Hi buffalo,
You know, at one time, this whole theory of evolution concept was pretty straightforward for Catholics: God and whatever science uncovers are linked.
Very recently, it has become a point of contention. And I am inclined to believe it has very little to do with science. Example: Republicans don’t believe in evolution. That’s like saying all people with red hair don’t believe in evolution. Another example: the current administration has been accused of manipulating science for ideological ends. That’s like saying all or most politicians will do, say or manipulate anything if it means a vote for them or their party or whatever cause they are standing behind. Now this happens to be true.
Why do I deny science? Why is that so important, especially now?
I believe it has less to do with science and more to do with evangelizing a worldview where religion, all the major religions, are pushed aside so that science is put in charge.
The problem with that? Fallible and imperfect humans will be in charge. To quote from an old movie: “I’ll believe whatever you tell me to as long as there’s a steady paycheck in it.”
Self-interest becomes more important than God interest. Every religion is pushed aside so that all powerful, all true, all factual science will be put in its place. However, the same human beings who are willing to lie, manipulate and say they are for whatever it is the voters think they should be for will still be around. The manipulation is an eternal feature of human history. From Stalin’s new man to the modern “new normal.”
I write this in all sincerity: more people are interested in finding a way to separate you from your money and, more importantly, from what you believe, so that you can better be used to serve in the system which they will create for you.
Since people have been telling me “we’re all just animals,” no rules actually apply to them. They have the freedom and a tremendous number of ‘rights’ that include killing the unborn, the sick, the elderly, and the inconvenient. Instead of cooperation, elimination. Instead of a community of shared values, an anarchist fantasy where individuals are told they are free in a media saturated environment that tells them what to think, what to wear, how to talk and how to behave.
Tolerance becomes a one-way street. The Christian values upon which the United States is based are denied as if they never existed in the first place. Religious tolerance becomes intolerance for all religion. This, partly because naturalism tells you that the only evidence you have is the biology textbook. The revelation of God is a fantasy. Therefore, eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you die.
Once that fantasy takes hold, there is no basis for a true morality outside of ‘scientific’ constructs developed by some expert that will be overturned a short while later by another ‘expert’ who will take out his research and say, “See. I’m right.” To be followed by experts to infinity.
“But we’re talking about science here! All of that is irrelevant!”
If man confronted the fact that he does, in fact, carry original sin, he would realize the fault of our first parents and then he would realize why Jesus Christ was born, lived and died for each of us. He would also realize that God is real, which is something the Catholic Church tells us man can know through natural reason.
So when anyone says faith and reason are compatible, what I believe they are really saying is: “Believe in evolution! God… yeah, OK, whatever. The important thing is that you believe in evolution.”
God is an afterthought, trivia, unimportant. As Pope Benedict recently stated: “Today, religion counts for nothing.” This in reference to secularism in the Western world. Now where do you think that secularism came from? And how are most of those people behaving now that they are ‘free’ of the inside of the Church building?
God bless,
Ed
, I still don’t have good answers to the theological objections. I simply affirm macroevolution, affirm traditional Catholic dogma, and say I don’t know how to completely reconcile.
If not what universal moral code that is recognized by all atheists says it’s wrong, and don’t lean on God’s laws and morality to bail you out.?