Hello

[ShaMan]

Hello Michael, I'm ShaMan

Try not to become infected while on the boards

[LivingNumbers6.626]

Thank you all.

Diablo. Indeed there was (is?) an angel called Michael. He was/is your nemesis, you being Diablo.

Blackout. Most Benedicitnes are Catholic, though some are Anglican. The Benedictines are the most common type of monk. It dates from the early 6th century. It was a time of turmoil and war across Europe, but Benedictine communities stood out as islands of peace and order. They flourished and attracted people from all walks of life. What marks out Benedictine spirituality is the dedication to work and prayer in balance. It's not at all preachy. Monasteries have lay people, like me, associated with them. We are called 'oblates', and we too seek that balance of prayer and work in our lives. Our commitment is to a life of regular prayer in balance with our work.

Bad Wolf - My scientific background is in biomedical research (Ph.D. in pharmacology, followed by 20 years in Pharma R&D). Over time I have moved from the lab to looking at what and how healthcare is delivered (which frequently lags behind the evidence for what is the best healthcare). I now work in academia. I am very happy to let science inform my faith.

You sound like my type of believer.

Letting science inform your faith, that's superb.

I am very interested in how you have found a way to reconcile your scientific background wth your faith? How do you make it work?

I am in no ways as educated or as developed but it took very little biology and physics to make me question everything and assert that god and religion had to offer as a philosophy wasn't necessarily best. So I'm very interested to know how you reconcile things?

For a long while, I had been an apologist for Mormonism and Christianity but eventually met a breaking point.

Second, since you worked in the pharmaceutical industry, I was wondering what you thought of Big Pharma? Is it really as corrupt and ill motivated as many assume it to be?

[Michael]

Hello Quantum

On faith and science, I get the impression that is a lot easier in Europe than the US. We really don't have much of what you might call a 'fundamentalist' movement here, believing in, for example, a young Earth created in six days. The predominant Christian culture here, since the Enlightenment in the 18th century, has always allowed science to inform faith and to shape how we read the bible. Indeed, if you look at the history of science you'll find that many of the pioneers of what we might call 'modern science' were men of faith, motivated by their faith to understand 'creation' better. I'm not saying I agree wi everything there, but if you look at the biologos website you'll see a continuation of that tradition.

On 'Big Pharma', I can say the vast majority of people in R&D are motivated by wanting to discover new medicines that will do something to help alleviate human suffering. Lots will also be motivated by the simple pleasure of pursuit of knowledge. In my 20 years I don't think I met a single person who didn't have a genuine interest in improving healthcare and/or knowledge of healthcare. I'm sure the must be a few bad people, but I'm equally sure that they are rare. But I can't comment on the sales side of things - I don't know it at all well enough, but the impression we get is that that is where there are some genuine causes of concern, and it seems to me that the executive leads of the companies are either ignorant of, or complicit in, what goes on, both of which are unacceptable. Some house cleaning seems in order. It's interesting though now seeing things from the side of the healthcare providers, and from a university perspective - mistrust in Big Pharma is certainly commonplace.

[LivingNumbers6.626]

Hello Quantum

On faith and science, I get the impression that is a lot easier in Europe than the US. We really don't have much of what you might call a 'fundamentalist' movement here, believing in, for example, a young Earth created in six days. The predominant Christian culture here, since the Enlightenment in the 18th century, has always allowed science to inform faith and to shape how we read the bible. Indeed, if you look at the history of science you'll find that many of the pioneers of what we might call 'modern science' were men of faith, motivated by their faith to understand 'creation' better. I'm not saying I agree wi everything there, but if you look at the biologos website you'll see a continuation of that tradition.

On 'Big Pharma', I can say the vast majority of people in R&D are motivated by wanting to discover new medicines that will do something to help alleviate human suffering. Lots will also be motivated by the simple pleasure of pursuit of knowledge. In my 20 years I don't think I met a single person who didn't have a genuine interest in improving healthcare and/or knowledge of healthcare. I'm sure the must be a few bad people, but I'm equally sure that they are rare. But I can't comment on the sales side of things - I don't know it at all well enough, but the impression we get is that that is where there are some genuine causes of concern, and it seems to me that the executive leads of the companies are either ignorant of, or complicit in, what goes on, both of which are unacceptable. Some house cleaning seems in order. It's interesting though now seeing things from the side of the healthcare providers, and from a university perspective - mistrust in Big Pharma is certainly commonplace.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful response! I look forward to seeing your future input on the forum and I might send you a PM in the future to talk more about your response.

Welcome to the forum!

[Michael B]

Hello. While moving my account to another e-mail address I seem to have locked myself out (of both here and my alternative e-mail!). So, same person, same avatar, and nearly the same name.

[Whateverist]

Welcome back. Are you sure you B Michael?

[Losty]

Hello. While moving my account to another e-mail address I seem to have locked myself out (of both here and my alternative e-mail!). So, same person, same avatar, and nearly the same name.

If you just PM a mod they should be able to help you into your old account.