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F R I D A Y , J U L Y 0 8 , 2 0 0 5Catholic Church: Earth Center of Universe,6000 Years Old, And Probably Flatby Michael in New York on
7/08/2005 02:19:00 PMNow we get to see the fallout of electing the sweet and modestCardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict. The Catholic Archbishopof Vienna tells us to back off on that wacky, scientific approachto science and evolution in particular. Never mind that theentire world has taken at face value Pope John Paul II'sstatement in 1996 that evolution is "more than just ahypothesis." Never mind that the subtlest change in wording bya Pope is carefully weighed -- Romanita is the term for thehighly subtle and intellectual underpinnings of the verbalswordplay that serves as political debate at the Vatican -- andthat JP II knew perfectly well what he was doing. Never mindthat if he DIDN'T mean to embrace the idea of evolution (or atleast say, leave science to the scientists) that he had a decadeto correct it since that's exactly what the entire worldunderstood him to be doing.No, the archbishop of Vienna says Tut, tut, JP II didn't evendefine evolution in that statement and we got it all wrong. Hisop-ed marks a major step back for the Church, which hasspent the last 30 years leaving the Dark Ages behind, makingclear that science is science and God gave us a mind to use it.Keep in mind that JP II was the Pope who FINALLY had theChurch admit it was wrong for calling Galileo a heretic. I guessthe archbishop will tell us we are mistaken in believing thatmeans good Catholics can accept that the Earth revolvesaround the sun?The archbishop's disingenuous tone is truly unnerving. Hewrites:Consider the real teaching of our beloved John Paul. Whilehis rather vague and unimportant 1996 letter aboutevolution is always and everywhere cited, we see no onediscussing these comments from a 1985 general audiencethat represents his robust teaching on nature....Now, I'm not a theologian, but I and most Catholics know perfectlywell that written documents by the Pope are vetted and vetted againby teams of Church leaders and weighed extremely carefully; anyprinted statement by the Pope typically has far more weight than averbal statement made at a general audience.And need I point out the obvious? Archbishop Schonborn ispretending that a statement made in 1985 SUPERSEDES a statementmade more than a decade later. Yes, we're too understand that whenthe Pope made a bold new statement in 1996 that was heralded andacclaimed around the world as a new step forward, it meant nothingbecause a decade earlier he hadn't been prepared to take that step.This is truly twisted logic.He ends by saying the Catholic Church is "in the odd position ofstanding firm in defense of reason." That would be odd, since theChurch's history is an embarrassing attack on reason and science asevidenced by its attacks on Galileo and most every scientific advanceone can think of, from the dating of the age of the universe to the BigBang theory to surgery itself to the gift of parenting for infertilecouples via artifical insemination and on and on and on.For someone who spent twelve years in Catholic school and wasnever spoon-fed any idiocy in class -- we were taught science inscience class; not theology and that meant evolution -- this is trulydisturbing.
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7/08/2005 02:19:00 PMNow we get to see the fallout of electing the sweet and modestCardinal Ratzinger as Pope Benedict. The Catholic Archbishopof Vienna tells us to back off on that wacky, scientific approachto science and evolution in particular. Never mind that theentire world has taken at face value Pope John Paul II'sstatement in 1996 that evolution is "more than just ahypothesis." Never mind that the subtlest change in wording bya Pope is carefully weighed -- Romanita is the term for thehighly subtle and intellectual underpinnings of the verbalswordplay that serves as political debate at the Vatican -- andthat JP II knew perfectly well what he was doing. Never mindthat if he DIDN'T mean to embrace the idea of evolution (or atleast say, leave science to the scientists) that he had a decadeto correct it since that's exactly what the entire worldunderstood him to be doing.No, the archbishop of Vienna says Tut, tut, JP II didn't evendefine evolution in that statement and we got it all wrong. Hisop-ed marks a major step back for the Church, which hasspent the last 30 years leaving the Dark Ages behind, makingclear that science is science and God gave us a mind to use it.Keep in mind that JP II was the Pope who FINALLY had theChurch admit it was wrong for calling Galileo a heretic. I guessthe archbishop will tell us we are mistaken in believing thatmeans good Catholics can accept that the Earth revolvesaround the sun?The archbishop's disingenuous tone is truly unnerving. Hewrites:Consider the real teaching of our beloved John Paul. Whilehis rather vague and unimportant 1996 letter aboutevolution is always and everywhere cited, we see no onediscussing these comments from a 1985 general audiencethat represents his robust teaching on nature....Now, I'm not a theologian, but I and most Catholics know perfectlywell that written documents by the Pope are vetted and vetted againby teams of Church leaders and weighed extremely carefully; anyprinted statement by the Pope typically has far more weight than averbal statement made at a general audience.And need I point out the obvious? Archbishop Schonborn ispretending that a statement made in 1985 SUPERSEDES a statementmade more than a decade later. Yes, we're too understand that whenthe Pope made a bold new statement in 1996 that was heralded andacclaimed around the world as a new step forward, it meant nothingbecause a decade earlier he hadn't been prepared to take that step.This is truly twisted logic.He ends by saying the Catholic Church is "in the odd position ofstanding firm in defense of reason." That would be odd, since theChurch's history is an embarrassing attack on reason and science asevidenced by its attacks on Galileo and most every scientific advanceone can think of, from the dating of the age of the universe to the BigBang theory to surgery itself to the gift of parenting for infertilecouples via artifical insemination and on and on and on.For someone who spent twelve years in Catholic school and wasnever spoon-fed any idiocy in class -- we were taught science inscience class; not theology and that meant evolution -- this is trulydisturbing.
