Compromise?

 

I'm still amazed at how many Catholics and other Christians reject evolution as real. What follows is instructive.

(begin) From National Catholic Reporter, October 2014: Pope Francis on Monday waded into the controversial debate over the origins of human life, saying the big bang theory did not contradict the role of a divine creator, but even required it. The pope was addressing the plenary assembly of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences, which gathered at the Vatican to discuss "Evolving Concepts of Nature."

"When we read about Creation in Genesis, we run the risk of imagining God was a magician, with a magic wand able to do everything. But that is not so," Francis said. "He created human beings and let them develop according to the internal laws that he gave to each one so they would reach their fulfillment."

Francis said the beginning of the world was not "a work of chaos" but created from a principle of love. He said sometimes competing beliefs in creation and evolution could co-exist. "God is not a demiurge [demigod] or a magician, but the Creator who gives being to all entities," the pope said. "Evolution in nature is not opposed to the notion of Creation, because evolution presupposes the creation of beings that evolve."

Unlike much of evangelical Protestantism in the U.S., Catholic teaching traditionally has not been at odds with evolution. In 1950, Pope Pius XII proclaimed there was no opposition between evolution and Catholic doctrine. In 1996, St. John Paul II endorsed Pius' statement.

Some wondered if Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI wanted to change that when he and some acolytes seemed to endorse the theory of intelligent design, the idea that the world is too complex to have evolved according to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection. 

Cardinal Christoph Schönborn of Vienna, a close associate of Benedict, penned a widely noticed 2005 op-ed in The New York Times that said "Evolution in the sense of common ancestry might be true, but evolution in the neo-Darwinian sense -- an unguided, unplanned process ... is not."

Giovanni Bignami, a professor and president of Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics, welcomed Francis' comments, saying he had buried the "pseudo theories" of creationists.

"The pope's statement is significant," Bignami told Italian news agency Adnkronos. "We are the direct descendants from the Big Bang that created the universe. Evolution came from creation."

Giulio Giorello, professor of the philosophy of science at Milan's University degli Studi, said he believed Francis was "trying to reduce the emotion of dispute or presumed disputes" with science. (end)

I suspect the Adam and Eve story in Genesis continues to convince many people that evolution does not exist.  Makes sense to me.  We Catholics put a premium on this story; for example, Christ is the second Adam.  Mary is the new Eve.  We have been indoctrinated into believing Adam and Eve were real, and they were thrown out of the Garden by God.  Damn that talking snake!  Moreover, the concept of original sin arose from the fall – eating the forbidden fruit of the tree.  No wonder so many Catholics are confused.

Not teaching evolution in schools is a way to dumb down the young and have them check their brains at the door.  That is perilous for them and society as a whole.  There can be no compromise on the science of evolution.  

Deacon David Pierce