Oh, I'm just kidding about the "whore" thing! I actually think it's a step in the right direction for the RC church. I like what the Dali Lama says (an this is a rough use of paraphrasing). When the teaching of science and those of Buddhism are at odds, it is Buddhism that must change.
VATICAN CITY (May 13) - Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday
The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.
"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."
In the interview by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes said that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom, he said.
The interview, headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," covered a variety of topics including the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and science, and the theological implications of the existence of alien life.
Funes said science, especially astronomy, does not contradict religion, touching on a theme of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made exploring the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.
The Bible "is not a science book," Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most "reasonable" explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.
But he said he continues to believe that "God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance."
Funes urged the church and the scientific community to leave behind divisions caused by Galileo's persecution 400 years ago, saying the incident has "caused wounds."
In 1633 the astronomer was tried as a heretic and forced to recant his theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.
"The church has somehow recognized its mistakes," he said. "Maybe it could have done it better, but now it's time to heal those wounds and this can be done through calm dialogue and collaboration."
Pope John Paul II declared in 1992 that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."
The Vatican Observatory has been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best.
The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has a summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.
Full Version: Whores of Christianity
there is no reason for science to be at odds with the religious view.
science does teach that morality is not the norm--survival of the fittest, evolution, etc. but morality is not the exception--considering the human propensity to nuture within society.
anyway, these arguments had been worked out in Middle Platonism quite well a long while ago.
residente.
science does teach that morality is not the norm--survival of the fittest, evolution, etc. but morality is not the exception--considering the human propensity to nuture within society.
anyway, these arguments had been worked out in Middle Platonism quite well a long while ago.
residente.
QUOTE (Ed-Kay @ May 14 2008, 07:16 AM) 
Oh, I'm just kidding about the "whore" thing! I actually think it's a step in the right direction for the RC church. I like what the Dali Lama says (an this is a rough use of paraphrasing). When the teaching of science and those of Buddhism are at odds, it is Buddhism that must change.
VATICAN CITY (May 13) - Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday
The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.
"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."
In the interview by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes said that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom, he said.
The interview, headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," covered a variety of topics including the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and science, and the theological implications of the existence of alien life.
Funes said science, especially astronomy, does not contradict religion, touching on a theme of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made exploring the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.
The Bible "is not a science book," Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most "reasonable" explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.
But he said he continues to believe that "God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance."
Funes urged the church and the scientific community to leave behind divisions caused by Galileo's persecution 400 years ago, saying the incident has "caused wounds."
In 1633 the astronomer was tried as a heretic and forced to recant his theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.
"The church has somehow recognized its mistakes," he said. "Maybe it could have done it better, but now it's time to heal those wounds and this can be done through calm dialogue and collaboration."
Pope John Paul II declared in 1992 that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."
The Vatican Observatory has been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best.
The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has a summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.
VATICAN CITY (May 13) - Believing that the universe may contain alien life does not contradict a faith in God, the Vatican's chief astronomer said in an interview published Tuesday
The Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, was quoted as saying the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.
"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said. "Just as we consider earthly creatures as 'a brother,' and 'sister,' why should we not talk about an 'extraterrestrial brother'? It would still be part of creation."
In the interview by the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes said that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures. Ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom, he said.
The interview, headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," covered a variety of topics including the relationship between the Roman Catholic Church and science, and the theological implications of the existence of alien life.
Funes said science, especially astronomy, does not contradict religion, touching on a theme of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made exploring the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.
The Bible "is not a science book," Funes said, adding that he believes the Big Bang theory is the most "reasonable" explanation for the creation of the universe. The theory says the universe began billions of years ago in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.
But he said he continues to believe that "God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the result of chance."
Funes urged the church and the scientific community to leave behind divisions caused by Galileo's persecution 400 years ago, saying the incident has "caused wounds."
In 1633 the astronomer was tried as a heretic and forced to recant his theory that the Earth revolved around the sun. Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe.
"The church has somehow recognized its mistakes," he said. "Maybe it could have done it better, but now it's time to heal those wounds and this can be done through calm dialogue and collaboration."
Pope John Paul II declared in 1992 that the ruling against Galileo was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."
The Vatican Observatory has been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best.
The observatory, founded by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, is based in Castel Gandolfo, a lakeside town in the hills outside Rome where the pope has a summer residence. It also conducts research at an observatory at the University of Arizona, in Tucson.
The Catholic Church is leagues ahead of the bible-thumping-fundy-evangelists when it comes to understanding science perhaps because it has a higher proportion of intellectuals and a lower proportion of cretins.