Ben SmithGoing small - My story tonight: President BarackObama came alive about 50 minutes intoWednesday night’s news conference – whensomebo10 minutes ago
HuffPost PoliticsHuckabee's Huck Pac In Turmoil With StaffTurnover, Mounting Debts - Former Arkansas Gov.Mike Huckabee's political action committee, HuckPac, is undergoing a "restructuring," ExecutiveDirector Sarah Huckabee said Wednesday....24 minutes ago
Daily KosOpen Thread and Diary Rescue - *Today, srkp23(pulling a double shift), ybruti, taylormattd,ItsJessMe and vcmvo2 combed through hundredsof diaries to find this powerful list. Today's...1 hour ago
EschatonOvernight - Folk On. Newish.1 hour ago
Crooks and LiarsOpen Thread - Open Thread below...1 hour agoJ O H N ' S P H OT O S
Show AllA M E R I C A B L O G T V
Champaign-Springfield-DecaturMom Had YELLOW TeethLearn the trick, discovered by a mom, to turnyellow teeth white. Explore Now...
"My Teeth Aren't Yellow"Read the trick a Champaign-Springfield-Decatur mom used to turn… Explore Now...
Next 6AMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Cathol...http://www.americablog.com/2005/07/catholic-church-earth-cen...
1 of 57/23/09 1:33 AM
Visit our AMERICAblog TV site.see all 323 videos >I collect with
vodpod
In honor of SenatorDeMint
For the GOPers, healthcare is politics. They just
Traditional media has todebunk the birthers
One small step...
The right-wing media, thevoices of the GOP, inAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Cathol...http://www.americablog.com/2005/07/catholic-church-earth-cen...
2 of 57/23/09 1:33 AM
The TreatmentObama Has a Grown-UpTalk With America(Gulp)1 hour agoEzra KleinTab Dump5 hours agoWonk RoomSen. Byron Dorgan:The ‘Trade’ InCap-And-Trade ‘MakesNo Sense To Me’7 hours agoHealth BeatTruth Squad: WallStreet Journal HealthCare Editorial Wrong onthe Facts . . .8 hours agoDaily DoseProviders Endorse 'Payfor Value' ProposalsG AY P O L I T I C S
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N E W S L I N K SUSWashington PostNYTAP PoliticsReuters PoliticsRasmussen PollsTimeNewsweekRoll CallThe HillABCNews
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Recurring monthlydonation$
Donations are nottax-deductible.L A B E L S
Select a labelL A S T 1 0 0 V I S I T O R SRecent Visitors
A B O U TA M E R I C A B L O GWhy AMERICAblog?Because a great nationdeserves the truth.What issues do youcover?US politics overall with aparticular focus on theObama Administration, theradical right, and civilrights.Who are you?John AravosisEditorWashington, DCJoe SudbayDeputy EditorWashington, DCChris RyanAssociate EditorParis, FranceRobert ArenaContributing EditorBaltimore, MarylandJacki SchechnerContributing EditorWashington, DCAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Cathol...http://www.americablog.com/2005/07/catholic-church-earth-cen...
4 of 57/23/09 1:33 AM
© 2009 - John Aravosis | Design maintenance by Jason RosenbaumSend me your tips: americablog@starpower.netAMERICAblog News| A great nation deserves the truth: Cathol...http://www.americablog.com/2005/07/catholic-church-earth-cen...
5 of 57/23/09 1:33 AM