Maria Mitchell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"We have a hunger of the mind

which

asks for knowledge of all around us,

and

the more we gain, the more is our desire;

the more we see,

the more we are capable of seeing."

~(Maria Mitchell)~

 

 

Maria Mitchell - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: Maria Mitchell (August 1, 1818 – June 28, 1889) (pron: [mə'raɪə]) was an American astronomer who, in 1847, by using a telescope, discovered a comet which as a result became known as "Miss Mitchell's Comet". She won a gold medal prize for her discovery which was presented to her by King Frederick VII of Denmark.  On the medal was inscribed "Non Frustra Signorum Obitus Speculamur et Ortus" in Latin (taken from Georgics by Virgil (Book I, line 257)  (English: “Not in vain do we watch the setting and rising of the stars”). Mitchell was the first American woman to work as a professional astronomer.

Maria Mitchell was born in Nantucket, Massachusetts. She was a first cousin four times removed of Benjamin Franklin. She had nine brothers and sisters. Her parents, William Mitchell and Lydia Coleman Mitchell, were Quakers. Maria Mitchell was born into a community unusual for its time in regard to equality for women. Her parents, like other Quakers, valued education and insisted on giving her the same quality of education that boys received. One of the tenets of the Quaker religion was intellectual equality between the sexes. Additionally, Nantucket's importance as a whaling port meant that wives of sailors were left for months and sometimes years to manage affairs while their husbands were at sea, thus fostering an atmosphere of relative independence and equality for the women who called the island home.

***

One of ten children, she was raised in the Quaker religion but later adopted Unitarianism.

"the religion of Jesus, not a religion about Jesus"

 

Though there is no specific authority on convictions of Unitarian belief aside from rejection of the Trinity, the following beliefs are generally accepted:

• One God and the oneness or unity of God.
  
• The life and teachings of Jesus Christ constitute the exemplar model for living one's own life.
  
• Reason, rational thought, science, and philosophy coexist with faith in God.
  
• Humans have the ability to exercise free will in a responsible, constructive and ethical manner with the assistance of religion.
  
• Human nature in its present condition is neither inherently corrupt nor depraved (see original Sin), but capable of both good and evil, as God intended.
  
• No religion can claim an absolute monopoly on the Holy Spirit or theological truth.
  
• Though the authors of the Bible were inspired by God, they were humans and therefore subject to human error.
  
• Traditional doctrines that (they believe) malign God's character or veil the true nature and mission of Jesus Christ, such as the doctrines of predestination, eternal damnation, and the vicarious sacrifice or satisfaction theory of the Atonement are rejected.

Unitarians have liberal views of God, Jesus, the world and purpose of life as revealed through reason, scholarship, science, philosophy, scripture and other prophets and religions. They believe that reason and belief are complementary and that religion and science can co-exist and guide them in their understanding of nature and God. They also do not enforce belief in creeds or dogmatic formulas. Although there is flexibility in the nuances of belief or basic truths for the individual Unitarian Christian, general principles of faith have been recognized as a way to bind the group in some commonality. Adherents generally accept religious pluralism and find value in all teachings, but remain committed to their core belief in Christ's teachings. Unitarians generally value a secular society in which government is kept separate from religious affairs. Most contemporary Unitarian Christians believe that one's personal moral convictions guide one's political activities, and that a secular society is the most viable, just and fair.

Unitarian Christians reject the doctrine of some Christian denominations that God chooses to redeem or save only those certain individuals that accept the creeds of, or affiliate with, a specific church or religion, from a common ruin or corruption of the mass of humanity. They believe that righteous acts are necessary for redemption in addition to faith.

In 1938, The Christian leader attributed "the religion of Jesus, not a religion about Jesus" to Unitarians, though the phrase was used earlier by Congregationalist Rollin Lynde Hartt in 1924. and earlier still by US President Thomas Jefferson.

***

When reading, because of a Google Doodle celebrating her birthday, what Wikipedia had to say about Maria Mitchell...

it was the reading of a famous quote believed to be the main reason she is known...

striking a cord with me.

 

This hunger of the mind,

always in want of even more knowledge,

not the impression I sense with people living today's world.

 

Quite the opposite.

 

With all of the world's knowledge available at our fingertips, this digital age seems to have only enabled the "mob mentality" a voice amplified exponentially. 

 

The "mob mentality" never one easy to reason with,

now more difficult to control with them even more resistant to reason;

if even able getting them to hear it...

 just once to begin with.