Historically, the Roman church has been [and remains] anti-science. The Roman church bases its beliefs, not on the rigor of scientific inquiry, but on its interpretation of the Bible and its ever-changing tradition. The Church only accepts scientific truth when that truth has labeled the church's beliefs as bullshit.
So when Pope Benny came out recently to announce that his god set up the Big Bang which resulted in the creation of our universe, one cannot help but be amused, or bemused or be caught up in a non-religious hissy-fit!
For this is one more in a long line of examples of the Roman church closing a god-gap. The Roman church has believed and promoted all kinds of non-scientific claims down through the years (remember Galileo?) and persecuted, even killed those who dared challenge the "truth" set forth by the popes and their minions. When the Church could not explain a natural event or unusual circumstance, it laid the blame or the credit on god. Then when science came along to dissemble the church's stance, to cover the gap between what the church believed and reality, the church simply moved on to another gap. Its "god" became known as the "god of the gaps."
The big gap remains, however: how did the universe begin 13 billion years ago? Who, if anyone, is responsible for the beginning of the universe?
Science can answer the first question: The universe began with the Big Bang. The only people who argue against that scientific "truth," are those numbnuts in the Discovery Institute and their creationist and intelligent design cohorts, and all the ignorant people and stupid fundamentalist Christians that befoul our fair land.
Aha! But who is responsible for the Big Bang? Scientists, by and large, say no one is responsible. It was a "chance" event. It just happened. And they've got the data to back up their claims. No god shows up in that data. No god is necessary for the Big Bang.
Here cometh Pope Benny. Pope Benny, speaking to a group of Catholics at the Vatican, saith "The universe is not the result of chance, as some would want to make us believe."
Pope Benny is pronouncing here, as only a pope can pronounce, so pay attention: "Contemplating it [the universe], we are invited to read something profound into it: the wisdom of the creator, the inexhaustible creativity of God."
Sounds good; sounds nice and reassuring if you are a believer. Unfortunately, however, Pope Benny is just blowing smoke up our collective ass. He's making that up. He has absolutely no evidence for anything he said.
And, as has happened so often in the history of the Church, it continues to preach a god to cover what it assumes is a gap in scientific understanding. Benny's god is just another "god of the gaps." Sadly, however, so far as Pope Benny and his church is concerned, the gap has been closed.
There was no god present for the Big Bang and no god is needed for the Big Bang.
And that's the way it is this January, 2011.
1 comment:
I decided long ago that the word god was used when the answer to a question should have been I or We do not know the answer. It was comforting for primitive man to assume some great leader in the sky was responsible for whatever we had no answers for. At first, they assumed many gods, each with some specific responsibility. In time, others claimed a superior god to others and finally a supreme god was accepted. Once the written word was invented, the winners wrote down their belief and eventually got rid of some ideas and kept others. When one reads a variety of bibles, one finds many contradictions, simply because each writer had a viewpoint or a reason for ignoring other views. Today in America we have over 2000 different Protestant denominations, in addition to a number of Orthodox denominations and many new religions. The Jewish religion has five recognized denominations plus many sects within each. They cannot all be the word of God.
We still pick and choose which is most suitable for us for a variety of reasons. Others ignore them all or only practice the rules they like or are convenient.
Somehow the earth continues to survive with many religions all over the world that millions or billions each believe is the Universal truth. Obviously God has not revealed in some spectacular manner what God wants all to believe.
Post a Comment