Linked in BoingBoing, a very good story about the Vatican Astronomer.
my favorite bit:
“Religion needs science to keep it away from superstition and keep it close to reality, to protect it from creationism, which at the end of the day is a kind of paganism - it’s turning God into a nature god. And science needs religion in order to have a conscience, to know that, just because something is possible, it may not be a good thing to do.”
which reminds me (sort of) of something bobbing around in my brain. Last sunday, during the “prayers and concerns” part of the church service, someone asked our pastor to pray for those “who’s faith has been shaken by the DaVinci Code.” Poor MJ was flustered, and said something like “Ohh…Ok. The DaVinci code is a very good book, but it’s not biblical.”
Exactly. NOT BIBLICAL. It’s a work of FICTION.
Who are these people who’s faith is so tenuous, who feel that they have failed to instill in themselves and in their children a strong enough faith, so that when a work of FICTION comes out (DaVinci Code, Harry Potter, etc), they are TORN APART over it.
A fictional book is NOT something that supposed to shake your faith. LIFE shakes your faith.
A president who claims he was chosen by God to lead America…straight into the dumps. That should shake your faith.
The war in Iraq should shake your faith.
The AIDS crisis in Africa should shake your faith.
Watching a loved one sicken and slowly die as you stand by helpless. THAT should shake your faith.
Not a book. Grow the fuck up.
And, while I’m on the topic…questioning your faith is a good one. What do we end up with when people do not constantly re-evaluate themselves, their faith, their morals on a daily basis? Pat Robertson. Those who are immovable, who don’t change, who don’t think to themselves “Why does this happen? Where is God? Where am I while this is going on? What can I do?” end up blindly following those who scream “infidels” at the slightest infraction.
Much like the radical islamists in the middle east.
And much like the evolution they reject, those who refuse to bend, to change, to grow, to truly love…will never adapt. And those that don’t adapt are doomed to die out when the conditions on this big island change.
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God bless you, ESC. No, scratch that; God HAS blessed you.
Dinosaur bones were put here by God to test our faith in the bible. As were carbon dating, radioactivity, genetics and physics. They are tests. Yeah. And the Davinci Code.
A-freakin-men to that. A book can’t waver someone’s faith. But a book can test it and and make them wonder. The sad part is that most people don’t question anything and instead just float through life without ever knowing truth. It’s rather sad. I like knowing WHY I belive what I believe. I don’t see how others can just sit there and wonder and not do anything about it.
Great post. Good link to the article.
And, oh beloved Queen of Putting Sexist Pigs In Their Places, could you stop on by Kiss & Blog at some point today? I wasn’t as good at it as you are. Thanks.
AMEN!!
I’m not a particularly religious person, but EXACTLY! Faith is supposed to be questioned and continually affirmed. If the DaVicni code shook your faith, your faith wasn’t that strong to begin with.
Preach on, sista!
A book or a movie or a record is just that: fiction.
Even if it claims to be a documentary!
And I agree, if your faith is so wobbly that Tom Hanks makes you question your role in the universe, well, then I guess maybe he does deserve another Oscar.
The fact that your blog won’t remember my crap is enough to shake MY faith, go figure.
That sounds like a very sensible review of faith, irrespective of what the faith is in
The former part of that quote you cite is good, but still I can’t agree with the latter part…as if science without religion is somehow immoral or lacks a “conscience”? Science needs religion like a fish needs a bicycle. People however, may or may not need it, and the pious and equally non-pious employ the products of science according to their own varying filofax of morals
I think there “religion” can be be substituted for “a set of values and morals.” Because science DOES need morals to keep it from going down some really sketchy paths.
But not me. I don’t need morals because I am EVIL! EVIL SCIENTIST!
Yes, yes you are ESC!