The Vatican actually got this one right. I'm surprised.
Why is it so difficult for some people to believe that we are not the only living beings in this whole universe? Is it too hard to imagine that Mother/Father God created other beings on other planets? Would it burst their bubble to think that there are other beings who are smarter and more advanced than we are on this planet?
Why is it so difficult for some people to believe that we are not the only living beings in this whole universe? Is it too hard to imagine that Mother/Father God created other beings on other planets? Would it burst their bubble to think that there are other beings who are smarter and more advanced than we are on this planet?
Considering some of the stuff they already believe and accept I don't know why the idea of life elsewhere in the universe was ever a problem for them.
Sometimes two news stories that seemingly have little to do with each other, kind of do. Here are two that recently cross-connected in my brain.
In the past few weeks I've been fascinated by the suggestion by the Vatican's chief astronomer that the Catholic Church is cool with the idea of there being intelligent life on other planets -- possibly more advanced than ours.
"Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can't put limits on God's creative freedom," he said, obviously not of the same mind with the folks who limit God to 10,000 years for the whole job.
The other story: The discovery last week of a lost tribe of Amerindians near the Brazil-Peru border, a collective with apparently no previous contact with the "civilized" world. On being buzzed by a plane taking pictures, they did the only sensible thing -- they fired arrows at it like the natives in the opening of Jonny Quest or the residents of Leslieville at Wal-Mart.
The Church does not have the Conversion Response Team at its disposal that it once had. In the old days, if they'd found a hidden population in South America, they'd have dispatched missionaries immediately to convince them that, theologically, they'd been backing the wrong alpaca. Well, okay, first they'd have sent conquistadores to steal their gold and kill their emperor, and then they'd spread the Word.
read it all -
http://www.torontosun.com/Entertainment/Co...810621-sun.html
In the past few weeks I've been fascinated by the suggestion by the Vatican's chief astronomer that the Catholic Church is cool with the idea of there being intelligent life on other planets -- possibly more advanced than ours.
"Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can't put limits on God's creative freedom," he said, obviously not of the same mind with the folks who limit God to 10,000 years for the whole job.
The other story: The discovery last week of a lost tribe of Amerindians near the Brazil-Peru border, a collective with apparently no previous contact with the "civilized" world. On being buzzed by a plane taking pictures, they did the only sensible thing -- they fired arrows at it like the natives in the opening of Jonny Quest or the residents of Leslieville at Wal-Mart.
The Church does not have the Conversion Response Team at its disposal that it once had. In the old days, if they'd found a hidden population in South America, they'd have dispatched missionaries immediately to convince them that, theologically, they'd been backing the wrong alpaca. Well, okay, first they'd have sent conquistadores to steal their gold and kill their emperor, and then they'd spread the Word.
read it all -
http://www.torontosun.com/Entertainment/Co...810621-sun.html
QUOTE (residentbutch @ May 16 2008, 11:40 PM)
there is no reason for science to be at odds with the religious view.
science does teach that morality is not the norm--survival of the fittest, evolution, etc. but morality is not the exception--considering the human propensity to nuture within society.
anyway, these arguments had been worked out in Middle Platonism quite well a long while ago.
residente.
science does teach that morality is not the norm--survival of the fittest, evolution, etc. but morality is not the exception--considering the human propensity to nuture within society.
anyway, these arguments had been worked out in Middle Platonism quite well a long while ago.
residente.
Science and religion are diametrically opposed, and can never be reconciled. One deals in facts, reason and logic, while the other deals in fantasy, superstition, magic and delusion.
QUOTE (shorebird @ May 17 2008, 04:52 PM)
The Catholic Church is leagues ahead of the bible-thumping-fundy-evangelists when it comes to understanding science perhaps because it has a higher proportion of intellectuals and a lower proportion of cretins.
Yep, the CC is definitely leagues ahead. Glad those cloistered visionaries jumped right on that apology thing to Galileo in 1992. Boy, were they on top of that situation! Cretins all.
It is funny, I have told people that I have seen things in the sky, with many other people the last time it happened. Nothing like being at a party in the desert drinking what we called Jungle juice, very tasty. That and barbecue and friends. I was walking back with a tri tip and saw everyone looking up. I looked up, and started laughing,"You guy never seen a UFO before?" It vanished as fast as it appeared. Who knows what it was. But like I have been telling everyone else, if its here.... God made it! NO damn big deal. I would be more worried about the Catholics no child's behind left approach to schools.
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