I am that I am."  Present existence is all that matters.  So the constant question echoing in my brain is "Am i am that i am?  Am I doing the best that I'm doing to the people around me?"  Even an agnostic or atheistic scientist has to answer those questions.  Whether they're moral or not--well that's another issue entirely.
   

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I would want to be a bird and fly and soar in the skies.  I'd love to feel the wind and the air flowing around my wings and body.  The liberty.  The Freedom.  The Joy.

And as an added bonus I get to crap on the people below me! 

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Here's a brief Socratic dialogue I came up with randomly as I was working on my paper and other "education" related mumbo-jumbo.  Enjoy!

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Phaedrus:  So, O excellent one.  Now that Socrates has gone to relieve himself, I can ask you some burning questions about education.  Should we use epistles or epistle writing to teach audience and the preemption of audience expectations.  In respect to essays? 

Sam:  Ah.  Excellent that you should ask.  Truly this is a question worthy of a clear answer.  That is what my mentor Larry Green (USC) did for me in my apologia.  He made me write a letter to the author of the book (Jonathan Lamb (Temple U?)--an acquaintance of ours) I was responding to in my argument.

This is the biggest issue in the teaching of essays in a vacuum like what Jane Shaffer prescribes--emphatically, militantly, violently.  Most English & Social Science teachers aren't the greatest essayists and are basic at best having lost the practice of writing critical essays after graduating college.

Phaedrus:  Well, put.  But then how can a English or even Social Science teacher who is not practicing the writing of essays in a university environment be considered good for teaching writing? 

Sam:  Interesting that you shoud ask.  Let me reply with a question of my own:  how can they teach how to be in an academic dialogue when they are not involved in one or been in one for years?

If this were the case for doctors, lawyers, or other professionals (or technical professionals) those people would lose their jobs.

Math and science are different because the instructors are still involved in the practice of science or mathematics because they have to demonstrate the ability to conduct an experiment as a model or show how to complete problems.  English teachers seldom are called to write an essay themselves to demonstrate their ability in that particular area.  This lack of practice in this area really makes English teachers lose credibility in their field. 

When was the last time they had to write an analytical piece on the literature they taught or even an expository argument for the sake of argument? How can they teach something which they do NOT practice themselves on a daily if not regular basis?

Phaedrus:  Excuse me, lucent one, I know of many in education that write essays.  How do you reconcile Education essays to true essays?

Sam:   Ah, my dear young Phaedrus, I see you are decieved by the smoke screen that "educators" blow onto normal people like you and me.  Education essays do not count.  Education is hardly a serious discipline or at least many people participating in the so-called discussions on Education are hardly serious discipline people.  Most of them are pathetically soft and are only there to get more money on their scale or couldn't get into a serious discipline.

How can teachers--I refuse to use and be associated with people who use the word "educator" since many are too busy being "educators;" "feeders" as the word educare suggests and not "showers" as the good old anglo-saxon word teach suggests--be expected to be treated as professionals without being professional like other professionals (lawyers, doctors, & etc.) instead of acting like a bunch of prole laborers latinizing their title as a superficial substitution for professionalism?

I see that the old man is coming back from behind the tree.  I gotta go before he starts calling me Lysias again and goes off talking about horses and chariots whatever that means.

Phaedrus:  I'm sure he doesn't mean anything by it.

Sam:  Sure he doesn't.  Well, I have to go recharge the phone booth.  Catch you later Phae-phae.

Interesting concept.  Some of the songs are pretty good too.  Check out Star Wars: The Musical.  There's a music video for "One Season More"  too CG is good.

I took the iPod off and went on with whatever it was I was doing.  I'm not sure what would constitute the worst possible moment.  But I know if I needed the thing to have juice I'd have it plugged in, e.g. if I had to use it during class because we're listening to Hamlet by Kenneth Branagh or whatnot.  If the there is such a thing as a "worse" moment individually then it's just a matter of poor planning.

Really such an innane question.  

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Acceptance from people around me.  Some tools for success are:  money, power, fame, goods, and good relationships with people around me.

What I have found to be better than those things is being real and being honest and being straight forward.  I try.  Some people worry too much about feelings and couch things in too evasive a way.  I find those people dishonest and manipulative.  Since I am evasive and diplomatic only when I am being dishonest and manipulative to achieve my objectives.  That is not to say that being straight forward is being rude or being rough, but one can be direct without cutting out the other person's heart out and sacrificing it to Quetzalcoatl.

Unfortunately, being real can cost financial success or even career success when those obviously inferior to most people in character, competence, and charisma take directness coupled with competence as an affront and a direct threat to their position of power.  God bless the revolution may they get their come-uppance soon.
   

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What kind of purile question is this?  Have people run out of questions to ask?

4 hours till the batteries were drained - writing and grading papers.  Golly the papers.  I have gone paperless for my essay grading.  It's cut my response time in half!  Yay.
   

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You know Carpe Diem doesn't seem like such a bad way to live.  Each moment seems to fly by so quickly that people should live life to the fullest.  Not to take unnecessary risks or not plan, but to live in the now and not worry about things that one doesn't have control over.

I should have asked Morena out when I met her at the Hugo awards last year in LA.   You know I didn't even know who she was.  I just thought that she was an eloquent, pretty, girl on stage accepting an award for a show that I'd never seen.  Frankly, I was only there because my friend John was up for a Hugo.

