Last night I heard Deepak Chopra refer to Richard Dawkins as a scientific fundamentalist. I don't know if I know about the particular label as applied to Dawkins, but I can relate to the concept. Chopra was referring to scientific fundamentalism as anyone who subscribes to a materialistic world view that does not allow for possible mystery.
This would be the explicit denial that there can be anything beyond the material world. By "anything beyond" I don't mean in the supernatural sense. I mean it in the sense of a transcendent, unnameable Source of all that is. I believe this is what Chopra meant when he said science cannot explain higher level concepts such as inspiration, love, beauty, etc.
In other words, a scientific fundamentalist refuses to allow for anything that is not scientifically verifiable or falsifiable. Something along the lines of logical positivism I guess.
I mentioned in a previous post that Sam Harris was taking the discussion of atheism to a higher level by incorporating his insights from his time studying Eastern spiritual practices. To me this approach goes beyond scientific fundamentalism. Harris is allowing for the possibility of knowing a more transcendental reality through meditation practices. This perspective is an appropriate scientific stance, one that does not dogmatically assert that there is a binary choice between scientific materialism and supernaturalism.
To the contrary, there are many degrees along the spectrum. Believing that it is possible to access a higher reality through meditation or other spiritual practices is not believing in a supernatural realm. It is believing that there are higher and higher levels of consciousness available to us that we miss while we are lost in thought or focusing on the NEXT moment rather than being fully present in the current one.
Spirituality should be conceived as more of a holistic awareness and consciousness rather than belief in the supernatural. Faith should be defined as the opposite of fear and behaving as if it is impossible to fail rather than the irrational belief in things that do not make sense. Scientific Fundamentalism, with a rejection of any ideas that might have their roots in religion, dogmatically rejects the possibilities of higher forms of consciousness beyond logical thought.