I mean I heard of Firefly and Serenity, by way of friends, but never seen myself because I was disinterested in a show that was pitched as a space western.  Shucks.  I figured that she was in it or knew Joss Whedon or something, but that was it.  Looked like she had fans accosting her after the ceremony.  I felt fortunate to catch her when she and her friend were leaving, but you know--Carpe Diem.  And I missed it.

Different worlds.  Different lives.  Heck you never know.  I guess I'll never know.  It would have been interesting even if the answer was "Sorry, no thanks."  Life don't deal no second chances, does it?

I don't really care if he visits or not.  It's not as if my opinion would be taken seriously anyway by the people who run the country.  I'm sure they and other liberal academics believe that dialogue and negotiation can solve all of our problems and forget that force and annihilation and the threats of force and annihilation are equal tools for survival of a culture, nation, ethniciy, or species.

We are in competition to survive and secure limited resources for our republic.  I do not think unity with the world or a peaceful solution is possible, feasible, or desireable.  Every system or empire breaks down into smaller pieces and is then united again later on.  Unity with the world will only end in world war.  "Peaceful" solutions only prolong the inevitable.  Conflict is part of our nature and to deny or suppress that--as crazy as it sounds will only bring out more conflict later on. 

As for the president of Iran, well I've always believed that Persians muslims were much more reasonable than Arabian muslims.  And if I were to choose between two camps of fanatics--being a fanatic myself that ain't part of them--I'd choose the Persians.  Heck I'd choose the Turks before any of them.  I think that we had a chance to build a solid relationship with Iran before Bush bungled it with his "Axis of Evil" speech and threw off the elections in Iran. 

We haven't done right by them for decades and any reasonable Persian would be unhappy with the way the US has treated him.  As for the way we treat Saudi Arabia (which I think is our true enemy and an enemy to liberty and democracy as we know it--it is their monarchy's oppression of their poor that has lead to the troubles we see) well, we want their oil for our European "allies" so we'll suck up as long as it lasts.  And then maybe we ignore them when it's all gone.  Personally, I think that ignoring would be a bad idea--like I said--annihilation is a tool too.  We might be hated, but we are already anyway and there ain't nothing that'll make us loved again, so what's to lose?  If we're effective--and modern technology gives us the capacity to--we'll write the histories anyway.  They would do the same if they could.

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When there is only one or two stressors I calmly and dispassionately (even coldly) approach the task.

I start steadily breaking down when there are more stressors.  My mood and temperment may shift depending on how much stress and familiarity with the situation.  Usually, I become withdrawn and do not participate in social activites.  I will try to leave or escape people whom are stressors so I do not hurt them verbally or physically, if driven that far.  Usually, I will just fume in a corner and try to complete the tasks that I have to complete.

On rare occasions when I just lose it, I start ranting and raving.  Once, when I first started teaching, I screamed at the stacks of paper work around me.

Most times working out at the gym or going to my fencing studio really helps get rid of the stress physically.  Endorphins are an excellent natural way to rid the body of stress.  I've never been fond of "ball" related games, but personal combat sports tend to be most attractive to me since I tend to be a personal kind of person in my relationships and life.  I don't like big groups; one-on-one is the best.  Big groups make me lost.

Currently I have these things as stressors in my life:

1. Finishing my CLAD classes
2. Chairing a WASC committee at school
3. Chairing the 12th Grade English committee
4. Chairing the 12th Grade English Curriculum Mapping committee (is it me or is it a waste of time to create an officious document with very little practical use for a "new" teacher or even an experienced one--so far we've logged in at least 6 hours to do this assignment with at least 4 more to come)
5. Completing my MA Thesis at UCI (this has taken a major backseat to everything)
6. Grading, meeting, and teaching my 176 students
7. Collaborating with the Special Teachers assigned to me because I have over 30 special ed kids in my classes (school policy changed to pull kids from independent studies and stuff them in already overcrowded class rooms--avg. of 37-40 students per class across campus--yes, there are moments when assault and battery of the strutting coxcomb administrators--him and his crony the school board newly salvaged from OC--have crossed my mind)
8. Attending the CSU Early Assessment Program's: 12th Grade Expository Writing workshops.

There are a myriad of other stressors, but those are ones that I've control over and are not REQUIRED of me so I can but them in the back burner.  The only one listed that fits in this category is my thesis.  All the rest required.  You know, I don't get it what puts it into an administrator's mind that teachers like taking days off out of the classroom to meet over buracractic nonsense is what we like.  These people sucked as teachers and suck as administrators too. 

Good Lord, I wish there was a revolution coming--I'd sign-up first to be the guillotine-man for minor bureaucrats and government functionaries. Yes. Yes.    I'd bathe in their blood in the marketplace celebrating the liberty from endless forms and tedious meetings focused on setting up other meetings (with no snacks--cheap bastards)--not to mention liberty from the heafty bribes--I mean--gifts that were wasted on those parasites!

Well.  That's kind of nasty and unsanitary not to mention melodramatic.  No.  Maybe not the bathing part, but it's the thought that counts, right?

I see now that I'll need at least 6-10 hours of fencing this week to get rid of that stress.  Better go repair my equipment now.  I seem to breaking blades lately.

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